NYR 10-6-11 - tennis

Today was my last weekday tennis class before I start work next week.

Sigh.

For new beginnings, even when that means letting go of great things from the past, I am truly thankful.

NYR 9-12-11 - a good day

This morning I went to a kickboxing class at 6:30am and came home to shower before heading out to a coffee. After an hour there, I rushed out to my tennis class where I was smoking hot on the court. It was probably the best class I've had all year. I think I was channeling my inner Sam Stosur who had just won the women's US Open on the weekend.

I have no idea whether it was loosening up in kickboxing or the caffeine rush of the coffee, but I'd love to repeat the formula every day before tennis!

For hitting unhittable balls and my legs moving like they never do on the court, I am truly thankful!

NYR 8-25-11 - pick-up tennis

My tennis class was cancelled so a friend and I had a pick-up game which was a ton of fun and laughs and for that, I am truly thankful.

NYR 8-24-11 - tired body

After two days of back-to-back tennis classes, I am one tired, sore puppy. Both classes were great in small part to the fantastic new racquet I bought to replace the 400 year-old racquet I've been playing with and in large part, I'm sure, to my two tennis outings with high school friend, Dara, while I was home!:)

(Dara, this is a test to make sure you're keeping up-to-date on the blog!).

For a return to tennis, I am truly thankful.

7-15-11 - tennis at sea level

This morning I played tennis with my high school friend Dara. "Played tennis" might be a stretch. We hit balls around some, talked a bunch and laughed a lot. It was a great time, and I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED playing at sea level as opposed to 8500 feet, even if I was dripping sweat by the end and was as red-faced as if I'd run a marathon. I could breathe!

For a great time catching up with Dara, I am truly thankful.

watching Wimbledon

This morning I've been very lazy and have done nothing more strenuous than lift my coffee cup, make up our bed, take a shower, and watch women's tennis at Wimbledon.

If you were a blog reader last year, you may remember that I attended some matches at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston where I saw Bethanie Mattek-Sands play. You can read about that here for a memory refresher. You can also scroll down the post if you just want to see a photo of her outfit.

Did you see her warm-up jacket when she entered the court at Wimbledon today?

I give you the tennis ball jacket!
She's something else. The commentator called her the Lady Gaga of women's tennis, and I think he got it exactly right!

Gotta run - the tennis calls!

NYR 5-26-11 - when one thing leads to another

Today my friend Cammy and I had our usual Thursday joint tennis class. When I got dressed for tennis, it was sunny and absolutely beautiful. I wore shorts and a tank top with a t-shirt on top that I planned to strip off when I warmed up.

Except as soon as we got in the car to go to tennis, it started spitting rain. We're hearty girls and a little spitting rain doesn't scare us off the court.

Except that by the time we got to the court, it was raining pretty hard.

We tried to wait out the rain but finally decided that we hearty girls could play in the pretty hard rain.

That lasted about 5 minutes before I was freezing.

I went back under the cover while Cammy played for about 5 more minutes before the coach called it.

We ended up talking for over an hour while we waited for the rain to abate. The conversation wandered from our coach's history to the fact that Cammy hasn't been to Cartagena once since she's lived here. We decided that there were no free weekends left to travel to Cartagena before they leave the country for good but there was no reason why we couldn't go during the week, just us girls. Since we were pipe dreaming, we may as well pipe dream big, right?

Finally when I could stand the cold no longer and my lips were blue, the three of us made a dash down the hill and out the gate to the car where the car thermometer said it was 52 degrees. A teensy bit chilly out there in the rain in shorts and a t-shirt.

After I got home, showered until the hot water ran out and dressed like I was going snowskiing, I started researching a Cartagena trip.

And guess what? Cammy and I are going next week for a little girls' getaway. Just one night, but we'll have plenty of time to sit by the pool at the Santa Clara and eat that yummy hotel breakfast there that is really to die for.

Had we not been rained out, and had we not sat around in the freezing cold for an hour and half and dreamed of sunnier places, and had there not been a decent enough deal on airline tickets, we would not be going to Cartagena next week.

For one not-so-good thing leading to a really great thing, I am truly thankful.

NYR 5-24-11 - tennis!

Today I had a tennis lesson and if I do say so myself, I totally rocked it.

For that awesome solid sound that occurs when you hit the ball with the sweet spot on the racquet, I am truly thankful.

NYR 5-23-11 - sunny skies

Today was a beautiful, glorious day - a perfect day for tennis, which I enjoyed for 1.5 hours with my friend Cammy and our instructor Jose. We haven't had a lot of those stellar, blue-sky days recently here in Bogota so that made it even more special. I even got a little sunburn on my nose, which I love (but don't tell my dermatologist).

For a really amazing day of sun and tennis and friends, I am truly thankful.

4-28-11 - did I run a marathon and forget about it?

I had a private tennis class on Monday that nearly did me in. And then I had a tennis class with a girlfriend on Tuesday, and that really nearly did me in.

The tennis coach made us do all these squats in order to hit low balls. If I heard "bend your knees, Susana, bend your knees" once, I heard it 62 times over the course of 1.5 hours.

By the time I got home, I could barely climb the stairs to our second floor to take a shower. And forget about sitting down for any period of time and then trying to stand back up. My thigh muscles were just seized up.

By the time I rolled out of bed on Wednesday morning, it hurt just to touch my thighs. Don't get me started on how much it hurt to walk. I effected a very strange gait that involved hoisting each leg up without really bending my knee because when you bend your knee, you streeeetch that thigh muscle out. OUCH.

Wednesday was a rest day from tennis, but I didn't feel nearly recuperated enough to return to class today. But I went and immediately started complaining about my aches and pains as soon as I saw Jose. I needed for him to know that we weren't doing squats or any such nonsense today.

We had the best class yet. After a few days of feeling like I'd lost my entire tennis game and conditioning during a 2-week vacation, I needed/wanted a boost and this class gave it to me. All we did was hit the ball for an hour and I wasn't half-bad.

Well, there was that one time the ball went over the court fence and scared the gardener, but I think he had it coming because he was being very distracting with his weedeating.

For a great tennis class that I really enjoyed, I am truly thankful.

P.S. My thighs still feel like I've run a marathon, but thankfully all I have to do tomorrow is watch the Royal Wedding on the couch! I am so excited about this wedding but more on that later!

NYR 4-25-11 - the worst tennis lesson in history

I really am meant to live at sea level. I love being able to take deep breaths and feeling like my lungs are completely full. I love running around on the beach, playing paddle ball, and never gasping for air.

Needless to say, living at 8500 feet is not my cup of tea.

Coming back after 2 weeks away at sea level STINKS. (Coming back to this altitude stinks, not just coming back in general. I am happy to be back home.)

Today I had my first tennis class in more than two weeks and it was miserable from start to finish. For starters, I couldn't catch my breath. For seconds, I couldn't hit the ball. I'm sure this is a direct result of a lack of oxygen to my brain; the synapses were unable to fire to make my brain tell my arm to swing the racquet at the right moment.

It honestly was, I'm sure, the single worst tennis class in the history of tennis classes all over the world.

There was one point where I wanted to cry.

Seriously.

It was that bad.

And I'm going back for more punishment tomorrow.

For the ability to play tennis, even poorly, at 8500 feet without collapsing into a big heap, I am truly thankful.

NYR 4-7-11 - tennis

For a great tennis lesson that, on one hand, made me feel every bit of my 40 years and on the other hand, made me feel much younger just for being able to keep up, I am truly thankful.

NYR 3-8-11

Tennis class is really nearly killing me. I am serious. This is not an exaggeration. For surviving yet another tennis class, I am truly thankful.

NYR 3-4-11

I was soooooo tired after my group tennis lesson today. I think because it was for an hour at noon, and I was starving, it just sapped all my energy. I came home, ate, showered, and fell into a hole. When Mac got home from school, I let him build a fort and watch as much tv as he wanted from inside the fort while I sprawled out in the chair with a good book. Jimmy got home and asked if there was a carbon monoxide leak in the house because we appeared so out of it.

For a lazy afternoon, I am truly thankful

NYR 3-3-11 TENNIS

For getting back into tennis (with a new instructor because my old instructor is a master of disappearing), I am truly grateful (even if my body says otherwise).

sweet, sweet vindication

As you know, I have suffered from an inability to breathe and play tennis at the same time here in Bogota. Jimmy's heard my bellyaching after every tennis class, and frankly, I just wasn't feeling the love from him on this one. A girl just wants a little sympathy sometimes and I was getting nada (except his stories of how he goes to the gym and runs 6 miles and lifts weights with no problem).

Since yesterday was a holiday for him, he went to my tennis class with me. The plan was that I'd take the first 30 minutes and he could take the next 30 minutes. Well I huffed and puffed and sucked wind for about 29 of my minutes and then it was Jimmy's turn.

He started out strong. He didn't appear winded or tired.

And then I saw him surreptitiously look at his watch to check the time.

A few minutes later, he looked at his watch again and this time, he tapped the side of his watch (as if it wasn't working and he needed to shake the battery back into action).

Oh my dear darling, the battery is working just fine.

That's called disbelief that time can actually stand still while you're running after a fuzzy yellow ball at 10,000 feet (the tennis instructor confirmed that at the tennis court where we play, we're about 1500 feet above Bogota's 8600 feet). It's really almost like an oxygen-deprivation hallucination. I'm well-acquainted with this hallucination because I have become the master at sneaking glances at my watch during the one-hour class and not seeing the numbers change at all even though I'm sure I've been playing for 4 hours.

By the end of his 30 minutes, Jimmy was breathing awfully hard and, at various stages, was doubled over trying to catch his breath.

I'm trying not to gloat, but that's not working so well for me.

birthdays and tennis lessons

Today is Jimmy's 40th birthday. It's not everyday you celebrate a new decade of life, so we started with the means to shorten our remaining decades. I made a delicious breakfast of grits, eggs, bacon and biscuits. Of course, since everybody has to get out the door starting at 6:12am (Jimmy) followed by 6:19 (Mac), we shoveled the food in in record time to make sure nobody was late for their respective vans.

So after breakfast, I had my 2-hour Spanish class followed by my tennis class. I have to tell you that I think the full breakfast made a difference in my game. I checked to make sure I wasn't wearing my Wonder Woman underwear - and I wasn't - and I hit tennis balls better than I ever have in my life, so I think it was the eggs and bacon.

So here's what I'm thinking in terms of non-medical high-altitude sports training: if you eat a lot of high-cholesterol, unhealthy, fatty things, they multiply the oxygen cells (or molecules or whatever form oxygen comes in), thereby creating better muscle memory and tone and allowing you as the unathletic person to hone your skills better. Sounds pretty good, right?

Or it could be something as simple as eating more protein gives you more energy for longer. But I like the way that earlier paragraph sounds better.

Regardless, you're going to die earlier because your arteries are clogged with bacon grease, but your tennis game will be much, much improved.

Here's to happy 40th birthdays and better tennis games!

P.S. I'll keep you posted as things develop on this 40th birthday for young James. It's going to be a GREAT day!!

me and a dude named Juan Pablo

As you may remember, I took a cardio tennis class last year at Pinewood that I loved. It was great exercise, but I found that I also loved playing tennis again.

There are no "public courts" in Bogota, at least not where I live, so the options for playing tennis are to join an expensive club (which we have not done because we'd feel compelled to spend every waking moment there to get our money's worth) or to play at the ambassador's residence which has a lovely court overlooking the city.

So I chose the latter of the options and am now taking a class with a dude named Juan Pablo. I was supposed to be taking this class with a friend but her son was medevaced to the US so I've now been flying solo for all the three lessons that I've had thus far.

In case you've never lived at 8600 feet, let me explain to you how it feels to exert any sort of energy whatsoever: HARD. You can never take a deep, satisfying breath and you breathe entirely too heavily and rapidly with minimal exertion, like when you're just walking around your apartment.

Now enter me playing tennis at 8600 feet and you get a really pathetic picture. I spend what seems like half the class with my arms over my head, trying to expand my lungs, and the other half of the class doubled over to make the lightheadedness go away.

And then when the hour's over, my body is so sore that I barely have the strength to wash my hair in the shower, let alone blowdry it afterwards. My hair's pretty short now so neither of those actions take too terribly long.

So today, because I felt like such a total wimp after class, I decided to research training at high altitude.

From eHow, I got the following on training (running in particular) at high altitude. My notations are in bold.

1. Appreciate the fact that exertion at high altitude is more difficult than at sea level. This is so because of the reduced partial pressure of oxygen as elevation rises. The decrease in oxygen pressure impairs the oxygenation of blood flowing through your lungs, ultimately resulting in a corresponding diminished oxygen supply to working muscles. Studies by the Federation of Sport at Altitude have shown that the lack of oxygen at elevations above 10,000 feet translates to 25-40% less muscle power. Since we're at 8600 feet, my loss of muscle power should be maybe 15%-30% or so, but given my performance as a non-athlete attempting to play tennis, I'd say my muscle power loss is right at about, oh say, 100%. Additionally, I believe - medically speaking - that the oxygen supply to my nonexistent muscles is not diminished, but absent.

2. Acclimate. To compensate lack of oxygen at altitude, your heart will have to work harder to maintain the same pace. Your body will also alter its blood composition to compensate for altitude. After approximately 14-60 days of altitude acclimatization, your body produces more red blood cells and hemoglobin - the iron-protein compound that transports oxygen. Having been here now for 88 days, I'm pretty sure that I have more red blood cells and hemoglobin than is humanly possible. In fact, I probably don't need to eat a steak for 12 more years.

3. Dope naturally (Shhhh. We don't talk about "dope" too loud in these parts.). Altitude causes the kidneys to increase production of erythropoietin or EPO, which stimulates bone marrow production to increase both the concentration of red cells in the blood and total plasma volume (maybe I could be a plasma donor with all my extra plasma - don't you get paid for that in the US?). Working muscle tissue also learns to rely on more fatty acids, rather than the common glycogen source of energy fuel. What I'm reading here is that I'm a fat-burning machine. Does that sound right to you?

4. Be sensitive to the fact that everyone adapts to altitude differently and some people even adjust to elevation differently at different times. Studies have shown that the physiological response to altitude training varies widely, depending upon individual characteristics. Customize your altitude training based upon advice from a coach, exercise physiologist, or other certified trainer. I believe that means that maybe I should take to resting on the couch to watch "Oprah" and skip all that exercise nonsense as I don't think I've acclimitized fully yet.

5. Train on trails to be comfortable with your off-road running abilities. There are very few paved roads above 12,000 feet. My tennis coach told me today that it's impossible to run outside in Bogota because of thieves. I heard him say that myself. So there will be no running off-road (or on-road for that matter).

6. Adapt to high altitude running by focusing on maintaining a steady rhythm with regular breathing (I just focus on breathing period. As in "to stay alive". As in "to keep whatever paltry bit of oxygen there is in my body circulating around so I don't kill off brain cells).Slow down (I keep telling my tennis coach that, but he doesn't listen very well) and use a shorter stride (if my stride were any shorter, I'd be motionless) to keep from becoming out of breath. Walk when necessary (always), especially when the grade is steep.

7. Familiarize yourself with orienteering and hone your navigational skills, given the lack of trodden paths, signposts, or other landmarks at high altitudes. Also be alert that the lack of oxygen to the brain causes disorientation. Forget orienteering and navigational skills- I won't be needing those. I'm more interested in that part about the lack of oxygen causing disorientation. Is that my problem? I knew there had to be a medical reason for my looniness.

Now if you'll excuse me, my arms are tired from typing and I need to drink a Coca-Cola. I think that was supposed to be Step 8 but they forgot to put it in.

and a nice photo of the handsome Mardy Fish instead of all those sweaty, bloody ones

It's a teeny picture but he's a good-looking dude!

Davis Cup, Colombian style

The United States and Colombia played three days of tennis against each other this weekend as part of the World Group playoffs for the Davis Cup. It was Colombia's first bid for the highest-level World Group and the US was attempting to retain its World Group spot. I don't really know what any of that means; I just looked it up on the Davis Cup website (www.daviscup.com if you need to study it more.)

We bought tickets for yesterday's matches, of which there were supposed to be two but the second was rained out. It doesn't really matter because we saw an amazing match between Mardy Fish and Santiago Giraldo. As you can imagine, Santiago was the crowd favorite in the very unusual but very cool tennis setting of a bullfighting ring.


Normally I would have researched a little who we were going to see play but I was otherwise preoccupied with my sea shipment's arrival (more on that in another post), so I knew nothing. I'm embarrassed to admit that when I heard Mardy Fish's name when we got there, I had no idea who that was. Turns out he lost about 30 pounds over the last year, his game improved, and his ranking rose from over 100 to #19 in the world in 12 months. So he's made marked strides in his tennis game. And he showed it yesterday. It was a long match - over 4 hours (which to our accompanying 7 year-old apparently seemed like 4 days) - and at 8600 feet and with a fairly hostile crowd, it had to seem like 4 days to Mardy Fish as well.

Speaking of the crowd, the Colombians that I've met are all very polite, very reserved people. These people were not at the Davis Cup yesterday. Imagine you're watching a professional US football game at the most hostile-to-outsiders stadium in America. Say you're in Pittsburgh or Green Bay. So you're surrounded by what seems like a million people pulling for Pittsburgh and you're in the very small minority of people who traveled a LONG way for the away game. You wave your flag proudly but these people around you are just so rude and mean and jeering that you decide you might have to get rude and mean and jeering back. They displayed no tennis etiquette whatsoever. I may not know a lot about tennis but I know that you do not cheer and clap and hoot and holler when the opponent faults on his first serve. I know you don't whistle every time the opponent has to serve. And I can assure you there were no air horns at the Family Circle Tennis Cup matches I went to earlier in the year.

Jimmy thought we were at a Berkeley County football game, but it was worse than that. Somebody threw their seat cushion at poor Mardy Fish. Can you imagine?

But when all was said and done, Mardy Fish pulled out all the stops and won in a 5-set marathon match. And to be fair to all those crazy Colombians in the bullring, they were very gracious losers.

All I know is that I wouldn't want to go to a sport they're really nuts about if they act like this at a so-called gentleman's sporting event!

Some photos follow to commemorate the event.