Week One 2010

First week back of training for 2010. It’s the start of a new decade and a new team that has evolved a lot since the Olympics in 2008. With a lot of fresh faces joining us this past fall, and many returning to the team this spring, the energy surrounding the start of the year and the training block for this World Cup year was high. Personally, I was excited to get back out on the turf in preparation for our first game of the year, which is now only a week away!

The first week was a tough one, as it always is after being away from the team. It is hardly “time off” when we are away because we remain diligent in our fitness/running and lifting, even though we take a little time away from the pitch. Getting back into “hockey shape”, as we call it, takes about a week or so, and we definitely feel the soreness in week one. The first week looked a little like this:

Day 1(Monday): Practice in the morning- mostly to get our touch back on the ball and get used to playing with everyone again. Lifting in the afternoon- which was a hard lift, building on what we had done away from the team

Day 2(Tuesday): Practice in the morning. Running and small games (7 aside) in the afternoon.

Day 3(Wednesday): Recovery run- 40 minutes

Day 4(Thursday): Fitness testing in the morning. Full game in the afternoon.

Day 5(Friday): Corner practice and running in the morning.

Day 6(Saturday): Recovery run- 4 minutes

Day 7(Sunday): (today) REST DAY!

This is a typical week for us (except Thursday usually consists of a practice and a lift), although, our schedule for the next month is going to be quite different because we are playing so many games (which is awesome!!!) J

Even with such a rigorous program, we do find a little time here and there to do some fun things. This week I had a chance to go to dinner with my cousins who live in the San Diego area, went to see Avatar (GREAT MOVIE!!), attend our coach’s 40^th birthday celebration, and root for the Chargers (my new hometown team! even if that was a rough game today).

I will update more in the coming week and keep you posted on how our preparation and matches are going.