WFPF

Saturday was just hanging out, late in the evening.  Some of us Grues got together, and suddenly -- we're at the park with the castle, even though the sun is already down.

And there were adults and lots of kids on the castle, and we got some guff from the adults ("are they gonna let the kids play on the equipment") and we saw a kid doing flips off stuff (but landing pretty hard).  He started following Aries around pretty quickly -- we practiced kongs a bit, and he wanted to do them too.  This is why we train in public -- to show kids what it is to train safely.

We got the notice of some littler kids too.  Sara B. and I got singled out by a couple of young girls (Aries and Nick were too scary for them) and Sara was a bad grue who got caught in the light -- she got grabbed by the hand and put into "jail."  I managed to evade my would-be capturer, but let me tell you -- have you ever tried keeping ahead of a determined 5-year-old?  I'll count that as my endurance run for the week, thanks!

So, that was our surprise training.  We had actual team training on Sunday, went back to the castle (despite heat/humidity that is, thankfully, finally less awful than it has been) and Aries got to take the role of coach for the day.  We started actually training kongs (still terrified, but I'm learning the motion) and did a bit of climbing and other arm work.  Generally, we wore ourselves out, quaffed water, then wore ourselves out some more.  We felt amazing.

So then James, our youngest and springiest Grue, decided to try and kong a picnic table.  When that got boring, he tried just jumping the length of it, and would almost almost make it, but put his feet down at the last second.  We watched him for a bit, knew that he would stumble soon because he was wearing himself out.  So, we Grue-swarmed the table he was running up on, and put a Grue on every table around him.  With us piled on tables, he was forced to take a break.  And when that didn't work, Aries chased him down until we got him to sit down for a bit.  Coach Says are still the strongest words in our vocabulary.

Sara and I also went out on Tuesday, when the weather was lovely and we were able to walk to the park.  We practiced rolls, first on grass and then on sand, where we were able to actually see the S-pattern that our bodies left across the sand.  My shoulder didn't take nearly the beating that it normally would either, so I was able to practice for longer and take less damage for it.  My shoulder has a shallow bruise and some abrasion, but not nearly what it would be on concrete.  The two of us practiced precisions into the sand, and found some low rails for practicing vaults.  Sara still has her rotator cuff injury to contend with, so we tried to work around that with the vaults -- she can't lock her arms for support the way I can, so we're seeing if she can lever her torso onto her elbow, like I learned with breakdancing stalls.  Part of it is psyching herself out (I do the same with kongs every time) so it's just practice and discipline from here.  We walked home feeling really good about our training, and decided to treat ourselves to a girls' night.  We went out to dinner and ordered some huge margaritas, and commented on how our training days always seem to end with some kind of hedonistic indulgence.  You will hear NONE of us complain.

I'm nursing a stressed left hamstring that I have not been intelligent enough to let heal.  It feels a lot better each day, but each day I can't seem to stay off it long enough for it to feel 100% though I have been carefully stretching it, which helps.  We've hydrated carefully, and there's been an effort to eat better, too.  Surprisingly, I'm back to weighing what I weighed at 15, which is definitely an unintentional effect -- so, looking into more protein-heavy snacks.  I'm not looking to drop weight at all, so now it's just a question of seeing if I can actually add some muscle.  After a few weeks of slacking on my training, though, I'm rediscovering what I learn each time I start up again -- I feel fantastic, I surprise myself with what I can do, and I never realize how much I miss my training and how it makes me feel until I've put it down for a while.  I have amazing teammates who encourage me and push me, and I'm getting a little more rockstar with each passing day.

One sad note, we've been using a retaining wall for training and it's getting filled in now.  We measured it, about 7 feet tall, and it's still an accomplishment that I can get up and over it.  Sara and I were gonna steal a capstone as a trophy, but they were too heavy.  We'll just have to find another place to climb, I guess. XD Go Grue!