Such Promise...

From Scoundrel’s post, the 2012-2013 Racquetball season ended on a high note.  A 1^st in MN State singles Men’s 45+C and a 2nd in Men’s C.  A disappointing second I might add.  Still very good for my second year of returning to competitive racquetball.   I was looking forward to the 2013-2014 season and was expecting to be good results.  I took lessons from SteveStrandemo, a big time player in the early 80’s. At the 2013 US Open,  I lost out in the second round of Men’s C and 45+C, however, I made to the semi-finals in Men’s C doubles.  There was the win at the Turkey shoot in Mixed B with Sheri and a Consolation win with Alan.  Then came the winter of 2014 and I lost just about every match.  I was mostly playing Men’s B.  Was it my playing or was the competition much better? I finished the 2013-14 season on a down note losing out of both Men’s B divisions, B and 45+ B.   Nagging injuries crept in also, my wrist in February and plantar fasciitis in late April.   

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Racquetball Wednesdays

Woke up, got outta bed… Forgot to set the alarm… While it was Pete and Clark that restarted my racquetball passion 7+ years ago, it was the accidental discovery of the morning racquetball players that has kept me playing each Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 6AM. Because I overslept today, I didn’t get my pre-racquetball exercise and warm-ups in. (Stretching, jump rope, specific drills). Jumped right in and continued to skip shots. I Finished with 90 seconds of jump rope. 90 seconds of jump rope may not sound like much, but boy do my legs get pumped! I’m also breathing like a race horse.

 On Wednesday’s we have the regulars, plus the once a weekers. Today we had regulars, Al, (Nancy out with kayak injuries), Arlan the Quick, Steve the Greyhound, and Steve the Whippet. Additionally, we had Big Dick, Little Dick and Rex. I played about 90 minutes. Some singles, some doubles. Worked up a good sweat. 

The morning crowd is thinning out some now. We’ve lost Marvelous Mark to rheumatoid arthritis, Dale aged out and Kern’s shoulder can’t take any more repairs. Roger’s legs and age have caught up to him. Super Dave moved to the greener pastures of Milwaukee, and Ray never returned after the meltdown. However we did get a new slogan out of it, “don’t go all Ray now.” Ralph’s hip got the best of him. Jimmy the Mouse stopped after being hit one too many times (with the ball and racquet!) Jeff switched to LA Fitness. Recently, we lost Terrific Tom for 8 months with a torn rotator cuff and repair. Little Mike is just returning from knee replacement, retirement and moving up north. Steve the Whippet’s missing ACL is becoming a problem.

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Kettlebell Tuesday

50 minutes, 520 calories, 75% average HR.  My lower back didn’t cramp up until about half-way through this time.  I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of this problem yet.  It also plagues me in racquetball.  The gal next to me was using a 24kg as compared my 20kg for swings, goblets and dead lifts.  For doubles, she was using 16’s vs. my 14’s for cleans, clean and squat, swings and renegade rows.  Generally a strength session with ~ 30 second sets done in a ladder format.  We finished with lots of ab work – 2 rounds of pull-overs, planks, criss-cross leg raisers, side planks, leg raisers alternate leg.  Mixed in all of this were squat holds, sumo squats, 3 point hold and push-ups. 

I go to G365 for my kettlebell classes.  They are taught by RKC II instructor, Barb.  The classes are between 4 and 12 people, mostly women, mostly over 40 and strong as hell.  I seem to be the only one breathing like a race horse and sweating like a pig in class.     

Kettlebells are a key element in my training.  I get everything I need in these sessions - Strength, Cardio, Flexibility and Sweat.  It was Scoundrel who introduced me to kettlebells and if it wasn’t for kettlebells, I don’t know what I would be doing for general exercise.  While working on my technique, my goal is to reach 12 calories/minute for these sessions.

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Week One

The first week started out slowly.  About two weeks ago I increased my kettlebell classes to 3 a week (Tue/Thu/Sat) except for last week (only 2) because of the 4th of July.  The kettlebell sessions are about 45-50 minutes, burning about 500 calories with an 80% average HR.  On Saturday I played some pick-up racquetball with some of the regulars.  Let's just say I've got some work to do.  Skipping the ball has become a big problem.  I broke out the jump rope.  Initially aiming for 1 minute of jumping for warm-up and another 1 minute after I'm done playing, by the count of 35, my calves are burning and thighs are screaming.  On the weight front, I'm up 10lbs from 2 months ago.  I did not get any dedicated racquetball practice in.  

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What do I want out of this?

There are several aspects I want to accomplish with this training.
1. Improve my physical condition
    - Increase stamina
    - Get stronger
    - Become more flexible
    - Work on past injuries
2. Better court movement
    - Reaction time
    - Quickness
    - Movement
3. Develop racquetball skills
    - Serving, particularly my drive serve
    - Forehand
    - Shot selection 
4. Lose weight
    - Lose 20lbs

I will expand on each of these areas in further posts. 

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Herein lies the heart of the struggle

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