Change in pace

Whew! 2 games over the weekend - first time for that since we played in the World Cup tournament in the very beginning of the season...this weekend we had one against Kareby (Saturday) and one against Jonkoping (Sunday). We have faced the two teams before, so there weren't any major surprises, rather there was a strategy for us to work on those things that we need to defeat other teams in the future. Working on the basics, working on the fundamentals, working on those things that we know we can always fall back on when we are in a tight situation in a heated battle towards the end of the season. It wasn't about killing the other teams as much as it was getting to know eachother more and working together as a team. It was a great weekend to build upon those skills, and we did defeat the other teams (9-0 and 16-0 respectively). How did I play? I'm never satisfied with my performance unless it's perfect, and in a sport like bandy, being "perfect" is impossible...so, I will say "I did a few things right, and the mistakes I made didn't lead to anything bad happening, but they did teach me more about the sport and my abilities." So, all was not lost, I'm happy with the outcomes, but I'm still frustrated with my own play! ugh! I want to be so much better than what I am!! Oh well...one day at a time. With those two games, it didn't lend much time at all to doing anything else in the city. Poor Thom and Reese....they've been thrown into the whirlwind of my bandy schedule and we haven't had much time to see Stockholm yet. This is the busiest time of the bandy schedule for us....so maybe more of Stockholm will come later....bandy first :)

Monday was supposed to be a training day on the ice, but when we got to the rink, the glossy wet surface was giving a clue to us that it was going to be too soft for training with blades on our feet and the chillers turned off from under the surface. So...lace up the running shoes and take to the hills....hill intervals, then core work! Yowie! My core was sore after the 30 minute core session and the 45 minute running session. I loved the workout though...I'm just a glutton for the punishment.

After training I head back to the apartment to try to catch some zzz's as I have to leave for Brussels on Tuesday morning - flight time: 6:20! Ugh! Cab came to pick me up at 4:00 AM. that was early. Off to Brussels for work, I'm in the office until about 5:30 and functioning on about 3 hours of sleep, a bowl of cereal, and a turkey sandwich for 14 hours....that was a tough day. What was tougher was the fact that I had to miss a day of training on the ice. Thom got to go to the practice and play goalie for them....I wish I could have been there too. Instead, I hit the gym for an hour and a half and did my own training...

Next day was "same same but different" - I went to the office, came back and did some more training. Somewhat sore from training last night - I am realizing that I need to do some of these other strength things more often - need to figure out when to fit that in though ;). Off to dinner, and now catching up on more work. This weekend will be a match against VAIK....It will be another good, tough match that will be fought to the end. I'm looking forward to it and ready to get back onto the ice again tomorrow! My flight is EARLY again, but I'll be happy to make it back to training. I heard that the wind chills in Minneapolis were about -38 to -50 F today --- whew! Glad I wasn't there!!!

Have to share a funny story - so the other night, we had just gone to bed when all of a sudden, Thom is standing near the window, pointing at the wall and says "SHIT! I can't get them out. Get them out of there!" I rub the sleep from my eyes as I had just fallen into a nice slumber...and ask "what is where?" He replies back "Them...in there" and points to the wall again. I ask "what are they?" and "where is there?" His response is very flustered and he is visibly angry and upset...he says "Shit!" again and lays down.... The next day....he looks into the bedroom (when he is wide awake) and says "The dumbwaiter - I wanted to get the trays out of the dumbwaiter! There..." it was hilarious. We don't have a dumb waiter back home...I've never seen one, but I've only heard of one that my friend Julie used when in Amsterdam....where in the world did a vision of a dumbwaiter come from? That is the mystery for now.

Enjoy the rest of the week!
KP