I’m writing this from the heat of Tahiti. I’ve just been to the market and picked up some presents for my support team, and am about to do a bit of running and stretching in an hour or so. It’s Thursday afternoon, and I fight Saturday.
Over the past six weeks I have been following a carefully designed peaking plan, with the English Open at the three week point as a test event. Things have been going very well, and I think I can almost say I’m feeling in the best condition of my life (which is certainly saying something). I have had the right combination of randori (often and hard), technique (often and specific to what I need), weights (targeted at what I need), conditioning (with correct duration and intensity), and runs (3.5 miles every morning, great for general fitness and weight maintenance). My nutrition has been the best ever (although making weight is never easy, I hope to feel good this time), and I have improved quality and quantity of sleep (which I have realised is a big factor in my performance). I have (save a few corrections) completed my PhD, which means one less thing to worry about, and have lots of interesting future prospects that are close to coming to fruition.
Last week was particularly intense, with five sessions (e.g. run, individual technique, weights, conditioning and randori) on some days. I was exhausted by the end of it, but feeling great. I had a very restful weekend, and did a bit of light training (running, power work and a little technique) on Monday and Tuesday.
Tuesday afternoon I flew out of Heathrow at 4pm, heading for LA. I arrived in LA with about 5 hours until my connecting flight, but to my dismay I had a nightmare time! I had to wait in a queue for about an hour to clear immigration, then for another hour to clear customs. I didn’t know where to go for my connecting flight, but finally was told to get in a line and waited for ages to clear security. I finally got to the gate and was hoping for a bit of a lie down when I realised my flight wasn’t on the screen, and when I asked someone else I was told I was in the wrong terminal. It took me a good 30 min to find the right terminal, then I got in the line to clear security again. When I finally got to the front of the queue they told me that I couldn’t use the boarding pass that was printed at Heathrow, I had to go to the airline counter and get a new one printed. I found the counter (luckily there was no queue this time), but they took ages trying to print my new pass, as I had already checked in and that was incredibly confusing for them! I also had to sign a document saying I was happy to be seated in an emergency exit row, which I had never had to do before. I finally got my boarding pass printed, and had to get in another queue to clear security again. I eventually got through, and made it to the gate just as my flight was boarding. As soon as I got to my seat I fell asleep, and when I woke a few hours later I found a cold dinner beside me. I ate a bit of fruit and fell straight back to sleep, and only woke when we were landing.
We landed in Tahiti about 5:30am and it was still dark, but during the time it took to clear immigration and customs the sun had risen, and it was a beautiful day. As I was travelling alone I was waved through the customs section, while locals travelling with massive plastic boxes were thoroughly searched – how strange. I was met and had a flower necklace put around my neck, and eventually was driven to the hotel. My room wasn’t ready until midday, and I had been told to go to one of my teammates rooms, but the reception told me to wait by the pool, where I quickly feel asleep. My teammate came and found me a little after that, and we had to get ready for training. I still hadn’t been in my room, so I got my bag from the hotel storage and spread my things out in her room, and found a judo gi and went downstairs to meet the rest of the team. Most of the cadets had gone to see one of the islands, so there weren’t that many training. We had to walk a good 20 minutes to the venue in the blazing sun, and we did a basic session, I was really feeling the heat and travel!
When I got back to the hotel I could finally get in my room, and after chatting to a few people online I fell sound asleep, and didn’t wake up until 10:30pm when my roommates arrived. I had a little catch up, and within an hour I was back asleep, and didn’t wake up until this morning. We had a team meeting at 8, and another training session at 9, which was a bit more structured. I’m still feeling the heat and travel, but not as badly as yesterday. After training I had a quick dip in the pool, and then a little lie down. That brings us to my shopping trip at the market, and to now.
I shall write another post at some stage after I have fought – wish me luck!
Finally, a big thanks to enVirtua for making this possible.
Two youtube favourites:
Check out this, a video about the great Camberley Judo Club (featuring yours truly being thrown, and in the credits).
If you’re into a bit of original music check out this.