Workout #38

Total rounds: 10

1. Jump rope - 1
2. Shadow boxing - 3
3. Speed bag - 3

• This guy walked by me and said I was really skilled at the speed bag. I can't say I'm skilled, but I can now hit it at fairly high speeds alternating hands. For the most part, I know my hand eye coordination is significantly better b/c of the speed bag. 

4. Sparring 3

• I was kind of dreading sparring MikeT. He's so much better than me, and he's also big which means I have no advantage over him whatsoever. On top of that he's a southpaw, which means he's used to fighting orthodox fighters like me while I'm not used to fighting guys like him. 
• The first round, he came in pretty hard. He had already sparred another guy for 2 rounds, so he was going on his 3rd and 4th rounds with me. He came in to the head, body, basically got me at will. I didn't want to spar so hard, so when he came in I retaliated and got him a number of times with jabs and straight rights and a few uppercuts, so he hit even harder. I just couldn't stop his combo. It usually consisted of a fast jab, twisting uppercut, and then a straight left. Or he'd go uppercut, body shot, hook, straight right. Or he'd go jab, then right hook. B/c his jabs came with the right hand, I just couldn't block very well. I wasn't fast enough or basically good enough. 
• The previous trainer told me to make sure my foot is on the inside of his foot when I jab to close the gap, even though I did that he was so skilled at counterpunching. My head is still ringing. The 2nd round he came at me even harder, and I was tired so I tried to dance and move around a bit in the ring. He was very gracious afterwards, and though I did get him a bunch of times, if we went 3 rounds he may have knocked me out. 

• I sparred with a new guy today who said it was his first week back after not boxing for over a year. He was only about 180 lbs but really tall, about 6'2. He wasn't very fast with his punches, but he was able to move his head back really fast so I couldn't get him a whole lot with my jabs. I noticed he preferred to move his head to his left/my right, so I faked or just pumped my jabs and then hit him a bunch of times with my right hand. 
• We didn't go too hard, maybe 30%. I was going 3 rounds straight, so I was dead tired. I said I couldn't do it, but the head trainer said I could and threw this guy in there. I also had to close the gap on my jab since he was taller than me, so had to jab up. Now I know how hard it is to fight someone taller than you. He tried going into the body, but didn't have nearly the skill or speed that MikeT had so I was able to tag him in the face with my jab. 

Overall it was a productive session today even though my head is ringing. Two other guys sparred after us and were hitting really hard. I said whoa, and the assistant trainer said everyone is getting ready for the tournament so is really amped up and training hard. I have to do the same. 

I have a 12 day international trip coming up soon. I won't have access to a boxing gym, so I'll have to be careful about my diet and do lots of cardio and shadow boxing. I'm hoping the rest would be good for my shoulders and recovery.