Minnow

I am a minnow in a big pool full of sharks that talk funny. At practice the other day I had the privilege to meet and talk to one Ian Mallard, who has coached the Crusaders, the Canterbury select teams, and Cal Poly rugby team. He helped out with practice and introduced me to the Division-1/Provincial side flyhalf who was practicing with us. The mental aspect of conditioning is getting easier. It still hurts, but I no longer think about quitting or worry that I'll need to. I'm also much less sore the days after. I even finished first in a sprint-shuttle at one point.

I finished my first session of olympic-lifts today at Gravity/ESB. Lee is my coach and is spectacular. It's taking me a while to learn what "missing the thigh" means, among other terms that fly out of his mouth, but it's encouraging to know that he trains Crusaders and All-Blacks, as well as the local teams' up-and-comers. In fact, two Crusaders, one who was an All-Black, left the gym as I walked in today. Not for a visit, either; they trained an hour before me. I'll be with Lee three days a week for as long as I'm here. As soon as I picked up the bar he started fixing my form. I've been so wrong for so long in the form department it's no wonder I've gotten injured a lot. I can see good form and help a little to coach it, but this is an entirely different level. I'm psyched to improve.

I've become more rooted in Christchurch and am fine with that. I want to stay longer now though... I'll post pictures of the Crusaders vs. Chiefs game tomorrow. I am really a minnow here, but at least I don't have an accent eh? EH?!