I suck at soccer. The thing, though, is that I really, really enjoy it and I want to be good at it. But I don't understand all of the rules, the terms, and I'm just not fast or confident enough. I didn't go into this thing thinking that I would be amazing, but I thought that since I was a runner, I would at least be able to not die. And I'm not dying, not exactly, but goddamn if some of those girls don't try to kill me. I marked a girl last night who easily was over six feet tall. I'm exactly 5'5''. I couldn't keep up. I tried. I tried until I was a wheezing mess, bent over on my burning legs. And then I subbed out.
I asked our captains, who I think not-so-secretly hate me, what I could do to improve. Their only suggestion was to join a bottom-level co-ed team and continue playing throughout the summer. Unfortunately, those guys meet during the week and it's not feasible (I have Insanity/running/riding). ..And, I'm sorta scared about playing with men. So what else can I do? We're about to start Insanity: Asylum, which is geared towards "sports training", so I expect that to help some. Then I just have to learn how to handle a ball. So, to be practical:
I asked our captains, who I think not-so-secretly hate me, what I could do to improve. Their only suggestion was to join a bottom-level co-ed team and continue playing throughout the summer. Unfortunately, those guys meet during the week and it's not feasible (I have Insanity/running/riding). ..And, I'm sorta scared about playing with men. So what else can I do? We're about to start Insanity: Asylum, which is geared towards "sports training", so I expect that to help some. Then I just have to learn how to handle a ball. So, to be practical:
- Build speed endurance
- Lose weight
- Get faster
- Go longer
- Get confident with a ball
- Taking
- Kicking
- Dribbling
I want to walk out onto that field in the fall and have people go, "Oh, shit." But in a good way this time!
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| One of my worst photos, but it was really, really dark in there. That's baby food and Uncle Ben's, with some stuff shoved in a tomato. Barf. |
The Man's aunt and uncle (father's brother) were in town. Here's a horrible back story: his mother did not support our marriage at all. ..Something to do with me stealing her baby boy. We'd already gone through a series of bullshit about it (when he'd come home from school and spend the day with me/when he started sleeping over/when I became his focus), so I wasn't too surprised. What knocked my fucking socks off, though, was the actual wedding. His aunt (mom's sis), mother and father showed up in jeans, stood off to the side, refused to be in any photos and left immediately after the ceremony. I don't even think they sat for the ceremony. I mean, it was a freaking beach wedding. Nothing huge, no sacred ground to disturb. But his cousin, her fiancé, his grandparents and his aunt and uncle (father's brother) all stood for him. So I have a particular soft spot for his aunt and uncle, simply because they supported him. They took us to a super-nice restaurant (salad fork?) called Alligator Soul. It was great until my actual meal came. It was cold, puréed asparagus with red beans and rice. It was supposed to come with "seared tofu", so I was expecting blocks of tofu, seared. What I got were microscopic chunks of tofu, mixed into my Uncle Ben's. Needless to say, we won't be going back. $23 for that bullshit? I think not.
And, finally, in the world of Archie: going well. Not awesome, not super, but going well. He still seems tender on his front end, so I'm not pushing him too much, but I'm still asking him to get in a frame, lift with his back and bend. When I was talking to my vet about his back issues (last check up, in January), we discussed the importance of building up his muscles through his topline and back. I started him on "Pure Lysine" from SmartPak because it was dirt cheap and I was willing to try anything. The methocarbomal and the previcox didn't do a damn thing for him. And this last SmartPak, because I had to cut some things to accommodate the cost of increasing his OneAC, I knocked off the Lysine and the Probiotics. And now he's funky, so he's going back on the Lysine pronto. And, while there are no hills in Savannah, we've been doing "slight incline" work. When he feels good, I can tell a difference.
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