East Coast Road Trip - Boston to Brooklyn

Ok. So just as someone thanks me for being so diligent about writing consistently, I slack off big time and go missing in action for a few weeks. I apologize for my absence and hope that you didn't miss me too much! Lol.

First things first, here is a quick recap of the last 10 days. I decided to pull out of the Boston event last Tuesday because I had sprained my Sacroiliac Joint in my back during the Manhattan Beach tournament. I wasn't sure how I would feel, so I tried to practice on Tuesday morning and I knew right away that I needed at least a week to let it calm down and heal. I had the same injury almost 2 years ago while I was in Australia. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, so I kept trying to play and ended up hurting myself worse and worse. It was an extremely difficult decision to make, but I knew it was the right one. Brooke was left scrambling, but partnered with Jen Fopma.

I ended up flying to Boston anyway. I had a cheap flight and was planning to stay on the east coast through Brooklyn. I figured I would get the flight out of the way, watch the tournament, get treatment in the medical tent, and visit with my friends. It was really hard to watch the tournament and not play, but it was really good for me to watch other players and learn.

I lived in the medical tent. We are provided with access to some of the best doctors, massage therapists, and physical therapists around. I kept them busy. I am so appreciative to all those people that give so much of their time to us. They help keep us all together behind the scenes.

I didn't practice for about 10 days because I wanted to make sure that my back was 100% healthy before I did anything. It was mentally gruelling not to workout! So instead of freaking out like I would have done in past years, I decided to have mental practices. While I was doing my rehab, I would close my eyes and visualize myself healthy again and playing well. I did this quite a bit until I completely convinced myself that I really had only taken off one long day, which my body needed, and was ready to pick up right where I left off. It helped tremendously because I never felt like I missed a beat. The only thing I noticed was that my legs got fatigued.

After Boston, I took a visit to my favorite Women's Health and Fitness Club in Ridgefield, NJ, Aurora Fitness Center. I spent the day there on Wednesday hanging out with my friend, Vito, who runs the club. Every time I go there, he spoils me and will not let me pay for a single thing! I challenged him to an arm-wrestling contest, but he said he is afraid he will lose, so its a no-go. I will get him one of these times! I got to hang out with the girls that work there, as well, and laugh with them as they prepared for the launch of a new class. It was a great visit and I always enjoy stopping in there.

Then on Thursday morning, 8 of us AVP girls rang in the morning bell on the NYMEX floor. I really goofed this one up. I told everyone that it was the NYSE, but I was wrong! Sorry about that! We had breakfast with a few men from NYMEX and then all 8 of us pushed the buzzer at 9AM and then we threw out AVP hats to the traders down on the floor. It was really fun and definitely not something you do very often. Having worked in Finance at Lehman Brothers in San Francisco, it was extra exciting to me.

Normally I would give a recap of each match of the tournament, but I am not going to do that this time. I am just going to tell you who we played and the scores and if you want to know more about the match, please write me to let me know and I will elaborate on it.

First match on Friday was against the 26th seeds, Ratto and Smith. We won 21-12, 21-16. We then played Angela Lewis and Pricilla Lima, my good friends, and won 24-22, 21-19. That was all for Friday.

When we finished playing Friday, Brooke and I were asked to throw out the first pitch at the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game. The Cyclones are a minor league team associated with the New York Mets. Brooke and I were both on the mound and threw our strikes at the same time. It was really fun. Their stadium is great. The stands were packed and everyone looked to be having a great time. We couldn't stay for the game because it was late and we had to get up and play on Saturday morning.

We then played EY and Nicole and lost in 3 games, 18-21, 22-20, 11-15. We were close, but couldn't pull out a second victory against the Boston Champions. After the loss, we dropped to the contenders bracket and had to battle our way back. We played Pavley and Kropp and won 21-13, 21-19. After this match, we had to break for the men's final for about 3 hours.

On a completely separate note, Brooke and I were honored to wear FDNY T-shirts on Saturday that were given to us by the FDNY in memory of 2 men who lost their lives fighting a fire last week. The firefighters were members of Engine 24, Ladder 5. Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia died while fighting a 7-alarm fire in the former Deutsche Bank Building in lower Manhattan. Please keep these men, their families, and their fellow firefighters in your thoughts and prayers.

After Phil and Todd won their 9th tournament of the year, we resumed play. While we were playing Pavley/Kropp, Rachel and Tyra were playing against Michelle and Suzanne in a one hour, 26 minute match. Michelle and Suz pulled out a huge upset and won the match. They were our next opponents. We won in 3 games, 18-21, 21-16, 15-7. I was so tired after this match. We thought that was our last of the day, but we were immediately told that we had one more to play. We had 20 minutes until we played Jenny and Annett in the stadium.

I really wish we could have played that match on Sunday morning, like usual, because it was 5:30PM and there were only about 30 fans left. I don't know about the other girls, but I was so tired. It is amazing to me how fast you can lose fitness. You can work so hard for so long to gain it, but then lose it so fast. I now know what it feels like to play really tired and I don't like it. I would rather work really hard off the court so that tournament time is easy as far as fitness goes.

Anyway, my husband told me to suck it up, so I did. He is good like that! He keeps me in line. I had a burst of energy in that match, and didn't notice fatigue in my legs at all. However, other muscles in my body started to act up and brought my attention elsewhere. Now we have Sunday and Monday off to recover and get ready for Cincinnati. I am so excited for that one. My family will be there, which is always nice.

We are in a really good position for the San Francisco event. We will know if we are in or not after the Cincinnati event. As of now, we are solidly in 7th place and the top 8 teams will go. It looks great, but you never know mathematically what could happen. I will keep you posted.

Thanks for reading!

Angie