Workout #19

Total rounds: 15

1. Jump Rope - 2
2. Shadow Box - 3
3. Speed Bag - 3
4. Double Bag - 2
5. Mitts - 3
6. Sparring - 2

• Today I sparred again with OscarD. 
• I knew he had a lot of experience, but found out he's 36 and has been boxing since he's 21. 
• It was not easy sparring after doing the Mitts and the other things. 
• The first round I won for sure. He tried coming in and got me a few times, but overall my jabs were able to keep him at bay. Once I got him with my jab a few times, he started blocking higher and higher. That meant I was able to get him with my right and then hit him with a few combos. Overall I did a decent job of getting him with combos after he started putting up his guard more. I was able to do a quick advancing jab which made him a bit more tentative. 
• The 2nd round was a different story. I was getting so tired that I couldn't hit him at all. He came in at will to hit me with a number of body shots esp. on my right open side. I'm usually able to get a number of jabs and hits in, but he came in quickly and I couldn't get him. He also hit me with a number of combos and I opened up my right to get him but stepped back and he hit me at the same time so I stumbled backwards and almost fell. Of course him apologizing made it worse since there were a lot of people watching me. With better conditioning I could have beat him since I'm much taller and bigger, but the conditioning really got me. I'm so mad I'm not in better shape. I wish my knees were good so I could run 5 miles per day to get in good shape. I was more embarrassed than anything. I vow to work on my footwork and conditioning so I won't be in that shape anymore to get hit back by a guy who is 50lbs lighter than me. 
• Afterwards we talked a bit and I introduced myself. He's a really nice man. He told me that he's been in a number of amateur matches in the last 15 years. I told him this is my first month and he said I was really skilled. Of course he might have been just saying that, but he said everytime he came in I was able to get him with a jab or counter. That's nice even if he was being polite.
• I think I was able to avoid most of his shots, mostly b/c I was taller and just leaned back. However, when I was tired and even with my guard up I was eating punches for a while. He also got my on my right side pretty hard and it made it hard to throw punches. I think bodyshots are useful but I don't have the speed to slide into a body shot, so I have to figure out how to hit the body while I'm inside. Not easy since then I'd have to keep my guard up to. 
• Things to work on: 1) never just block for too long, throw punches any punches. I think uppercuts would be good to keep a guy away for a little bit since my hands can still be close to my body. 2) Keep on attacking, even light jabs. I think if I hit with my jab early, then the other person will be more tentative in attacking. 3) Above all keep on firing. 

I think today I felt the meaning of what it means to become a coward when fatigue sets in. OscarD is in fantastic shape. Even after the mitts and sparring session, he went right back to hit the heavy bag. I'm actually a bit nervous and excited at the same time. I'm not even sure I'll make weight but now I'm more determined than ever. Today I was starving after my workout and I was planning on devouring something large, but exercised control.