This blog is a chronicle of my life as a female athlete; the hardships, hurdles, and adventures... Here, I share personal bests and worsts with my biggest supporters (my husband, family, coaches, and friends) and pay homage to all the amazing female athletes who charged forward before me to sit boldly in seats usually reserved for men. Hard work works! Here's why:
Hotel Habakuk
11AM everyday
Language: Italian*
Level of Difficulty: Easy flow, poses, breathing exercises, and meditation. Level was tailored to the group.
Location: Outside of town. Best if you're already nearby (Ex Hotel Arena, Hotel Dras, or Hotel Habakuk).
*Teacher speaks five languages fluently and customizes her instructions based on the group.
Vienna, Austria
Bikram Yoga Wien Schottering
Daily Schedule Online Here
Language: English and German.
Level of Difficulty: It's your basic bikram beginner series. 26 postures, 105 degrees, 45% humidity. So, in other words, it's hell here too. ;)
Location: Downtown Vienna. Easy access to metro and bus lines. 15 minute walk from the center of town.
Tours, France
Ella Fit
Tuesday 9:30AM, Thursday 6:15PM, Friday 6:15PM
Language: French
Level of Difficulty: Advanced, but not cardiovascularly. This class was difficult on a metaphysical level*
Location: Tours proper, but more specifically, Les Halles.
*Can't quite describe it... This teacher was extremely in touch with the intangible. He really encouraged us to LET GO and explore our curiosity and acceptance of the unknown. He kept saying stuff like "sense this, experience it as if it's for the first time and the last time", and we'd be doing something as simple as ankle circles. Ahaha! This was really good for me, but I miss the challenge of Bikram. I'm gonna have to get into Paris very soon...
Today, a coach who is tight with some Nordic team coaches arrived to check out the remaining players on tour. HOPE! We had no morning practice, so I was able to get over to the five star hotel right next door and do some yoga and jump in the pool... That made me a very happy girl!!!!!! The yoga class was in Italian - which really got my brain excited to learn a new language! :)
We practiced at 3:30pm and then took the evening off. The BIP staff decided that our group needed a break, so we loaded onto a bus at 5pm and drove about thirty minutes to Doppler Vineyards for a full-on catered dinner with wine pairings and everything... It was absolutely incredible!!!
The Dras Center staff greeted us with Sparkling Wine, currants, blueberries, and melon (mmmmmmm!). We ate, and drank, and laughed atop the most beautiful vine-covered mountain with a 360 degree view of the surrounding valley and mountains. The sunset was incredible. Second course was Sauvignon Blanc served with homemade cheese, dried apricots and apples, and rustic bread. The main course was a buffet with grilled vegetables, salad, and kabobs with a red pepper spread paired with their muscato (which was surprisingly dry)... So, yeah - we ate well and got to forget about volleyball for a while (which made many of us very happy - a little too happy at some points - haha!).
Rasco (the main server at the Dras Center) gave us a tour of the winery and really just treated us like royalty all night. Seriously, I felt like I was on the Bachelorette for a second. It was just too good for words.
Another practice at 11am tomorrow and then we're off to a game versus a local pro team here in Maribor. Our last setter was placed in Denmark and left this morning, so hopefully there is someone willing to take her spot in our match! We'll find out soon no doubt.
PS - I forgot to mention in my Day 3 post that when I wasn't thinking about Gordon Ramsay's encouraging words, I was actually belting out bars from Sound of Music's "Climb Every Mountain"... (So funny how things come full circle because Heidi Bell taught me to play volleyball and if I recall correctly, she played Mother Superior in her high school play - ha!)
After yesterday's let down of not making the top 14, I woke up determined to play my best today... I was so jazzed that at 6am I was lacing up my shoes to go for a jog through the hilly paths just south of Hotel Dras. The forest here is dense, but the early morning light was cutting through the trees in fabulous shades of pink and gold. I actually stopped and stared - no, not to catch my breath! wink wink - to admire many of the little details about this place... The wildflowers are in full bloom. I spotted two deer and whole duck family (they "kvak" here - ahah!)...
In addition to the ski runs here (which double as mountain biking paths in the summer time), there is a ropes course, a golf course, a slide down the mountainside, two gondolas, a soccer field, an outdoor bounce house, a resort with yoga, swimming pools, a spa, and bike rentals... Oh my gosh - this town has so much to offer! Blah blah blah - Maribor is great!
After doing some yoga on the edge of a little reservoir outside our hotel, I went into the hotel restaurant for an early breakfast. (Have I mentioned how amazing the food is here??) I knew this would be my first morning that required coffee because I was up SO LATE and then woke up SO EARLY last night - I think my brain just needed to process the reality of hanging out at the bottom of this incredibly impressive lineup of skillful players/leaders, and thinking about how I've got to be ready for my close up today! :)
Right after breakfast, we said goodbye to two of our roomies - and five became three. Such mixed feelings!! I'm so excited for them and the adventures they are about to embark upon, I'm jealous of their success, I'm so so sad to see them go... Ahhh! It's so confusing... One second we're picking a girl up off the floor and telling her she has the next ball - the next second you're fantasizing about breaking her legs - haha!
ANYWAY - got ready really really carefully just to be sure my pre-game routine was done to a tee. It was. Unfortunately, we arrived in the gym to some bad news - that is - no more coaches are coming here to watch us... The bright side??
1. We are going to get some much needed down time tomorrow
2. We will receive more personalized attention from our agents/coaches at trainings
3. While we continue to improve, we buy time for the agents to drum up the best jobs that are still out there
4. We might be embarking on a little road trip of our own to visit them
Even with this disappointing news, I felt good as soon as I stepped on the court. No joke - I played the best volleyball of my whole entire life for the next two hours! I know the other girls noticed, and of course, ha! I could barely recognize myself, so I noticed, but it's really hard to say if anyone else noticed... My mission over the next week is to just keep doing things that get attention for the right reasons, and to continue to forge bonds with this incredible group of women... Oh man, I am impatient for the fulfillment of all of our dreams of making a team.
In the afternoon, we practiced again and after lunch, I rented a bike and ventured into Maribor on my own. It felt so so great to be on the bike... (More on this later - hehe!)
It's only the fourth day here and I already feel like I have truly experienced a lifetime range of emotions. I have laughed till my face is sore... I've shouted "let's go" more times than I can count... Sang "Climb Every Mountain", sat quietly, meditated, sobbed like a baby, and screamed YAY! like, well, like a school girl - which is how young I feel to be playing the highest level volleyball I've ever played right now. This experience is like a roller coaster off the tracks...
It's very late, so I must be going to bed now... More tomorrow! Good night!
I started out great today! Had great butterfly passing and nice hitting lines. But later on, during the six on six scrimmaging, I really started to see my dreams fading for the first time during this trip!!!! I lost confidence on serve-receive and never really recovered...
After the live streamed inter-squad match I was feeling down for not making the top 14 remaining players. So, I took a long beautiful hike up the ski run behind the hotel to clear my mind and relax a little... It was so beautiful! Breathing in the fresh mountain air felt amazing and at the top of the hill was this incredible view of the whole valley. It really gave me some perspective on what I'm here to do. I hope it helps me do better tomorrow.
The whole time - I don't know why - I just kept thinking about this quote from a Gordon Ramsay interview where he said about Hell's Kitchen something like, "They're all great chefs, but it's about getting through the process, winning challenges, and gaining experience along the way..." Something like that... Anyway, I just hope I can get my confidence back and put forth my best effort tomorrow.
I feel at home here in Slovenia. It's not that the Slovenian people are exceedingly welcoming, but I still just feel good - like I belong! That said, there are definitely some differences here I've noticed that are fun and interesting...
1. Here they keep the peanut butter next to the nacho cheese sauce in the junk food aisle! Not next to the jam, honey, or nutella... Nop. It's next to the cheez whiz. Ahahaha!
2. Scrabble is green:
(Quit looking at my letters, cheaters!!)
3. Ice ("led" in Slovene) is served on the side in a separate glass with it's own ice-cube-sized serving spoon.
4. No Bikram :( .... yet! Although I have met some other Bikram yoginis on the tour, and they are awesome!
Well, that's it for today! The volleyball players here are really amazing... I wish it could just stay like this and we could be paid to play with this group of ladies because they are a spectacular accumulation of both talent and personality. I'm feeling the love and lovin' it here so far.
The most exciting news of all time... We're live streaming a match tomorrow from the DRAS Center, Saturday, August 10th at 6:30 PM (Central European Time). California time that's 9:30 AM. Tune in! http://new.livestream.com/accounts/4789101/events/2307714
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