Woke up this morning at 9:30. TEN HOURS OF SLEEP (13 counting my nap) HURRAH! Then I went over to campus to meet up with Keen, Scrappy, Krysi, and Sheri to go to the PRU all-stars tryouts. There were a lot more people there than there were 2 weeks ago, so we got to do a lot more, including scrimmaging at the end. (I have been playing rugby for long enough that I forgot what "scrimmaging" meant when one of the coaches announced we would be doing it... I thought, "Don't you mean scrummaging?!")
I ended up locking during the scrimmage, a position I've played exactly once before (during one practice this week), but did okay. The big surprise was that the coach, Andy, had me act as captain for my team. And I called most of the lineouts. What is this?! Responsibility?! I don't really know what I'm doing, I just pretend!
Honestly, I am still kind of surprised that I'm good at rugby. I've done sports most of my life, and been bad at all of them - not just not good, but atrociously lousy - but there's something about rugby that just gels.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Saturday, October 28, 2006
AU vs. Mary Washington
Despite starting off rainy and cold (I HATE HAVING TO WALK A MILE TO GET TO CAMPUS AT UNGODLY HOURS OF THE MORNING, AND RAIN JUST MAKES IT 10x WORSE), the day ended up being PERFECT for rugby, at least down in Fredericksburg where we played. 60 degrees and sunny, and really soft ground from the obnoxious amounts of rain we'd had (and puddles!). It was a bit windy, but not too bad.
We lost our Aside, won our Bside - I think the scores were 0-3tries, and 2tries-0. It was one of those days where we started off lazy and gradually got better as the day went on. Mary Washington mauled all the goddamned day, which was tiring and involved me getting my feet stepped on a lot. We got wet and dirty. It was FUN.
I played ALL of Aside and ALL of Bside (two 40s and two running 25s = 130 minutes of rugby) at 8man, which I haven't played a whole bunch before, but which I enjoyed. Bside, Deanna had me as on-field captain and I was calling lineouts. When she told me this, I almost fell over. Me?! Doing something important?!
After the game, we went to a ridiculously nice townhouse to social. I spent the time crashed out on the nice white carpet*, deciding not to drink because of PRUs Sunday and because I was EXHAUSTED.
Getting home, I showered and took a three hour nap before putting in a brief appearance at a Halloween party, then coming back home and going back to bed.
*Correction: nice white carpet, currently with one or two not-totally-inconspicuous pink spots on it... sorry, Mary Washington!
We lost our Aside, won our Bside - I think the scores were 0-3tries, and 2tries-0. It was one of those days where we started off lazy and gradually got better as the day went on. Mary Washington mauled all the goddamned day, which was tiring and involved me getting my feet stepped on a lot. We got wet and dirty. It was FUN.
I played ALL of Aside and ALL of Bside (two 40s and two running 25s = 130 minutes of rugby) at 8man, which I haven't played a whole bunch before, but which I enjoyed. Bside, Deanna had me as on-field captain and I was calling lineouts. When she told me this, I almost fell over. Me?! Doing something important?!
After the game, we went to a ridiculously nice townhouse to social. I spent the time crashed out on the nice white carpet*, deciding not to drink because of PRUs Sunday and because I was EXHAUSTED.
Getting home, I showered and took a three hour nap before putting in a brief appearance at a Halloween party, then coming back home and going back to bed.
*Correction: nice white carpet, currently with one or two not-totally-inconspicuous pink spots on it... sorry, Mary Washington!
Saturday, October 21, 2006
AU vs. PSU hells yeah!
So today was our Big Game against Penn State - and we rocked it. We played so. damn. well.
Now, understand that Penn State is the #2 team in the country. That previously, they've swept us away with points solidly in the triple digits.
Today? 0-64. And we started hard, finished hard, and went hard nearly the whole time inbetween. When we realized there was a problem, we fixed it. They're getting a run off the kickoff and scoring a try? Fixed. They're getting breakaways leaving the fullback alone? Well, not fixed, but it damn well got better. We played hard and we played fast and we never gave up. When we got discouraged, we brought each other back up. It took them 13 minutes to score their first try. PSU probably expected nothing out of us - and that is NOT what they got.
Before the game, Kellie and Colleen (our captains) gave us Lucky Charms (for luck) and ribbons with our names that said "15 together never loses - AUWRFC Fall 2006." It was 15 as one out there - we weren't 15 ruggers, we were a team. It was amazing.
I know for me personally it was the most I've ever put into a rugby game. I played all 80 minutes of the A-side, and I took everything I had and left it on the pitch - and then kept playing. By the end of the game, I was so worn out I was dizzy and shaking, but I was still sprinting to get to the ball and support, and I've never been prouder. It was my second game flanking, but this time I knew what I was doing. PSU's flyhalf wasn't scared enough of me by the end of the game, but I was aggressive and loud at calling the ball out. Bean and I worked up some excellent teamwork in killing whoever caught the ball off the kickoff. It wasn't the best I've ever played, but it was the hardest.
B-side was less exciting (for me, at least). I was pretty out of it between games, but I had a 20g protein bar and drank a liter of gatorade and got back in it (seriously, I was gone after that first game. I need to work on my fitness). For the second half of B-side, I went in at 8man, which was fun, but not too long into the half I tackled someone, hit my head, and spent 5 or 10 seconds figuring out which way was up again. I probably could've kept playing, but I didn't want to take any chances, so that was the end of the day for me.
Nonetheless, it's the best day of rugby I think I've ever played.
Now, understand that Penn State is the #2 team in the country. That previously, they've swept us away with points solidly in the triple digits.
Today? 0-64. And we started hard, finished hard, and went hard nearly the whole time inbetween. When we realized there was a problem, we fixed it. They're getting a run off the kickoff and scoring a try? Fixed. They're getting breakaways leaving the fullback alone? Well, not fixed, but it damn well got better. We played hard and we played fast and we never gave up. When we got discouraged, we brought each other back up. It took them 13 minutes to score their first try. PSU probably expected nothing out of us - and that is NOT what they got.
Before the game, Kellie and Colleen (our captains) gave us Lucky Charms (for luck) and ribbons with our names that said "15 together never loses - AUWRFC Fall 2006." It was 15 as one out there - we weren't 15 ruggers, we were a team. It was amazing.
I know for me personally it was the most I've ever put into a rugby game. I played all 80 minutes of the A-side, and I took everything I had and left it on the pitch - and then kept playing. By the end of the game, I was so worn out I was dizzy and shaking, but I was still sprinting to get to the ball and support, and I've never been prouder. It was my second game flanking, but this time I knew what I was doing. PSU's flyhalf wasn't scared enough of me by the end of the game, but I was aggressive and loud at calling the ball out. Bean and I worked up some excellent teamwork in killing whoever caught the ball off the kickoff. It wasn't the best I've ever played, but it was the hardest.
B-side was less exciting (for me, at least). I was pretty out of it between games, but I had a 20g protein bar and drank a liter of gatorade and got back in it (seriously, I was gone after that first game. I need to work on my fitness). For the second half of B-side, I went in at 8man, which was fun, but not too long into the half I tackled someone, hit my head, and spent 5 or 10 seconds figuring out which way was up again. I probably could've kept playing, but I didn't want to take any chances, so that was the end of the day for me.
Nonetheless, it's the best day of rugby I think I've ever played.
Sunday, October 8, 2006
I'm a FLANKER!!!!
I woke up this morning, and could barely move.
That's how you know Saturday was a good day.
When I woke up Satuday, the downpour of the day before had stopped. When we were on the field warming up, however, it started to really pour. We'd jogged around the pitch, charting puddles (two or three, only one of them particularly deep), but as the rain bucketed down the pitch turned into a near-river. My hair (newly cut and enpinkified on Thursday, with a little help from Germany) bled down my face and neck and onto my jacket - the "Pink" embroidered on my jacket is now actually pink.
By the time we started playing, the rain had stopped, but the field was a swamp. We were SOAKED, and covered in mud. I'm not just talking mudstains - you could've planted a garden in my shorts. It was pretty cold and wet and miserable. It worked out, though, because you got numb and didn't feel how much you were getting knocked around.
But, moving on to the actual playing. As I alluded to in previous entries, I was playing FLANKER - a forward position, considerably different from the back positions (wing, sometimes full back) I've played before. Instead of staying out of every ruck I could, I was supposed to be in every other ruck (and was usually in more); instead of standing around in the middle of the field during scrums and lineouts, I was IN scrums and lineouts!
I wasn't sure how well I did - I played two games of the round robin, the A-side against GWU and the game against Catholic (which only had one side). I was pretty disappointed because I never got to tackle Catholic's flyhalf (my job as a flanker), but I think I was making the GWU flyhalf pretty nervous by the end of that game. And even if I was kind of confused, I had FUN. I got into so many rucks and went in support of a whole bunch of runs.
And I hear I did okay. Well enough that Deanna told me I was permanently a flanker. Which is exciting, but I will be sad if I never get to play in the back triangle again. But - FLANKING!!!!!! IS SO MUCH FUN! I get to scrum!! And get lifted in line-outs! (I didn't get to do a whole lot of that, but hopefully more once I get some practice!)
Injury report:
- Lots of cuts and bruises. Heurich field is FULL of rocks, so my knees are covered in stylized shooting star patterns in a nice blood red. However, between the cold and the mud, I didn't realize I'd broken the skin at all until I showered. (HA!)
- Lost my contact. During the first game, some girl stuck her finger in my eye. I attributed the blurry vision then to the mud that was certainly in my eye, and for the rest of the day figured my funny vision was from: mud and rain; weariness; alcohol; drunkeness and weariness. Then when I tried to take my contact out at 3am, it wasn't there. And boy, was I confused.
- Face chafing. At first I was really confused about how I got sunburnt just on the far sides of my face (forehead to cheekbone, outside of my eyes), until I remembered that in the scrum, I had those places on my face pressed up against props' shorts - shorts covered in thick, rough mud. Mmmmmm. Even have a tiny abraision under my left eye, probably from a pebble. (I mentioned it this morning at the carwash, and Krysi nodded knowingly and called it "scrumface.")
That's how you know Saturday was a good day.
When I woke up Satuday, the downpour of the day before had stopped. When we were on the field warming up, however, it started to really pour. We'd jogged around the pitch, charting puddles (two or three, only one of them particularly deep), but as the rain bucketed down the pitch turned into a near-river. My hair (newly cut and enpinkified on Thursday, with a little help from Germany) bled down my face and neck and onto my jacket - the "Pink" embroidered on my jacket is now actually pink.
By the time we started playing, the rain had stopped, but the field was a swamp. We were SOAKED, and covered in mud. I'm not just talking mudstains - you could've planted a garden in my shorts. It was pretty cold and wet and miserable. It worked out, though, because you got numb and didn't feel how much you were getting knocked around.
But, moving on to the actual playing. As I alluded to in previous entries, I was playing FLANKER - a forward position, considerably different from the back positions (wing, sometimes full back) I've played before. Instead of staying out of every ruck I could, I was supposed to be in every other ruck (and was usually in more); instead of standing around in the middle of the field during scrums and lineouts, I was IN scrums and lineouts!
I wasn't sure how well I did - I played two games of the round robin, the A-side against GWU and the game against Catholic (which only had one side). I was pretty disappointed because I never got to tackle Catholic's flyhalf (my job as a flanker), but I think I was making the GWU flyhalf pretty nervous by the end of that game. And even if I was kind of confused, I had FUN. I got into so many rucks and went in support of a whole bunch of runs.
And I hear I did okay. Well enough that Deanna told me I was permanently a flanker. Which is exciting, but I will be sad if I never get to play in the back triangle again. But - FLANKING!!!!!! IS SO MUCH FUN! I get to scrum!! And get lifted in line-outs! (I didn't get to do a whole lot of that, but hopefully more once I get some practice!)
Injury report:
- Lots of cuts and bruises. Heurich field is FULL of rocks, so my knees are covered in stylized shooting star patterns in a nice blood red. However, between the cold and the mud, I didn't realize I'd broken the skin at all until I showered. (HA!)
- Lost my contact. During the first game, some girl stuck her finger in my eye. I attributed the blurry vision then to the mud that was certainly in my eye, and for the rest of the day figured my funny vision was from: mud and rain; weariness; alcohol; drunkeness and weariness. Then when I tried to take my contact out at 3am, it wasn't there. And boy, was I confused.
- Face chafing. At first I was really confused about how I got sunburnt just on the far sides of my face (forehead to cheekbone, outside of my eyes), until I remembered that in the scrum, I had those places on my face pressed up against props' shorts - shorts covered in thick, rough mud. Mmmmmm. Even have a tiny abraision under my left eye, probably from a pebble. (I mentioned it this morning at the carwash, and Krysi nodded knowingly and called it "scrumface.")
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Flanker nerves
I swear I've been on an adrenaline high ever since I played flanker at practice on Thursday.
I also haven't slept properly since Tuesday night.
Last night I went to bed at 10:30. I woke up half an hour before my 7:00 alarm, except "woke up" isn't really the right term because I didn't really sleep at all.
It's going to be cold and rainy today. Miserable weather for a rugby game - rain is lovely at 75 degrees, but not at 55.
I cannot wait for the games today. "Battle of the Beltway," AU vs. GWU vs. Catholic. I'm flanking at least two games.
Dear body, just keep the adrenaline up for one more day - it should be no problem. I'll keep you as warm as I can.
I AM SO EXCITED. OMG.
I also haven't slept properly since Tuesday night.
Last night I went to bed at 10:30. I woke up half an hour before my 7:00 alarm, except "woke up" isn't really the right term because I didn't really sleep at all.
It's going to be cold and rainy today. Miserable weather for a rugby game - rain is lovely at 75 degrees, but not at 55.
I cannot wait for the games today. "Battle of the Beltway," AU vs. GWU vs. Catholic. I'm flanking at least two games.
Dear body, just keep the adrenaline up for one more day - it should be no problem. I'll keep you as warm as I can.
I AM SO EXCITED. OMG.
Sunday, October 1, 2006
Obligatory weekend rugby roundup
This Saturday was very similar to last Saturday: we drove two hours away to play a team that beat us pretty soundly. Except this weekend it was University of Delaware, and though we didn't even score a try in the Bside game, we kept them to much fewer tries and generally did much better - more coming up hard, keeping a defensive line instead of getting sucked in, everyone tackled, etc. I played all 80 minutes of the A-side game at wing, and after the games, I got a chocolate bar for being the best returner back of the day!!!!
After the games, we split up - half the team went back to campus, but the rest of us stayed to watch a little bit of the boy's game and then go social.
Then today (because I'm masochistic, apparently) I got up and went to the four hour long PRU development camp. There weren't as many people there as I'd expected - any female rugby player under 23 in the DC metro area was eligible to attend, but there were only 16 girls there, 9 of them from AU. It wasn't as exciting as I expected - the majority of things we went over was basic stuff that we do in practice anyways. However, it was good to get more practice (even on the basics), and some of the drills we did were new and interesting.
But now, I'm super tired. And sore (but no injuries besides bruises). And want to go to bed right now, except I realize I'd probably wake up at like 2am and my sleep schedule would be messed up. Sigh.
After the games, we split up - half the team went back to campus, but the rest of us stayed to watch a little bit of the boy's game and then go social.
Then today (because I'm masochistic, apparently) I got up and went to the four hour long PRU development camp. There weren't as many people there as I'd expected - any female rugby player under 23 in the DC metro area was eligible to attend, but there were only 16 girls there, 9 of them from AU. It wasn't as exciting as I expected - the majority of things we went over was basic stuff that we do in practice anyways. However, it was good to get more practice (even on the basics), and some of the drills we did were new and interesting.
But now, I'm super tired. And sore (but no injuries besides bruises). And want to go to bed right now, except I realize I'd probably wake up at like 2am and my sleep schedule would be messed up. Sigh.
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