Whew! Sorry, it's been awhile, so I'm just gonna jump right back into it.

Someone asked about my mental game-how I stay motivated and keep pushing during hard times (poor weather, lack of games, etc.). Well here goes..

It's really really REALLY hard. Recently I've been quite motivated by the World Cup and having a real chance to play on the team that represents the USA. I think about going head to head against other wingers as I'm lifting or doing sprints. I love to visualize crushing their spirits in the heat of a huge World Cup match!
..However, it wasn't until about two months ago that I really had this mental breakthrough with myself. I knew I was in the pool, but never really let it in my head that I have a real shot at wearing a US jersey in London this summer. Before I made this mental breakthrough winter workouts were hard, daunting tasks. I couldn't see past the very near future (and I mean like one week) and with zero games in sight it made it extremely difficult to push through workouts.
I recommend finding a buddy to workout with. For me, this gave me someone I was accountable to for each workout and someone tangible-physically by my side-I couldn't let down. I had to get to the gym for that workout or my buddy would be alone. It also made working out a lot more fun!

The past few weeks have been great for workouts and for playing rugby. The weather is warm! The games are frequent!  And..the senior select side season started two weekends ago. It's really fun to play with skilled players from different club teams. We (NRU-Northeast Rugby Union) have a few games coming up and I'm looking forward to them.

Cheers to all the good weather rugby going on! : ) (more)

FINALLY!!
This weekend marked the opening games of the spring season for NYRC. I can barely explain how much anticipation and excitement I had leading up to this weekend. It seems like it's been forever since I last played. I know it was a much shorter period than for most of my teammates (since I got to play Canada in January-but that was only one game!), but for a rugby addict like me-any time is too long!

So, this weekend came and went and I got a total of 4 games under my belt. I played with NYRC in the Village Lions tournament. I got to build myself up over the day and felt really good about my off-season work going into the spring. I got some good feedback from my coach which was really great to hear! I guess that World Cup workout is really donig the trick : ) PLUS, it was sooo much fun!!

Unfortunately, we have off this weekend, so I'll be waiting around with the rest of the area ruggers for our next game. Sticking with training and skills work for now. For those of you who aren't blessed with year-round warm weather you know what I mean about this lapse in playing rugby and how fulfilling it is to get out on the pitch after the winter break. For those of you who get to play all year round --lucky lucky lucky!

I've been on spring break for awhile now and my fitness training has been really great. I'm getting in a TON of work and I really love it. I have to say that the 8 week cycle is getting pretty long and I'm tired of doing the same thing over and over, but the end is near and a new cycle will be out soon. I'm also really excited about maxing out with my lifts. I think my numbers are going to get a good boost this time around. I'm feeling really confident and strong! Wish me luck : )

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