Rough run and boxing: round 2.

Went and got some new running shoes...New Balance. I was pretty excited to get out there and try them out so went for a run as soon as I got home. I could tell that it had been a long time since I ran last because, for the first ten minutes, I felt like I was running through molasses. The whole run was much more like a jog than a run. The last 20-15 minutes felt really good though. I have a long way to go to get back on track, but at least I'm running again.

I also spoke to Laszlo Beres, one of the coaches at the US Modern Pentathlon Association. He gave me some suggestions for beginning workouts, as well as advise on sponsorship and such. I'll be keeping in touch as I get farther along in my training. One thing was clear, more training! The pentathletes are doing each event 3 or more times a week...I do each 2 or so. Laszlo also made it clear that speed endurance was the name of the game in pentathlon.

Had my second boxing class tonight...we did the usual footwork section, learned the left hook, did our station workouts and ended with footwork again. I'm sure I lost a gallon of water again and my hook technique was pretty awkward at first, but I survived round 2 of the lessons. I really enjoy the boxing and Laszlo agreed that it is great cross-training for my epee work, I just have to make sure the the tight/close boxing arm positions don't interfere with my epee. Shouldn't be a problem though, if anything it will make me notice more when I'm being too tight in epee.

Tough times ahead and high speed Howie

The swim today was so-so. I felt a little off on technique and a little sluggish at first, but soon got into the groove. I did note my lap times for the first time ever. Looks like I have about 20-30 seconds to take off my time to be at the competitive level for the swim in pentathlon...doable but still a goal that is going to be a challenge.

Had a great ride tonight. Sheila was on Pet and Vesty had already been ridden, so I rode Marya's Howie tonight. Howie is a big chestnut...BIG. A couple inches taller than Pet. Howie has the attitude of a lab, you best buddy, ready to go and wanting to please. Howie is also the one that told Joan, the horse communicator, that he liked being outdoors...another nature boy like myself.

As soon as my foot was in the stirrup, Howie was off like a bullet...the fastest walk I've ever experienced. Per Laura's instructions, I let him do his fast walk thing until he took a big deep breath and slowed down the walk. Then we went up to the trot...WHOA Howie. It took a lot of talking to his mouth to get him under control, but we did settle into a pretty good rythem. Howie is very sensitive to a riders balance and aids, so I really had to do my best to sit and give commands correctly. The trot felt great, the canter felt even better! Didn't have any problem keeping him under control at the canter, which was a surprise to me and Laura since he was so strong. Laura brought out the poles and we did a little pre-jumping workout...come into the poles at a trot, come out of them in a canter. Howie wanted to make the poles on the ground into jumps, but with a little communication, we were able to get into the groove here as well.

I had a great time riding Howie, we get along well. Since Marya moved to CA and won't be bringing Howie down for another couple months, Laura asked me if I wouldn't mind riding him more both to keep him exercised and to get me some more riding time...looking forward to it.

Slow swim start

I was the victim of a large and very rich lunch, so my swimming was a little lethargic at first. After my pyramid though, everything kicked in. I did the usual swim workout and added back in the legs portion now that my feet are doing better. Coach Wendy is back in town, so should be upping my swim workout soon.

Pure polo weekend

It was a pure polo weekend at the Tacoma Polo Club and my riding felt better than ever. Something dramatically improved, both in my riding and my overall understanding, of the game. It must be my progress in jumping that has given me the confidence to really feel comfortable in the saddle and the ability to concentrate on my game rather than worry about just staying on the horse. I rode Jason's "Aticus" again, so had to work really hard on not balancing off my hands and thus putting pressure on his mouth. All went well though. A good day for riding, a good day for polo. Click here for more details.

Tacoma polo

It was a perfect day for watching polo. The plan was to head on down to the Tacoma Polo Club to watch some good polo now that I've played a little and understand a little more of the game. That's just what I did. I filled my water bottle, grabbed a lawn chair, picked up my Maya Angelo book of poetry, headed out to the practice field and found myself a nice shade tree from which to sit at watch polo. Mount Rainier was off in the distance, it was warm an sunny...just perfect for watching polo. I did just what Virginia told me to do to help get a feel for the game...I started 'announcing' all of the plays to myself. I was actually able to see quite a bit in the four chuckers I watched from my hilltop perch under the tree. In between chuckers I read a little more Maya.

Then...Jason, showed up and once again offered Aticus for me to ride. I was told long ago to always bring my gear just in case. Well...it proved wise advise today. I did a little better tacking up this time, still not perfect by a longshot though. George and Annetta offered to let me borrow George's old helmet too, so with my rollerblading kneepads and helmet, I certianly looked a little more official than when I was just in my English riding boots and jumping helmet.

I headed out to do some stick and ball in between the player's chuckers. With Aticus, its all about staying out of his mouth. This is good for me since I still am trying not to balance off my hands. Everything seemed to go pretty well. I was able to balance well, hit the ball and work well with Aticus. I was invited to play as a 5th player in the next chucker. Although I only hit the twice, I felt like I did a much better job playing my position, especially defensively. I played in the next chucker as well, just after George Dill gave me a few really valuable pointers. Even better!

We washed the horses off, delivered them to their overnight pasture and came back to the clubhouse for some good food and friends.

Sunday morning, we all went to Roy for breakfast at the Roy Saloon. Mmm mmm...Biscuits and Gravy! Then it was back to the club. Play didn't start until 1:00 so since I had to be back up in Seattle at 3:00 for a fundraiser I wasn't able to play in any of the chuckers. I did spend some time in the morning doing some stick and ball with Jason, Randy and Suki though. Jason had some good drills and as usual was very patient in tutoring me.

For not planning on playing polo, I had a great weekend. I learned a lot, met some great new people and had a lot of fun. Thanks again to all those in Tacoma who helped me out.

Boxing Sean

Had my first night of boxing lessons tonight. Yeah, its pretty crazy, by I was told by Callum a while back that it would probably be really good for my epee (since I told him epee reminded me a lot of boxing) and for my overall fitness. Whoa! Was he right. I was pretty excited already when we wrapped our hands. I still have a long way to go with polo horse wraps, but I have the boxing hand wraps down. After the first 3 minute interval, in which our instructor - Qadir - simply had us doing some footwork, I was sweating buckets. Then we added pivots, then left jab, then the one-two...all at three minute intervals. My jabs started pretty slow, but once I got the hang of it, it started looking and feeling much better. I think we did 10 of these intervals or so.

Next, we had some cardio exercises. Gloves with punching bag, gloves with hand paddles, jump rope and the fast bag. I was first up at the punching bag...sweating barrels this time, but man...did it feel good to jump around and hit that bag. Did even better when Qadir held the hand paddles for me to hit. Felt GREAT! Jump rope...is jump rope, did pretty well compared to the rest of the class, guess pentathlon training paid off. Then it was the fast bag...the bag - about the size of a balloon - the image we all think of when someone practices boxing. We kept at a pretty slow rythem, but I picked it up pretty quickly. It was definitely all about rythem though, lose that and the bag flies all over the place.

There is no doubt in my mind that boxing will get me fit pretty quick, the physical and cardio stamina is beyond other sports that I've done...even rowing, just in a different way. I'm VERY sure that it will help my epee.

Horse Jumping 102...Vesty, very Vesty

Tonight it was back to Vesty as Sheila would be riding pet and Joan was on Eli and...it was another jumping night! Thankfully, there were only 4 fences tonight as opposed to the eight last week. I Had the same issues I experienced last time I rode Vesty. He's much more sensitive to pretty much any command/aid so he forces me to really concentrate on riding correctly. The trot and canter felt pretty good, although he still has a little wobble at the trot. When it came time for the first fence, we had some problems though. Although I had jumped higher fences with Pet, Vesty wasn't too keen on me jumping with him yet and he ended up refusing four or five times. Laura then took the fence down and we did several laps around the arena just going over the poles on the ground. We would go into the obstacle at a trot and then come out at a canter. It certainly wasn't pretty, and there were several other refusals during the night, but now I've established that I can jump more than horse.