This week has been filled with rainy days, long nights studying and two more wins. The persistent rain is making us all a little crazy. It’s harder to get up for class when you have to walk across campus with water logged boots and difficult to get excited for practice when the Boyden fields are close to becoming marshes. We have had to cut a few practices short due to thunderstorms and torrential rain. This may sound pleasant enough, having shorter practices, but in reality these shorter practices have meant a day of lifting. Personally, I think I would rather get struck by lightening than be in the weight room struggling through another “Hoffman circuit.”
To give you a rough estimate on my lifting abilities, although I have drastically improved since being here, adding any weight to the bar presents a considerable challenge for me. The 45-pound bar is more than sufficient. Whenever I hear our trainer say to add chains to the bar while squatting or to add two more 10 pounders to the bar while benching, my head starts spinning a little bit. My lifting partner Courtney has to be on constant alert when spotting me, we’ve had a few close calls. But my guns are certainly getting larger!
In regards to school, I’ve always been a huge procrastinator, believing that I do my best work when pressed for time. However, this past week I learned (the hard way) that maybe writing papers and studying for exams should be started earlier than the night before. This realization would have saved me two all nighters and some cash spent on coffee. Having my first college exam in the same week as having my first 2 college papers due was a tad overwhelming. Thankfully, I think I aced all three, but I was forced to sacrifice a lot of much needed sleep to accomplish it.
To give you a rough estimate on my lifting abilities, although I have drastically improved since being here, adding any weight to the bar presents a considerable challenge for me. The 45-pound bar is more than sufficient. Whenever I hear our trainer say to add chains to the bar while squatting or to add two more 10 pounders to the bar while benching, my head starts spinning a little bit. My lifting partner Courtney has to be on constant alert when spotting me, we’ve had a few close calls. But my guns are certainly getting larger!
In regards to school, I’ve always been a huge procrastinator, believing that I do my best work when pressed for time. However, this past week I learned (the hard way) that maybe writing papers and studying for exams should be started earlier than the night before. This realization would have saved me two all nighters and some cash spent on coffee. Having my first college exam in the same week as having my first 2 college papers due was a tad overwhelming. Thankfully, I think I aced all three, but I was forced to sacrifice a lot of much needed sleep to accomplish it.
Only adding to the struggles of sleep deprivation is my on-going battle with sinus disease and a healing broken nose. For this reason, I have become a little dependant on my cold and sinus meds. Unfortunately on one of these lethargic mornings, I mistakenly swapped the non-drowsy daytime with the “sleep-it-off” nighttime pills. As 9:30 rolled around, and I was otherwise sitting attentively in class, I suddenly started to feel my eyelids drooping. It was like I was being hypnotized! Via a Herculean effort, I miraculously made it through my only class of that morning, but proceeded to return to the dorm and literally pass out for the next 4 hours. Luckily I arose in time for 3:00 practice. As a mandatory precaution, I now keep the two boxes clearly marked and separated so I do not make that mistake again.
In soccer news, the Minutewomen have continued our win streak. Our A-10 home opener was last weekend and we came out with a 2-0 victory over URI. Although not our best performance, at this point in our season it’s all about getting those points and making it to the A-10 championships! My club coach always said that one sign of a good team is being able to play a little poorly but still finding ways to win – that is what happened against URI. In comparison, the Dartmouth game was a different type of victory. We played very well in the first half, especially the quick goal scored in the first minute of play. However, then we let our performance drop down, struggling with managing the lead. I believe that Dartmouth had close to 12 corners in the second half alone. It’s a good sign that we didn’t concede a goal in the last 89:40, but giving up that many opportunities late in the game is unsettling.
This weekend is our first extended travel of the season. First we fly to Charlotte and then to St. Louis (We will be earning some sky-miles this road-trip!). I’ve traveled a lot for soccer, and done a good deal of it on my own. So I am familiar with airport check-ins, security and food. However, in club you would travel to one city for a 3-4 day tournament. Flying twice for just 2 games, in a matter of only a few days, will be a new experience for me and for most of the other freshmen. Still, I’m excited to get off campus and experience the travel. This also means it’s only a 3-day week of classes, making it all the easier to get through the week. I’ve been told there is quite a lot of down time on the trips, giving us plenty of time to get some studying in. I’ve already started my next essay that is due next week, learning from my last blunder, so the added study opportunity will be welcome. If we can come out of this weekend with 6 more points, we will be that much closer to a chance at an A-10 championship! That is the goal, take it one game at a time and get back to the top of the A-10.
In soccer news, the Minutewomen have continued our win streak. Our A-10 home opener was last weekend and we came out with a 2-0 victory over URI. Although not our best performance, at this point in our season it’s all about getting those points and making it to the A-10 championships! My club coach always said that one sign of a good team is being able to play a little poorly but still finding ways to win – that is what happened against URI. In comparison, the Dartmouth game was a different type of victory. We played very well in the first half, especially the quick goal scored in the first minute of play. However, then we let our performance drop down, struggling with managing the lead. I believe that Dartmouth had close to 12 corners in the second half alone. It’s a good sign that we didn’t concede a goal in the last 89:40, but giving up that many opportunities late in the game is unsettling.
This weekend is our first extended travel of the season. First we fly to Charlotte and then to St. Louis (We will be earning some sky-miles this road-trip!). I’ve traveled a lot for soccer, and done a good deal of it on my own. So I am familiar with airport check-ins, security and food. However, in club you would travel to one city for a 3-4 day tournament. Flying twice for just 2 games, in a matter of only a few days, will be a new experience for me and for most of the other freshmen. Still, I’m excited to get off campus and experience the travel. This also means it’s only a 3-day week of classes, making it all the easier to get through the week. I’ve been told there is quite a lot of down time on the trips, giving us plenty of time to get some studying in. I’ve already started my next essay that is due next week, learning from my last blunder, so the added study opportunity will be welcome. If we can come out of this weekend with 6 more points, we will be that much closer to a chance at an A-10 championship! That is the goal, take it one game at a time and get back to the top of the A-10.
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