Sharla's Log

**Sharla** · 01-01-2009 10:52 PM

Ran this morning - 2 X 1600 m repeats with 4 min break between them.

Felt sluggish - was sluggish!

I had a 15 min warm up but maybe it was too gentle, also choose the wrong terrain i think.

I ran on a really sandy track around a horse paddock which is on a hill - half the time it's up hill.

Even with all that taken into account I think it was a bit sloppy - perhaps I haven't fully recovered from my swim sprints yesterday.

Next time I'm going to pick a nice oval or flat running track and warm up with a bit more energy!

**Salty** · 01-09-2009 06:06 AM

Originally Posted by Scrap

Sharla you dont make me laugth. I find you insperational, Good Girl

I think she's an inspiration to most people on here, I generally read through here and others to help with the motivation/ideas and it is a great help.

So thankyou Sharla, a lot of people appreciate and benefit greatly from what you write down here

PS. 400m intervals are no joking matter, I nearly died yesterday

**Sharla** · 01-09-2009 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by Salty

Originally Posted by Scrap

Sharla you dont make me laugth. I find you insperational, Good Girl

I think she's an inspiration to most people on here, I generally read through here and others to help with the motivation/ideas and it is a great help.

So thankyou Sharla, a lot of people appreciate and benefit greatly from what you write down here

PS. 400m intervals are no joking matter, I nearly died yesterday

Aww shucks thanks Salty that's a really nice thing to say coming from the tabatas god!

400s are mean! I'm considering taking myself down to 200s to build some speed up to the 400s since I feel they are not really sprints the way they should be but perhaps just sticking to a program for a while and overcoming my training program ADD is a priority!

I trained at my new gym tonight! It was originally going to be last Friday but they had time off over the new year. Just got back and I'm UTTERLY KNACKERED!

However I had soooooooo much fun!

I am unlikely to compete this year I think but that is fine with me. I'm actually relishing the chance just to remember how much I enjoy it! Sure competing can be rewarding but i think the base where the rewarding part really comes from is in the gym.

When I was competing but not feeling like I was progressing in any way it was always a struggle. I knew I was not getting fitter because trainings I did in pairs often did not work my fitness and I was taught according to the stage and benefits of my training partner so i didn't feel myself progressing either.

I could have won almost anything and not felt as good as I do tonight having felt like I moved forward a tiny bit.

I will definately get some fitness out of these sessions too since we start the session with a fairly intense warm up of sprints and pushups etc on the grass outside of the gym. The warm up is arranged with a sense of humour as well and I can see why the young kids enjoy their time here!

At one stage we do pushups and have to hold ourselves up on command and then roll on command. We have to look at him while we hold ourselves up but I forgot that the first time and rolled the wrong way - luckily I was on the right end of the row and while they went left I went right so I just managed to avoid squashing anyone!

Other things in the warm up include burpies, situps, relay sprint races etc and bunny hops. My legs were already a little knackered and felt heavy the whole way through but it is satisfying knowing even at the end of the warm up if nothing else I would get some fitness work out of it!

Over the last week I saw something on TV about how people who stay within a healthy weight walk 10,000 steps a day. According to the cadence readings on my heart rate monitor that's a LOT of walking. So along with my other fitness training for the previous 2 consecutive days I've been doing 110 mins of walking on my flatmate's treadmill.

I'm up to walking at 6.9 km per hour since that is the fastest possible pace I can do and it is work since i think if i was walking outside I might not maintain it. That has increased my walking cadence from 67 to 71 already! I'm hoping that increase in cadence might translate a little to my running.

I know that my legs really feel it because of the different muscles used - less quads and more of everything else I think. Doing swim sprints last night both of my calves cramped up which i think is a reaction to the walking because that is fairly rare for me.

I also find it satisfying since one walk has me doing more than 12 km and I get a sense of satisfaction I used to get from longer distance running without the impact and i think it has been actually good for my back.

Anyway now I've blabbed on about how jelly legged I am I'll continue with my summary of my boxing training.

It's a very casual atmosphere but the coach is really helpful. No one has been able to or bothered to help me with my uppercuts before enough for me to feel I'm doing it correctly. He has me doing it! He even shows me how to lead into it by moving in with a sort of long left hook / overhand thing which acts as a bluff while getting my weight in the right place to throw a nice uppercut.

We also move around and do something called toe tapping where he tries to step on my toes and then says four and I have to throw 4 punches at his gloves. It means when my weight is on my back foot I should naturally throw my right hand first (as an orthodox) and when it's on my front foot my left.

I'm not supposed to think about the punches but keep on balance and watch my distance and sometimes his gloves are positioned for uppercuts or hooks so they're not all straights. My flow feels better than usual doing this fairly quickly! To be honest with coaches in gyms before my last one I enjoyed pad work but in my last gym it just didn't feel right. I think working with someone without upsetting their natural rhythm is a great skill for a coach to have.

I get three rounds of sparring which i really didn't expect! Not the first session back! It's light sparring and fun except for the distinct feeling of impending death by heart failure i can feel coming on! I sparred a southpaw and i'm happy to have been able to tag him a few times since I am crap with southpaws!

Most of the guys there are in their teens with about three or four adults and one really young boy. The young boy has a LOT of fun! The coach gets into the ring and moves around on his knees (on a concrete floor

) and lets the boy hit him.

To be honest I think he's a little bit crazy since this little kid can actually hit, but the coach is extremely generous to personally donate his brain cells to developing them! Older boys there watch smiling and tell me they did that when they were younger. It's nice to see they enjoy it enough to stay and still enjoy it!

This gym is an hour's drive from my house and trainings are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It's not easy to get there but I'm going to aim to come back whenever I'm able. It's just fun which is what I think I need right now!

**Sharla** · 01-10-2009 05:31 AM

Pilates today. I get cheap classes as a student at the local WEA centre.

It was a 1 hour class and I enjoyed it.

I hurt everywhere after last night

so i like that I had something relatively easy to do.

The ideas are interesting and I'm looking forward to the next class - the one which sticks out the most istrying to keep the scapula relaxed and not raising them to breathe but concentrating on allowing the rib cage to expand sideways.

This is something I want to focus on a bit because the point where I tend to feel the most pain in my back feels like it is around where muscles between the scapula and the spine muscles join the spine.

I KNOW the lower back and psoas is involved in causing pain but perhaps the scapula being raised could be part of the problem or just inhibit things loosening up the way they should.

ICB · 01-11-2009 03:32 PM

Just dropping in saying good work im gonna be on the Trainer Section much more now. Dropping in on you Guys/Girls make sure you drop in my log aswell, i could do with a bit of advice here and there cheers.

**Sharla** · 01-11-2009 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by Nonito Donaire

Just dropping in saying good work im gonna be on the Trainer Section much more now. Dropping in on you Guys/Girls make sure you drop in my log aswell, i could do with a bit of advice here and there cheers.

Will do thanks

Hope the elbows are beginning to feel better

ICB · 01-11-2009 07:09 PM

Originally Posted by Sharla

Originally Posted by Nonito Donaire

Just dropping in saying good work im gonna be on the Trainer Section much more now. Dropping in on you Guys/Girls make sure you drop in my log aswell, i could do with a bit of advice here and there cheers.

Will do thanks

Hope the elbows are beginning to feel better

Yea there feeling fine its mostly just my forearms that get most of the sharp pains. Im laying off the Barbell Curls for awhile and im gonna focus more on Dumbells/Chin-Ups ETC. Just had two really good sparring sessions today, so im feeling pretty good. Im also gonna be doing swimming more often now like i used to do in high school.

**Sharla** · 01-12-2009 09:09 AM

Sounds like a good plan Ice - I will keep an eye on your log.

Monday Boxing training.

Couldn't get out of uni until 5:30 so I got there a little late and missed half the warm up!

Still ended up getting a good workout though.

Did a little running, push ups, burpies and ab work to warm up. The ab work is funny. There are a couple of very small kids there brought along with their dad.

The rest of us have to lie down in a circle with our feet six inches above the ground while the kids walk on our stomachs. The smallest boy gets right into it and really stomps as hard as he can -I'm soooo glad he's light!

Then straight in for sparring again which suprises me!

I sparred six rounds with three different guys. I can tell I really need to increase my hand speed and tempo again. I manage to pick it up a bit in the last round but it will take some work! I like working with the different sparring partners and different styles though!

Then I did 3 or 4 rounds of shadow and a couple doing mit work with the coach the same as last time. To be extra mean he throws some burpies in the middle for me!

Then to finish off I have to carry a log - yes a log - apparently it's a tradition - and run around the oval. Bloody awkward thing! I am soooooo unfit!

The sad news is that will be my last training at this gym! The coach has got fed up with boxing SA also and with some political issues with people that are just plain ridiculous he's ready to fly back to the UK and open a pub with his brother within the next few months!

Another guy there is considering taking over and registering the club for this year but he's not an accredited coach. I open my big mouth and say that I am and his eyes light up as if I just solved all his problems but I regret it almost immediately. I know exactly what Dave means by boxing SA politics which is a big part of why I'm not interested in competing this year also.

I have a feeling I won't be asked to help out because one of the two boys in the gym interested in fighting won't without Dave coaching perhaps because he's not 100 % sure he want to anyway. It's expensive to register coaches and clubs then for only one other person.

I say I'll help out if they need someone accredited in the corner but I'm not really ready to coach - I'm still learning myself. Dave says no you'd be a good coach. Damn standards are low if I'm coach material!

Thing is in SA they are! We go on to have a conversation about all the coaches in SA who have fighters but have NEVER actually fought themselves. Many of them are also very involved in boxing SA politics and extremely strict asking more from kids making weight etc than they have ever experienced themselves which is just stupid and dangerous.

Another coach who actually does have some decent experience of his own is so fed up with the politics he wants to just take all his fighters interstate to compete! It's sad! I am seeing the slow death of boxing SA right here!

Anyway the coach Dave offers to work with me free of charge between customers everynow and again in the city. He works as a personal trainer and I live close to the city so that will be great and it's really nice of him to offer!

I was actually considering paying him for extra coaching when I found a job and was no longer a pov student but it's a pity I won't be able to supplement that with sparring a variety of people like I did tonight!

**sourpuss** · 01-13-2009 02:04 AM

Aaahhhh the politics of amateur boxing. No wonder the sport is struggling.

**Sharla** · 01-13-2009 05:31 AM

Originally Posted by sourpuss

Aaahhhh the politics of amateur boxing. No wonder the sport is struggling.

Yeah politics ruin everything!

Just when I'd found somewhere really fun and constructive to train too!

Problem is the politics that discourage the right people from staying in it!

It's people who think it's ok to big note themselves and pretend they know everything based on no actual boxing experience who try to promote themselves through younger participants who thrive in this system!

I guess this happens in everything ultimately and to make the most of anything a bit of flexibility might be required!

**Sharla** · 01-14-2009 11:03 PM