Week 4: Change in Blog Format

Yes, it's true. I am being totally lame about completing my daily blog entries. The truth is twofold: I don't like to talk about myself, let alone spill every day. Seriously -- give it a try for 30 days, it's harder than you think. (Well, ok -- so you're the exception!)

Secondly, time has become more of a factor. Monday through Friday I usually spend at least 4 hours each day on a tennis court, either playing a match, attending a drill class or in a lesson. On Mondays, it's 7 hours. The weekends are cut back to 1-2 matches which allows for some recuperation. I also try to fit a weekly body work into the mix. (Trust me, I would spend every waking hour on a tennis court, if only my body could handle it!)

Taking all this into account, by the end of the day -- it's a challenge to find the time or muster the energy to blog. Added, in addition to tennis, I do try to maintain somewhat of a life. I am just not hugely successful at striking a balance. I hadn't realized I was such an all or nothing sort, but there it is. Just one of the many self-discoveries uncovered since beginning my tennis experiment.

In any event, there are a few people who come to mind that I miss and haven't seen since leaving the yoga studio, who probably hate me for being such a loser friend! (Dear Constance -- are you still speaking to me?)

So! (insert drum-roll here) Monday marks the start of Week 5 of my tennis challenge. Moving forward, there will be weekly recaps posted every Saturday or Sunday. These entries will include run-downs of matches played, any particular learning hurdles, and any tennis-related epiphanies experienced. If you're really lucky I may even include the outcome of my weekly report card. All for your viewing pleasure. During the week if something really jumps out at me -- you might find a stray blog here and there. Let's give it a try and see how it goes.

Tonight I'm playing a mixed doubles match against Suzy (3.5, my new doubles partner) and Brian O. (3.5). My partner is Coach Schneider. True to form, I am sweating bullets about it, especially given the fact I'm for sure the weakest link in this particular 4some. Oh well, worse case scenario is I play like crap *and* make a complete fool of myself. Seriously though, it will be good times -- so wish me luck!

tina signing off.

Day 30: Greener Pastures

I spent the morning in Marysville. Haven't been up that way in quite awhile. It was nice to see some pastures and farm land. Seeing that made me miss the Danish farmlands, along with their adorable and remarkably clean cows.

Anyway, it wound up being a perfect morning for a drive; traffic was light and the weather was amazing. Before heading back home, I stopped at the Nike Outlet. Anticipation ran high but unfortunately there was zero tennis apparel. Sigh. Do Marysvillians not play tennis? :-)

Today was a mellow tennis day, by design. I figured a lighter schedule today would be wise given yesterday. There was no tennis scheduled for this morning, had a lesson this afternoon and then played doubles this evening at AquaClub. It couldn't have been a better night for outdoor tennis!

Tomorrow will be a busy day. I'm playing at 9:30, have drills at 11am and at 6pm have a singles match with Ned. Ned and I have not played together before. He's rated a 3.0, so it will be interesting to see how I fare.

That's all the news fit for print.

tina signing off.

Day 29: High Score @ Mixed Doubles

*Spoiler* This is an obnoxious post to state for the record that I made the mixed doubles high score out of all 3 courts playing: 17 points! I beat out 8 guys for the high score. The best you can do is 24 by winning all 8 games with each partner. (My score for last week's score was 14. )

The guys I played with tonight hit the ball SO HARD! It was pretty awesome.

Yes, of course -- I realize it's not whether you win or lose (blah, blah, blah) but how you play the game. Still, I have discovered that I like to win. Come on, throw me a bone -- doesn't honesty count for anything?!

Day 23 - 29: Attitude Adjustment

Hey L -- what's up! I am so sorry for calling you accidentally so many times this last week, and (I admit it) again this morning. I can't help it! As you already know, my phone has a mind of its own. I promise -- it will probably happen again. ;-)

Hey everyone, I'm back! Just when you thought you had gotten rid of me. Um, no I didn't not fall off the face of the Earth. Though at some points I think I would have preferred just that. I was just feeling a little (more like a HUGE amount of a little) crabby this last week. That would be Ms. Crabapple to you, little missy! Overworked, underpaid, possessed by evil spirits ---you know the drill. However, after an awesome weekend, I am back in the saddle and once again back to my sweet self. (You're right: sweet is not a word often used to describe me.) Still, sweet or not, I feel like myself again. And trust me, when compared to the alternative, that is a very good thing.

Am currently fixated on making a quick trip down to Mexico in the next week or so. Feeling the need to spend more time by/in the ocean, and I want to check out the tennis court situation down there, so we'll see if I can swing it. Fingers crossed.

In tennis-related news, today started out early with a 7am match with Barb S. which, as always, was a lot of fun. Barb is one quick lady. At 9am was my weekly doubles flights with Jane D. We played 2 very nice ladies who both love to lob. Lots of lobbing. We had a 6-0, 6-1 win. (Good job Calamity Jane! Hope your shoulder feels better soon.) Moving on, I headed down to HS for my first 11am drill with some ex-cup players who meet every Monday. Boy, that is a workout. Today was reactive volley practice. (Split-step!) I'm seeing improvement, which is nice. Major drama at the club. And it's only Monday. But that's a whole nother story.

Anyhoo, made it to my lesson, which today is all conditioning. From this lesson I took away that I would not call myself over-coordinated. I got kudos for doing what was asked of me without whining or locking my keys in my car like a space cadet. Again, baby steps. (BTW, with such an improved display of attitude today, I would hope to not see 2.0 grade in the conditioning section of this week's report card.) After my lesson, I ran a bunch of errands which were postponed from the weekend. Ate a rather enormous salad for dinner. How very healthy of me. Part of me would like to wiggle into my so very comfy pjs or jump in a hot tub -- but wait! There's still-more-tennis! Will be leaving soon to mixed doubles flights at 9pm. Should be loads of fun -- will keep you posted on how I do. Peace out.

tina signing off.

Day 22: Yeah, Baby: Mixed Doubles!

I realize as I try to formulate sentences for this blog entry that my brain is quickly turning to mush. So please easy on the judgement if any of this fails to make sense. Plus for some reason -- I find this mixed doubles picture hilarious. From the back, the guy looks like Will Ferrell -- who, at times, I also find pretty hilarious. (BTW, have you seen his The Landlord video at http://www.funnyordie.com/ ? It's comedy gold. Well, that's a stretch. But it's pretty funny. Hey, cut me some slack. I'm tired.)

Today was a marathon day of tennis for me. I just got back home an hour ago from my final match which began at 9pm. I had the absolute best time this evening. My 5pm match was challenging -- the women are strong players with lots of drills and practices under their belts so I have some catching up to do there. But that's a good thing. You have to lose some to win some. Or something like that.

The highlight of the night was FC’s Rotating Mixed Doubles. I could never understand what all mixed-doubles fuss was about but I 100% get it now. Playing w/guys offers a great change of pace. So far all the men have been super nice – and like I said in an earlier post, they are quick and hit the ball freakin’ hard, which I love. Even if I can't always return it. The time just flies by and it leaves you wanting more.

Oh, and just one more thing. First, let me qualify this by saying I find braggers completely annoying. However, I just have to share that I was so on fire tonight. I have no idea what got into me – but whatever it was, I’ll take the entire case. IT WAS SO FUN.

Ok -- yada-yada-yada. You get the idea.

In closing, a great start to the week! 4 matches played = 6 hours of court time. Yes, it is true that in an effort not to overdo it, the plan was to moderate court-time. However, Monday’s tennis offerings are too good to pass up. So, in my defense, I compensated for today’s overage by scheduling only 1 match later in the day tomorrow, allowing for me to take it easy up until my 1:15pm lesson. I think that sounds like a good plan.

Not sure I’ll be able to walk tomorrow, but even so, it was so worth it.


tina signing off.

Day 20/21: Weekend Update

First things first: Hi Glendy! :-) I'm very happy to see you here, and even more excited to be seeing you tomorrow afternoon!

Big surprise: I am discovering it hard to say "no" to tennis. Seriously, who knew trying to take it easy could be such a challenge?

My weekend plan was to play tennis on Saturday with Laurie and then give it a rest for the rest of the weekend. Maybe do a bit of yard work, catch up on a book I started about a month ago, and pay a few bills.

Then my phone started ringing with tennis people wanting to play. Out of the woodwork they sprang! The weather today and yesterday was so incredibly perfect for outdoor tennis. Ultimately, I succumbed without much arm-twisting. In all, I ended up playing a couple matches both days, including doubles this evening with my new partner, Suzy O. We seemed to play really well together, which doesn't always happen -- so that was a nice bonus.

Plus I was still able to reorganize my closet (which sadly looked like a bomb had gone off in it!), read a few chapters of my book, do some yard work, grocery shop, walk the dogs, and even grab a quick nap.

Yikes, tomorrow is really busy. I just took a look at my schedule for Monday and realized I am seriously overscheduled with 6 hours of court time. At this late hour, not much I can do -- it's a little late and rude to cancel now. I play at 7:30am, 9am, 5pm, and again at 9pm. Plus I have my first 1 hour tennis conditioning lesson in the mix as well. I will just need to draw upon my super powers -- wish me luck!

tina signing off.

Day 19: Mixed Doubles: A New Flavor of Tennis Ice Cream

Sound yummy? Today was my first mixed doubles match, played at HS. I was so tired last night; I couldn’t get too nervous about it. However this morning I woke up with plenty of energy to feel anxious with. By the time I added a strong cup of coffee to the mix, I was having heart palpitations. (A sports psychologist might be in order if this sort of behavior continues.) Luckily for everyone involved, I was able to pull it together. Once on the court, I managed to get out of my head and into a groove – something just took over. Amazingly, I did really well. We rotated partners at 8, and I was on the winning side of all 3 sets. The pace of mixed doubles felt faster – as did the ball speed. I had a total blast! Also, I don't know if all mixed double men are as nice as the ones today, but throughout the match, they were supportive between points and generous with offering encouragement and 'Good Job's' when warranted. I certainly don't want to over-analyze, but it will be interesting to see if this personality trend continues or if it was an isolated event.

I wasn't scheduled for a match again tonight, which actually felt weird as I usually play at 6pm. I wound up getting a call this afternoon from one of my cup mates asking if I wanted to play this evening w/a group of 7 others, but I already had plans. Speaking of my cup team, this afternoon we played our first game of the season. Of 3 courts, we won Court 1 and 3. We had to default Court 2 when one our players got injured. I was advised this afternoon to get ready to play/fill her position. We'll see what happens with that. Until then, I will do my best not to get nervous about it.

Otherwise, my day was kind of strange and at times stressful. Even so, I am now complete putty and Zen-like from a 2-hour massage I was able to score this evening. (What?!? Hey, don’t hate on me!) I am feeling relaxed and ready for more tennis tomorrow. Playing outdoors with Laurie, bright and early!

tina signing off.

Day 18: Guess What? More Tennis!

Tomorrow marks the 8th anniversary of 9/11.

Currently feeling quite satiated, not to mention healthy, having eaten a huge salad for dinner, complete with sunflower seeds sprinkled on top. Happily, the sunflower seeds lended just the right bit of crunchy texture. One thing you probably don’t know about me is that I am a bit of a texture junkie with food and oddly enough, clothing.

Speaking of the latter, while shopping recently with my niece (Hi Anna!) we made the best find ever. We ran across the softest, most comfortable heathered-cotton lounge/workout pants. They are like tissue-tee material but still hold their shape perfectly instead of getting all stretched out at the knees 5 minutes after you put them on. They are made by Alternative Earth -- and trust me, they are heavenly. Yes, I realize I am once again getting sidetracked. Let’s talk tennis, shall we?

I was on the court for 4 ½ hours today. I started early, with my first match at 7:30am with Ramona. I didn’t play as well as I would have liked but I’d not slept well last night, which I’m sure didn’t help. Still I did a better job of planning the placement of my shots, which is a step forward. (Ramona loves to lob, which interestingly is frowned on at HS.)

Afterwards I headed to my weekly 9:30am cup practice, which is proving to be not only a sweat-fest workout but very helpful in terms of learning doubles technique and strategy. After practice, a woman on my team asked if I was available to sub for her tomorrow morning to play a mixed doubles match, which was an added bonus. This will be my first mixed doubles match and I am excited to see what it's all about. Excited and kinda really nervous.

This evening, I played singles with the ever-friendly Sue T. – and while at FC, I ran into Suzy, my doubles partner for the Fall, who just happened to be playing on the court next to ours. Afterwards, Suzy and I arranged a mixed doubles match for this Sunday evening, which should be fun.

Since Monday was a holiday, this week seemed to fly by. I am happy to report that the weather prediction for the next few days is sunny and warm, plan to take advantage of some outdoor court time over the weekend.

tina signing off.

Day 17: Back to Our Regular Programming

Egads! Enough introspection for awhile. What was that all about? (After all, this is not to be mistaken for Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey -- whose deep thought for today did make me laugh. Does that make me a bad person?) And please, don't even ask about the red hair. Eyes rolling back into head now. Though in my defense, I will say everyone thought it was natural -- well, strangers or people who didn't know that I was really blond thought so. I am part Irish. I think. Anyway --whole 'nother story. In any case, I'm not quite sure what got into me. Though whatever it was has officially passed.

Let's get back to TENNIS! It’s been a great week for it. So far the highlight was playing Barb S. on Monday. I was so nervous about playing her. She’s a 3.5, very quick and her ball placement is near perfect. One morning when I first started at FC, Barb warmed up w/ me when both our singles partners where running late. No joke, I think I missed everyone one of her balls – the pace and spin was overwhelming to me. I was expecting to get big-time bagled (i.e. a complete blow-out where you score zero.) but figured while it would be a snooze-fest for her, it would be great practice for me. We tried for an open court at 7:30am but because of the holiday, all the courts were taken. Barb invited me back to her home for breakfast, which was so sweet of her – and then we went back and played at 9am. Amazingly, I won the first 2 matches and though I lost the third, it was pretty close. I was shocked at how well I played against her. The experience further demostrated that I really must get-out-of-my-head (!!!!) and stop comparing abilities so much. Just be in the moment and have fun!

Today was my weekly USTA Singles Practice. Let me tell you, singles practice is a freakin' serious workout -- I must have burned 2000 calories in that 90 minutes. At practice, I met a few more members of my cup team. It was also decided during today's opening lecture that apparently I seem more like a ‘Stephanie’ -- hence my new nickname. I can also report that while there today I received a firsthand look at my cup teams uniform and got sized for our awesome team (skull/rhinestone) skirt. :-)

Then this afternoon it was off to my tennis lesson where after what must have felt like an eternity of feeding to my disastrous (yes, that is a word.)backhand returns, I can officially say that my coach has the patience of a saint. Poor guy. I’m sure it was painful to watch. You would have thought I had just picked up a racquet for the first time – or that I had my eyes closed. It wasn’t pretty. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. And it's an early one -- first match is with Ramona @ 7:30am.


tina signing off.

Day 16: A Walk Down Memory Lane

Again, feel free to skip this post as it has not a thing to do with tennis. Sorry. I know, I am so delinquent.

I was just perusing YouTube, looking at old television shows from the 70 – 80’s. It's too bad they don't make tv like that anymore. Watching the opening theme from Fantasy Island, Charlie’s Angels, and CHiPs (California Highway Patrol!) gave me a good laugh.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents who, for most of my childhood, lived only 2 blocks away from me. During that time, my grandmother’s 3 favorite things in life were Babette (her black poodle who hated me), shopping, and watching all her police detective television shows: Ironside, Kojak, Baretta, Barnaby Jones, Cannon, Hawaii 5-0, The Streets of San Francisco. (She also loved cottage cheese with fruit on top, which to this day I have never understood.) Since my grandfather worked the graveyard shift, she watched a lot of television at night. Given how much time I spent with her, watching those shows -- it's surprising I didn’t wind up being a police detective myself. Hmmm, it all makes sense now, doesn't it?

Several years ago my grandmother developed Alzheimer’s and around the same time my grandfather passed away. My grandmother now lives in a long-term care facility, and while she no longer remembers me, I have many wonderful memories of her. This is the woman who ate Milkbone dog biscuits with me! I would like to think some of my grandmother's fun-loving qualities rubbed off on me and it could also explain why I always misplace my car/house keys. As a little girl, I remember telling her that she would always be my first and best friend. She was a loving and fun Grandma, and I miss her.

tina signing off.

Fall Tennis Dress: Yeah or Nay?

Just in, this tennis dress is part of Fila's Heritage Line for Fall '09. It even offers SPF 30 Protection. How can you refuse that?

In my mind, the verdict is still out. While it's definitely unique. I just can't decide if it's retro hip or possibly a bit nurse'ish. Like what Nurse Ratched would wear had she played tennis (and been a real person.).

I was thinking a pair of red pom-pom socks to complete the look. Remember those?

As with most clothes, the ultimate decider is how it looks on. Will keep you posted, because I know you really care.

Day 13 – 15: Fighting Me, Me, Me

Blogging about yourself daily might seem wildly enjoyable or just plain easy but I have discovered it to be neither. After all how much can I say about whom I played, what shots were learned, and whether the match was won or lost?

Nearly 2 years ago marked the beginning of my goal to reach a healthy body weight through exercise and proper nutrition. While it seems rather obvious now, at the time I had no idea that the effects would be much more far reaching and encompass more than the pursuit of becoming fit or losing weight. What also began to change is not only how I view the world but how I interact with the people I share it with. Additionally I received a true introduction to ME, and all my carefully arranged nooks and hidden crannies; how I perceive myself is often my biggest challenge and, at times, obstacle. It isn't always pretty.

Being who I am, I am not especially compelled to bare my soul about any of this – especially in a public forum. Joking around comes easy. That being said, while I am not narcissistic enough to believe anyone other than Jim actually reads my blog regularly , I still find blogging/talking about myself daunting. However, though I don't necessarily share the sentiment today, I happen to believe being stretched past your comfort zone can be a good thing. Maybe for now it’s enough just to say, out loud, that this experiment is not all about becoming a better tennis player. Baby steps.

And You're Telling Me This Now?!

Disclaimer: I admit this post is not tennis related. However in an effort to find balance I have made the executive decison to every now and again add random posts -- you know, to keep things interesting.

The other day I was looking through some photos taken when I was in Mexico late last year. I had to laugh when I saw this one, and thought I would share. This is me (obviously) in the water with the boat captain who took Jim and I snorkeling to a chain of islands off the coast of La Paz. We were at least an hour, probably more like two, away from civilization (i.e. hospital, medevac, etc.).

So, what is so funny about this picture is that as the captain and I were walking into the water (the plan being to swim out to those rocks in the distance) he was emphatically telling me to shuffle my feet into the sandy bottom while walking. Somehow, Jim managed to snap this picture just as he was answering my question of "Why do you want me to do that?". His reply was that there was a large population of sting rays where we were. (Apparently shuffling or stamping your feet would scare them away.) Otherwise, he told me, you step on them and worse case, their stinger gets stuck in or goes through your foot. (Ok, so maybe you had to be there. But it was really funny.)

Day 12: Week 2 Recap

Today marked the end of Week 2 of my tennis experiment. Gimme some dap! Overall, I could not be happier with how the plan is progressing. Time spent on the court not only highlights my strengths and weaknesses; it provides opportunity to practice what then gets covered in my daily lessons: areas (footwork!) and shots that need improvement. Little by little, it’s all starting to sink in.

The one area of my experiment where the need for some fine tuning has become readily apparent is in the arena of weekly scheduling. Basically, there needs to be a balance between matches/practices, conditioning, and recovery time. Instead of playing 2-4 matches each day, the conditioning side of tennis needs more attention. Conditioning is equally, if not in some ways more, important as time spent on the court.

ANYWAY, while I enjoyed some great matches and practice classes this week, I think I overdid it. Energy-wise, there just wasn't much in terms of reserves. Once home, it took all I had to forage for food, walk the dogs, shower and hit the hay. As a result my weekly schedule is in the process of being retooled in time for the Fall flights/ladders/cups which all begin September 14.

Probably NOT a good time to begin the ice skating lessons I was looking into…

Day 11: Don’t Quote Me

I ran across the following quote about tennis and had to chuckle:

Why has slamming a ball with a racquet become so obsessive a pleasure for so many of us? It seems clear to me that a primary attraction of the sport is the opportunity it gives to release aggression physically without being arrested for felonious assault. ~Nat Hentoff

Thoughts?

Day 10: Que milagro!

Unrelated to tennis but important nonetheless: I am relieved to report that my home away from home, a little town in southern Baja, narrowly escaped a direct hit from Hurricane Jimena. I have been preoccupied worrying if the town would get totally pummeled but hoping for the best. Luckily, after making landfall, Jimena downgraded from a category 5 to a 3 and changed course. The town mainly received a lot of rain and some high winds, between 50-60 mph, overnight. Even with all the rain there was no flooding. Overall there was little if any damage. And of course, there were some huge waves, so I bet the surfing was great.

Well, today was certainly action packed! I played 2 matches, had my 1st USTA Singles practice class along with an hour lesson. By the end of day I’d spent about 5 ½ hours playing tennis. How awesome is that?

Tomorrow will be another tennis-filled day. I have 3 matches as well as my first practice for my cup team and a lesson. That ends up being about 7 hours of court time. It will be interesting to see if I have the stamina to be walking by the end of tomorrow. Considering my first match is at 7:30am (I know, what was I thinking?) I better get some rest, though not before I take a few Aleve for my barking dogs. :-)


tina signing off.

Day 9: Rained Out!

Not much to say except I felt a little drained today and couldn't stay warm to save my life. I am not sure what the deal is, but I'm thinking it could be nutrition-related. Maybe I am not eating enough or eating enough of the right foods. Any thoughts? (Please, save the waffle comments.) I'm hoping it is just a random thing but will keep an eye on it.

I played doubles this morning with Nicki, Kathy and Ellen. They're such fun and make me laugh. I had my lesson at 1:15pm which included work on backhand returns. "Left shoulder turned and low." Then we ended the lesson with some core work, which I actually found enjoyable. (Does that make me weird?) Unfortunately my evening match was rained out. Karen and I were scheduled to play outdoors at Aqua Club. You would think with 2 tennis club memberships, I would have managed to reserve an indoor court but no such luck. Instead we rescheduled for next Tuesday down at Harbor Square.

Staying home tonight provided an opportunity to catch some of the US Open, which began yesterday. I even turned on the living room fireplace for the first time this summer which. sadly, is a telling signal that autumn is upon us.

Have to get some rest, I have a super busy tennis day tomorrow! I play singles with Jane D. at 9am, then it's on to my first USTA Singles practice at 11am. Followed by my 1:15pm lesson, then in the evening I play with Sue G. Should be a fun day!

tina signing off