Squat-quads and squash-butt

This morning I am more sore than I have been in months. Muscle sore, not injury sore. i.e. the good kind of sore!!

My quads are soooooo sore from cards the other night, and I know I can specifically attribute that to the jumping squats during 'cards' on Wednesday night.

Yesterday, I went for a 5 km run at lunch, and played squash in the evening at Women's City League. Right now, it's just a drop-in evening, play American scoring until you're too tired to move any more. What I discovered last night is that my endurance is amazing - I don't tire out. But my technique is shit!! A year of not holding a squash racquet and it's doing to take a while to shake the rust off! But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After a few games, I started thinking and planning shots rather than just thrashing the ball to bits. Footwork was a bit of an issue as I'm so used to having my left foot as my lead leg - standing in the backhand position with my right foot forward feels a bit strange. But it's all coming back to me and I think a few more weeks and I'll be right on track. Aerobically, no problem! I could play all night. I wanted to keep going but the other ladies were calling it a night.

Afterwards, we went to a local sports bar for some food/drink. I was good and only had a beer as I had eaten a healthy supper prior to playing. I realize I have to learn to be moderate. Cutting weight for my fights in Iowa was way too restrictive of a diet and lifestyle, and if I'm going to maintain a fight weight, or somewhere close to it, then I need to learn how to be moderate so the deprivation/binging cycle gets broken. I gained alot of weight back after Iowa and now want to lose it in a healthy way. That means being able to go out once in a while and have a beer with friends and not feel guilty for it, not beat myself up for it later, or, worse, deprive myself of regular food to make up for it. I don't know if I could maintain 145 lbs, but 150 lbs is certainly doable, and right now, that is the goal weight to which I want to return. No problem - that leaves me 10 lbs to lose. Again. I can feel the change between 150 and 160 lbs and I don't like it. Clothes don't fit the same. Running feels a lot more difficult. My Thai shorts don't fit the same. So. Back on the wagon and the 3 weeks of bingeing and post-fight crash have to come to an end.

I realized that now, for the first time in about 6 years, I'm not stressing and prepping for anything. Since coming back from Thailand, I've been prepping for a fight, and planning the science fair non-stop. And, with the end of the Iowa tournament, I'm free of big future goals. No fights this fall (as of yet) and the science fair is over. I'm finally, after a very long time, free to get back to "normal" existence. Back to research, back to normal training, back to (maybe) having somewhat of a social life.

Although I feel I need a goal to work towards - a fight would be nice. But maybe not until my foot heals.