Sharla's Log

[Sharla]

Thursday

Woke up tired. Did a lunch run with one of the girls from uni. She's just returned from a knee injury too. She comes from a netball background so hasn't done any distance running but is good at a short sprint. He physio has set her a plan for running sprint on the long side of a soccer oval and walking the short sides for a total of 10 laps.

We do a jog warm up, stretch, a jog lap of the oval and then start her physio's program. I jog backwards when she walks the short sides. overall it doesn't take long. We then do another 5 minutes jog to cool down and stretch again.

I like running with other people because it forces me to be more sort of versatile. She's good at a short sprint so I'm forced to practice that with someone to race. It's not a hard session and it's short but in my experience it won't be long until I'm getting a lot out of these sessions.

I was a sort of informal running coach for a heap of friends at uni before I hurt my knee (some of them also decided to pop out babies and move for work too). Now looks like that's going to start again. It's a good way to get in a bit of a social life without sacrificing my training.

Thursday arvo. Mum calls me when I'm cycling home and says she'll drop around for a cuppa before I head to training. That's easy now since I live closer to the city where she works. I'm tired for some reason and she talks me into taking the night off because I don't want to get sick like last time. She might be right but I really with there was some sort of quick easy way to tell whether you're being a lazy, sissy, slackarse and when you actually need and should have a break!

[Sharla]

Lunch run with Sarah

Sarah's an ex-SASI funded kiaker - right now she's not at her fittest but we used to run together a lot and I know she can be pretty gutsy and pushes herself hard so while the pace is easy now it will become more challenging fairly quickly. Plus I love the motivation of feeling like I have a responsibility to my running buddies and hopefully now moving stuff and conferences etc are out of the way I can kick myself up the but and start doing some hard conditioning workouts in the mornings so lunch runs are a bonus.

Today's run was an easy 40 min jog - except for the TWO - Yes TWO times we had to sprint away from killer swarms of bees! First time i was running backwards because Sarah was getting tired and jogging slowly - Sarah was looking down, I was looking backwards and suddenly we were surrounded!

Sarah saw them first - I am soooo not observant - signalled the sprint and after a few metres being allergic and selfish I left her behind to outrun the stragglers of the swarm of bees which continued to chase her for another 50 metres (yes I'm a coward but I can die from a bee sting and as far as we know Sarah's not allergic).

We then changed our course - exited the oval and continued running through the arboretum for a while and decided it was time to go back. jogging up the dirt road which should have been reasonably far from the first swarm the bees had cut us off at the pass so to speak. The dirt road was blocked so we then had to go around the block and walk up the main road to return to uni.

Luckily neither of us got stung but we did forget to stretch! We had stretched after a brief warm up jog before the run though so hopefully we won't pull up sore. Shouldn't since it was an easy pace.

[Sharla]

Friday Night Boxing

Didn't feel up for some reason. I've decided that there's often a link between the psychological and the physical with these things. I've decided to look for any reason I might be lagging physically when I'm not mentally into my training. I don't like to think I might just be loosing my 'heart' so to speak.

Did a good looooong stretch and did feel slightly more ready to train after that. While I stretched Kristine decided to go for a run since she does all her training at night - she runs before boxing. Other things I'm gonna try to improve when I'm not feeling motivated might include, hydration, nutrition, my sleeping pattern and I'll remember that sometimes when I've been lazy my body has a compulsory bitch about getting back into it because it's decided I'm finally letting it get old and fat and preparing to live out my days on the couch watching reruns of "Friends" while pigging out on food from a take away joint.

Skipping didn't happen - Kristine wanted to get straight into it when she got back from her run. All night we worked by the bell - 3 minute rounds with 1 minute breaks. We started with partner footwork (following each other maintaining distance) for a few rounds. We then went on to do about 3 or 4 rounds of partner shadow sparring. After that did chase - one person attacks with anything they like while the other can only use a jab. I do notice that doing work after shadow sparring I notice all the punches that come close without hitting. I don't flinch but I'm aware of them which I think is good because I notice the times i am open even when Kristine can't quite catch me.

This used to be very difficult for both of us but I guess we've improved our timing with our jabs since it's not so hard to be chased anymore. Took turns doing that for I guess 6 or 8 rounds? Damn can't remember and it was only last night!

Just before we finished Kristine pulled something in her neck when she made a sudden move trying to slip or something. She seized up and I dropped my gloves to help her. A 15 minute massage later and some hamstring stretches and she's ok. I notice that she has all the same knots etc that I do. Maybe trying to force hard punches while using parallel movement makes us strain something? We don't have a lot else in common.

Paul calls to find out about my next bout. It is now fixed for November 11th. That's good - gives me some time to settle into my new routine and get down to weight without killing myself. Having said that we know that my opponent will be at least one kg heavier than me. If past experience counts for anything I'll fly over to Melbourne and when there find out she's more like 5 kg heavier than me! Still it's a good rehearsal bout for the nationals.

If she's meant to be a bantamweight and she's heavier I'll assume she's just not in prime fitness and doesn't have a huge strength advantage. If she's naturally heavier she won't be one of my opponents in the nationals but she'll still be practice for me and I'll rely on the ref and my coaches to make sure I get out of there alive. Hopefully i can run away and counter good enough to survive a bigger brawler anyway - only reason to worry would be if she's taller and skilled.

Saturday Morning boxing

Ran to the boxing gym - about 15 mins - then stretched - forced Kristine to stretch too. She's much tighter than me in the hamstrings but much more flexible in the gluts. My gluts are so tight i can barely even get into the stretch!

We take along time to stretch ourselves and each other properly so again go into the training without skipping. In hindsight I think that was a mistake. I'm a bit heavy on my feet today and don't lighten up until the very last round. We start with footwork and shadow sparring as on Friday night. Then we go through chase again until we're finished. About 10 rounds maybe? Stretch each other again. Kristine's hamstrings are sooo tight as are my gluts but at least now we have each other to make sure we're looking after ourselves.

Before she seized up I don't think Kristine appreciated the importance of stretching and since fighters in our gym don't train in a class format we only stretch as much as we make ourselves stretch. Our coaches are not physical conditioning coaches. None of the fighters really stretch a lot so now I intend to change that so I am not tempted to skip stretching because someone else who is not stretching has already finished warming up and they're waiting for me.

[Sharla]

Sunday
1 hour 20 min run.
Meant to be longer but turns out daylight savings started and I had to be somewhere at 12 - when I thought it was 11 and had to cut my run short to show up late! Typical of me!

Then got phone call in the afternoon from State coach wanting to know why I didn't turn up to state training - which i had no idea was on. I'm wondering what memos I keep missing! Still looks like it will be held at my gym this coming sunday (rotates to different clubs) so at least it will be easy to get to!


Monday Morning

Morning weights and then 30 min swim. Did deadlift followed by plyo jumps, dumbell chest press on fit ball followed by clap pushups, wide grip lat pull downs, weighted plank holds. All with 5 min timed recovery during which i did some dynamic stretching. All reasonably heavy weight and low reps. Had to be careful though since I don't have a spotter.

[Sharla]

Didn't manage to get to Judo Monday night - another uni deadline but that's what judo nights are for - fun flexible sessions since I've got 5 boxing sessions a week apart for the 2 judo nights anyway.

Tuesday

Spend all day still finishing uni work but can train at night.

Night boxing
6 rounds skipping
3 rounds shadow sparring
4 rounds bag
4 rounds sparring Theo

Enjoyed it - mentally got the concept of a peppering jab and how it might be used when my opponent is close to the ropes (especially if they're taller) for the first time.

Then went to the aquatic centre.
Did similar weights routine to yesterday except close grip lat pull downs instead of wide grip and weighted push ups instead of dumbell chest press on the fit ball and bench crunches with a 10 lb weight held with arms out straight above my head for abs.

Then finished off with 20 mins on the treadmill. Noticed how much faster I run when I keep my core firm and watch my posture. The SLOWEST I can run without kicking the front of the treadmill is 14.1 km per hour and the fast intervals feel good.

Wednesday Morning

30 mins swim. Spend some time in seminars planning my swimming proram though so will be injecting more structure into my swims for now on....

[Sharla]

Wednesday Night

Judo. Glad to find I'm not getting nautious with the rolling etc anymore. Makes the training easier to enjoy. I do have to force myself to relax a little though. I find myself wanting be very particular about the technique for everything but I'm not meant to be getting hung up on that sort of thing just yet!

Cycle home since after putting mats away after training there's no time to do weights at the aquatic centre as I had planned. I am a little sore from weights on Monday and Tuesday anyway so will do more later in the week.

Thursday

I am pathetic. I had moved my alarm clock away from my bedside so I had to get it up to turn it off. It worked for one morning but I kept pressing snooze and getting back into bed until I had no time to train.

Then I realized I could run to uni and get a training session out of that without needing a lot more time than it would take for me to cycle. It worked out well although since it's gradually uphill all the way and takes about an hour my posture is not as strong as I would like which makes me a bit slow. Also the bum bag I have packed with a change of clothes etc bounces around a lot so I'll have to start leaving clothes at uni.

Thursday night boxing

I get there and find out we're sparring tonight. I have time for about 4 mins skipping and 3 rounds of shadow boxing before getting in for about 9 straight rounds of sparring. Theo, coach Arthur and coach Paul alternate working with me. Coach Paul is the hardest to spar because he's tall. Coach Arthur goes southpaw for me and i still don't really know what to do about it. ......... Need to read up on that again - I'm sure I've quizzed trainers on the forum about it before!

Kristine helps me stretch and I her. I had promised her a massage since she cramped up last week so for an hour after training I do battle with all the knots she has in her muscles before walking home - find my keys have detached themselves from my little keyring maglite and fallen out of my bumbag (I am cursed by the key gods!!!) have to walk further to where my flatmate is having a late dinner then home again - about 40 mins walk total. Then I have to stay awake to let my flatmate back in when he gets home but that's not all bad because I have a good stretch which I really need since my lower back hates me!

[Sharla]

Decided - partially due to laziness - to save my energy for sparring Omar tonight at Rods. Cycled to uni and at the end of the day cycled to Rods gym (in the rain) only to find out it'd been cancelled! Then I had to cycle to the landlord's to get a spare set of keys (still in the rain) and home (in the rain). So basic theme of the day has been cycling in the rain - over 3 hours of useless cycling and no sparring I really don't know how I'm the last on to find out when these things are cancelled/changed etc!

[Sharla]

Ok I thought I'd updated this but seem to have had a few days deleted so basically -

Hard State training session on Sunday but it went well. Worked out how to handle Omar a little better. Also sparred 2 other guys. 6 rounds total - 3 with Omar, 3 with the others. Omar switches from southpaw to orthodox and now I can spot it (with Arthur's instruction) and adjust my movement to avoid his power hand I'm finding it easier.

Similar thing Monday night with coach Arthur. Sparred him both southpaw and orthodox. Found his wide lead jab as a southpaw difficult but went through ways to deal with it after sparring which made sense.

Swam for 45 mins after training.

Tuesday

30 min jog in the morning. Just trying not to stiffen up since sparring has been hard. Night boxing. Coach Paul was going to come in to help me work on my guard but he didn't show. Tried to do what he said we were going to work on with Kristine anyway. I don't think working off of the guard is something I'll ever be able to do that way though. I think I'll only ever be able to use it as back up when other forms of defence fail because I swear it's almost just like being hit without my hands there at all. They may stay there sometimes but I still feel everything, still get put off balance and still can't punch back immediately - unless it's deflected because I half slip it or am on the move. Conclusion - I'm just going to try to keep my hand in a position where it can catch or parry punches at the last second or just be there IF my slips and movement don't help me. Not completely sure of how to do that yet though.

[Sharla]

Wednesday

OK this is likely to be too much info for a lot of people but just in case some coaches of female fighters or female fighters haven't thought about this I'll post it.

Was on target to make weight on the weekend. Then weight went up by 1 kg which freaked me out. I thought - what did I eat!!!! Then was extra careful despite feeling a bit drained. Then got my period and came in under weight. I had fluid retention leading up to my period which made me gain weight and then i starved myself to keep my weight down. I should have real;ized what was going on but instead Wednesdays training was a write off because I was so drained.

Boxing training was frustrating. Still being expected to be able to completely absorb the force of a punch on my guard without any movement AT ALL when being hit by heavier people. It's never going to happen but a week before every fight I have coach paul decides I'm suddenly gonna get it.

Frustrating. I wonder if his height at 6 foot 6 means that when people punch up towards his head his guard deflects it which is why it seems so easy for him.

I usually spar people closer to my height and punches are always direct if I have to stand there in front of them the way he expects me to. Just don't want to do it! Head butting punches sucks!

Ate after training. Had some carbs int he form of toast. Felt better almost immediately. After that I felt ready to do something else.

I decided to try a makeshift vertical treadmill (idea from Scrap) since I think it forces me to have correct posture. used towels on the carpet in my room with a half deflated fitball against the wall to step on and a little extra cushioning below my tail bone (a dressing gown). Seems to be good for my abs but I'm not sure i'm doing it correctly since I don't get my heart rate up very much. Did it 2 X 30 mins with some fitball work between.

Thursday morning

20 mins vertical treadmill - breakfast - then 30 mins run outside.

[Sharla]

Thursday Night Boxing

My pay didn't go in when I expected it to today and I spent all day stressing about it. Then it went in late afternoon just before I went to training. I'd exhausted all my stressing to the point of having to relax.

Wa La I find my guard. I just decide to have a go at it doing partner work and it works. i get Kristine to unload everything she has at it and it works. What The!!!! I think before I was trying to stop everything on my fists but it holds better when I use my forearms. I'll keep it for particular purposes though since I still don't believe it's good to use in every situation.

I feel like a knob though - I've been whinging about my trainers not letting me give up on this for AGES! Like 2 years!

[Sharla]

Friday

30 min run at lunch - nothing too stressful - half of it running backwards, all on grass or soft ground.

Night boxing

Not a long session but a focused session. I'm making a deliberate attempt to relax now and just trust my coach. I think I inhibit myself too much when i don't. A few minutes skipping, shadow - half alone and half partner shadow with Paul, pad works and that's it.

Saturday morning - on weight - or somewhere between 53.5 and 54 depending on the spot of the floor I put my scales on! Going to swim to loosen up and am catching the plant this arvo.

[Sharla]

Caught the plane,

Got to the hotel and did a quick session of footwork, shadow and pad work outside. Relaxed for the night.

Sunday is a long day. It's a 3.5 hour drive from Melbourne to the show, then weigh in about 2 hours before fighting and then drive back (longer return since we got lost).

I haven't yet decided how I feel about how things panned out. I'm angry but at the same time there were a few lessons here I had to learn.

I was on target to weigh in at 53.8 or 53.5 naked first thing in the morning. I've been watching my weight very carefully and I know I'll be at my lightest early in the morning - everyone is unless they are dehydrated. I'm not dehydrated. I drink 600 ml of water on the way down there in the car and I have a 100 g protein bar for breakfast. When they start the weigh ins Brizzi - who brings in the scales insists it's ladies first. I weigh in (around 12:30) and he insists i leave all my clothes on including my heavy jeans.

There's NO WAY those scales were correct. I had to have weighed at LEAST 54.8 with those clothes on. My weight is recorded as 53.3 - hers is 56.1 with lighter clothes on. She was meant to be a max of 55 kg tops - but in reality it think she was closer to 57 or 58. As soon as I've weighed in some rude asshole tells me "fighters only allowed in here and orders me out" - why did he think I weighed in? Just to check my progress for Jenny Craig! Asshole!

In hindsight Paul said we shouldn't have taken the bout - for someone as light as me that weight difference is significant and I've deliberately made weight for her without the same honesty being returned. Still we've travelled a long way and you need to give away weight sometimes to get bouts up in Australian boxing especially as a female.

If you want to get a match at 56 then admit to it and I'd have happily come in at that weight. I wouldn't be a strong 56 but I'd be 56 and even if I didn't get up there at least I could still respect my opponent at the end of the day. In the end she had some skills and the decision may have gone the same way had we been the same weight.

I have learnt a few things I need to work on - which I won't go into detail about here now that I wonder whether or not opponents will find this log. I can not put it all down to the weight. I am annoyed at the way I handled myself in the first round and then while I was better in the second I can't afford to fight that way even against girls my own weight. I needed the wake up call now before the nationals and I'd respect her for giving it to me if she'd made the effort to make weight and hadn't left me feeling I'd been going hungry for nothing.

Stupid really - she's talking about turning pro in December - so they're pretty confident - so why not test her properly and make sure we're the same weight?!?!

There are a few things I have to give credit for though. Boxing Victoria put the show on to raise money for the Make a Wish foundation - a worthy cause. Boxing SA they can't even make enough money to support itself let alone fundraise for anything else!

The crowd is really nice and cheer for me. More for me than her which suprises me. Victoria and SA have a traditional rivalry and I'm all prepared to be bood and hissed big time but that doesn't happen. Perhaps Brizzies gym is not well liked in Victoria.

[Sharla]

Flew back to Adelaide Monday morning - tired from the trip. Take the day off. I hope having fights on consecutive days at the nationals won't wear me down too much. I don't think it's the fight itself that's made me tired so much as the travelling though and being so angry at myself.

[Sharla]

Tuesday

Full day in the field. Taking time out pre-bout and to travel always means I'm further behind in uni work and have to catch up. It was too hot to work outside without breaks from the sun so I ended up working late instead - until nightfall around 8ish - then cycling an hour to Gawler to catch the train home. At least got in 2 hours of cycling and had to swear at flies so much all day I've cooled down by the end of the day. Have also spoken to my bro about what happened and thought a bit about the psychology behind the mistakes I made so hopefully I won't have a repeat performance at the nationals.

[gally]

Fair play Sharla you seem really dedicated to boxing and studying, im sure u will bounce back stronger and better from this expierience, i enjoy reading your log cc keep it up.