Saturday July 10, 2010 is a Rugby Sevens Day

The next morning I skipped my usual Viking Warrior workout because I didn't want to work out then have my muscles cool down in the car during the half hour drive to the rugby pitch. Still feeling full from the day before, I had two small plums and a quart of water for breakfast. I arrived at the pitch around 8:50 to find out that of course, we were up first to play at 9 am against the Sequoias. I went through a quick neural warm-up/super joints combo warm-up and got ready to play.

The coach put me in for a few minutes in the second half. I still get butterflies and pre-game jitters, but they all disappear after the first few tackles. Then it all just becomes really fun. The game is mostly a blur except for a few tackles and sidestepping around a defender, but having it called back being ruled a forward pass. Here I have to remember to stay steeper behind my teammates to ensure that the ball is passed behind and that I can run onto the ball full speed onto the ball. Sort of like a game of Red Rover - I'll have a better chance of breaking through their line if I'm running full speed.

The second game we played against the Sacramento Amazons. Last time we stuck to the game plan, passed it wide back and forth until we found a hole and ran it up the field. This time they stuck more to that game plan and we ran straight up the field and into contact. I had a much tougher time making effective tackles. One of my teammates, Erin commented that it seemed like I was thinking too much. I had a banana for lunch and got ready for the next game.

Next up was the East Palo Alto Razorbacks. Game face - check. Pissed off about the last game and looking to level a team - check. To start the game, the razorbacks kicked the ball off to us. For some reason in the past kickoffs have never come anywhere close to my general direction. As the ball sailed right towards me this time I couldn't help but think "Really, you just kicked it to me? Alright, game on." The ball continued to sail right over my head and into our try zone. I picked the ball up and ran it out, saw a hole cut to the right, saw another hole, cut to the left, was into open space, outran the other teams sweeper and touched the ball down right between the goal posts. This was the first time the game has felt instinctual and fluid for me. It felt like a game of touch, but with the realization that if I was at or just beyond their fingertips, they weren't going to be able to make the tackle. Now the challenge is to be able to access this feeling on a more consistent basis, and to have it with all other skills including passing, tackling and kicking. With the momentum on our side we went on to win this game pretty decisively.

The third game we played the Berkeley All Blues. We beat them in a close game the last tournament, but they ended up with the win this time. Both teams went scoreless the first half, but Berkeley managed three tries in the second. Again, it seemed like we resorted to 15s style play. For me, my try the game before might have gone to my head a bit. I ended up running into contact when I should have been looking to pass earlier and get the ball wide. Conditioning was also a factor here. I had 3 quarts of water during the day and probably could have used at least another one to two quarts. When I stood up before the match, my head started throbbing, a sign of dehydration. I did feel better out there than the last tournament only having 2 quarts of water, but not to the level I wanted to be at. My goal is to go as hard and as fast as I want for full time, and to not even have to think about my conditioning on the field. Luckily, all the info I've been learning over the past few years since becoming a part of the RKC community has given me the tools to make this a reality. My conditioning level has definitely improved over the past few months, and with a liberal application of hard work will continue to improve