Sick and Tired (In the Best Possible Way... Hehe)

Starting my sixth week of a fifteen week jump training program called Air Alert!  My body is beat, but I'm jumping higher all the time.

Also, my jump serve is steadily improving.  Maguy has helped me in practices to systematically fix one thing at a time.  First, she fixed how I hold my serving hand.  Second, she fixed how I hold the ball.  Next, she fixed the height of my toss.  Then, she fixed how far I stand back from the end line and the size of my steps.  Finally, how high my hand is at the point of contact.  Now, for the first time in my life (and thanks entirely to Maguy) I can confidently say that I have a killer jump serve.  Woohoo!

On Sunday, we lost to the third seed in our league (25-22, 25-7, 25-20).  I can't even describe how frustrating this game was...  What an emotional roller coaster!  We came so close in the first set only to totally implode in the second set - starting out badly with a slough of unforced errors and then ending in a disappointing 12 point rut (stuck in a rotation we just could not sideout).  I didn't even make it to the service line...  Competing in that third set was not enough of a consolation to comfort us from the single digit shut out.  Ugh!  After it was over, I just went to the sideline and wept.  The locker room was quiet, but I wanted more than anything to tell my team, "I'm sick of losing.  I know we can compete with these teams!"  So, I just blurted it out...  Everyone was looking at me like, "Uhh.  You're speaking in English."  Haha!  Here's what I was having trouble with:

AVOIR MARRE DE - to be sick/tired of
j'ai marre de
tu as marre de
il/elle a marre de
noux avons marre de
vous avez marre de
ils/elles ont marre de

RIVALISER - to compete
je rivalise
tu rivalises
il/elle rivalise
nous rivalisons
vous rivalisez
ils/elles rivalisent

So, the phrase would've been:
"J'ai marre de perdre.  Je sais qu'on puisse rivaliser avec ces équipes là."

I'm more fired up than ever to WIN and I believe our team is right around the corner from really performing.  This week, I'm taking Maguy's advice and tapering my double days.  All this down time is freeing me up to rest, write, and chomp at the bit...  I'm excited to have a great practice tonight and blow our rivals out of the water this weekend!

Stumble the Mumble

We kicked off this month with a three game winning streak, chased immediately by a three game losing streak.  Our best game yet was against Rennes away, where we won in four close sets (14-25, 25-23, 22-25, 21-25).  We're currently sitting comfortably in the middle of the pack (6th out of 10 teams in our league).  The ambiance at practices, however, is far from comfortable...  Me and my teammates and Maguy are all pushing each other harder than ever to keep moving together in the right direction.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my double days where I workout in the morning and then practice in the evening.  Some days are harder than others!  On a clear Tuesday morning, I ride to the Saint-Avertin Amazonia to tag team the gym equipment with a teammate who works out there on her break from work.  On days where the weather is begging me to stay in my warm bed, I end up peeking out the garage door from underneath a pile of wool and three water resistant jackets.  Then, post self-pep-talk, I brave a cold and wet commute (I like to think of it as a refreshing ice cold shower - ha!) to Amazonia Saint-Cyr.

Amazonia is one of our generous sponsors.  It is an amazing gym with locations all over the greater Tours area.  From my house, there is one location walking/jogging distance (Saint-Cyr) and two other locations cycling distance (Saint-Avertin and Joué-lès-Tours).  They have all your basic cardio machines (elliptical, stair master, treadmill, stationary bikes) and all the standard workout equipment (weights for every major muscle group and a workout studio with yoga mats).

One funny thing...  All the cardio machines have audio outlets for streaming TV and internet.  However, the first time I saw this compartment flap cover - I'm not going to lie - I checked to see if wasn't an ashtray.  Nop - plugs for ear buds - Phew!  :)

Even more beloved than cigarettes to the French, though, is coffee.  And I believe I've already mentioned how much people appreciate snacks here, right?  Well, Amazonia wins the Best-Snack-Bar-at-a-Gym Award.  Hands down.  They offer an unlimited coffee and tea bar and yummy apples free for the taking!  So, when I can't motivate myself to go workout, the cappuccino gets me through the door every time.  Haha!

Anyway...  Ah yes, the title of this post...  I saw this quote on facebook the other day - no idea who said it - "Sometimes before you can walk the talk you stumble the mumble." This reminded me of another quote from Picasso who said something like "I'm always doing what I can't do, that's how I get to do it."  And THAT is exactly how I feel about working hard.  It can be a lot of two steps forward, one step back, but as long as you can stay the course, you reap the rewards!