Commence the Countdown!

Schedule wise, I can genuinely say I miss college...to an extent. I miss the daily change of classes, the ability to walk on campus and see young people mindlessly walking to class enjoying the five minutes they have to themselves, tucked away between two white buds, before they're forced to listened to some monotone professor rambling about facts no one will remember until two days before the exam. But I guess that's just part of growing up, a daily schedule, the daily grind of the same routine week to week. I need more action than that. Although I understand my "job" isn't a typical job, the monotony of my weeks slowly brings me a step closer to the real world. People back home seem to think I'm over here jumping from country to country, which may partly be my fault for constantly talking about trips I'm planning but there's really only two time periods I'll be able to do some exploring. With that being said, this past week was another week of the same stuff. 

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Monday lifts are finally starting to feel normal yet I seem to experience some nervousness? before we talk into the weight. I think it's the novelty of program because I can guarantee you that I feel nothing but the exhaustion of a 10-year vet when we get to abs. Our lifting instructor keeps us on our toes, varying reps and throwing in new exercises with our traditional lifts. New challenges, new focus. She knows how to keep us interested and motivated. 

Tuesday was a double day. Slow morning focusing on passing technique and that night we scrimmaged a local B team. This was our second away scrimmage in a different part of Tampere. I'm looking forward to traveling more this season and seeing different parts of Finland. Although I assume it all looks the same, it's still a new sight than our usual gyms and my apartment. We won our scrimmage, not surprisingly, and it was a good opportunity for our team to work on focus and execution. Every coach, athlete, and sports fan knows what typically happens when a team plays an opponent with a lower level of competition: loss of focus and lowered level of play. I thought we did a pretty good job of staying on task and sustaining a high-level play for the most part. 

Wednesday was certainly hump day. In the morning we went underground into what looked like the Bat Cave for our lift. Finland in general seems to have a lot of underground networks, especially in Helsinki. I'm sure this can be attributed to past historical events. This morning we met with our Monday lifting pro's husband, a bronze medal Olympic lifter. Reps were slow, low weight with an emphasis on technique. The weight room reminded me a lot of The Wood Gym [what we call it] in Tennessee at Charlie Petrone's. No glitz, no state of the art equipment or facility, just serious athletes looking to train unconventionally in a personalized setting focusing exactly on what you need to achieve your goals. The lift was good, a little tiring from the pace of the actual motions and reps. Muscle endurance has never been my strong point soOo low weight, mid-range reps aren't what I call ideal but I like the challenge. That evening we had our normal practice, for some reason everyone seemed to be moving in slow motion but we grinded through. 

Thursday mornings are individual 60-90 minute cardio. Besides my trail sprints I've developed a liking to running, it's something different within my weekly schedule. Typically I jog about 3.7 miles in a traditional workout, which is enough for my poor little knees, especially by the time Thursday comes around. I'm working towards 9 miles per week before the winter hits. After my morning cardio it was only right to take a quick nap before lunch. It's weird how your body adjusts to new settings. Ever since I've been in Finland I've been taking more naps, something I never wanted to do in the States and actually refused to if ever given the opportunity. I could always think of something better to do with my time but I guess since all I have is time now that after 18 years of school I can finally afford to nap lol. Thursday's practice is always a little tougher; we lift before then practice for about an hour and a half. Clean, snatches, and jerks aren't the most leg-friendly and the weight of the week started to show throughout our drills. This impact would last the rest of the week.

Friday morning was "Body Balance". Now, based of the name I assumed we were doing some type of yoga. Nope. It was a water workout that immediately caused me to flash back to one of the two water workouts at UT. At first everyone was hype to not be running in the complex, until we jumped into the diving tank with one waist-floatie....and never left. haha. Exhaustion isn't even the word to explain how everyone felt after 45 minutes of treading water lol. But to my surprise our workout was done in a shallow pool. A lot of recovery land moves accompanied by some throwback jams of course. Friday night's practice mirror Thursday's. Another night of rotation drills, tired legs and the opportunity to push past mental messages telling your body to slow down. These practices will be our foundation come December and March.

Saturday...SCRIMMAGE DAY! It was weird waking up on a Saturday to play but it felt oh so right. Our scrimmage was yet another team in our league, Liiga Eura. A few girls from my team had played for them last year but the team has since been gutted with the exception of two girls. The games started off slow but eventually picked up probably do due the fact that everyone was exhausted and wanted it to be over so we could finally rest lol. Bad mentality but whatever works for the win. Nothing too special in the scrimmage, another outside dependent team. Every scrimmage I feel more and more comfortable on the court, feel like I'm able to be me on the floor. I'm not a captain, which is fiiine with me due to the language barrier, but our team is very open to what everyone has to say and contribute...talk about a change of environment. Playing 6-rotations from a physical standpoint is still something I'm getting use to but I've adapted the mind over matter mentality. Go hard every play and the result will be well worth the physical wear. After our scrimmage it was a team day! Our captain planned an afternoon of team fun, which we all assumed required comfy normal clothes, buuuuut we were under the wrong impression. Once we arrived at our mystery team fun we came to find out we were doing Zumba. Now, I have ALWAYS wanted to do Zumba but not in my Keds, regular bra and non-active leggings. Needless to say everyone was a sweaty mess after an hour of dancing to Finnish reggae and rap but it was so much fun! For some reason I switched into professional dancer mode and felt like I was rehearsing for the JT tour haha. After Zumba our next location was a lake house to relax and enjoy the sauna and lake but not without stopping at the grocery store and picking up some driiiiinnkkks. Of course I didn't know what to get but my teammates willingly pointed me in the right direction of their favorite ciders and long drinks. This whole not being an NCAA slave certainly has its benefits, drinks on the club! The cabin was great, the first opportunity everyone got to hang out since pre-season started. We shared our love for food, played Uno, enjoyed conversation in the sauna and got ready for the night of course! I've come to the conclusion whenever I move into my big kid home: (1) I HAVE to be living on the lake or near water and (2) I will be building a Finnish sauna, they're just sooooo much better than the one's we have in America. Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio I never really experienced lake life, but after going to school in Tennessee and now living in a country that has hundreds of lakes, it's become a part of me. 

That night was the first time we went out as a team. All black, sneakers and leather jackets kind of night. We first went to a bar where I was fed Finland's signature shots: Minittu, 8 ball and Fisu's. They're smaller than American shots but taste better and are definitely stronger. I've had multiple conversations with my teammates and new friends about drinking with Finnish people. Something I’ve been advised American's shouldn't attempt. Finnish people drink, they DO this...forreal...beyond college. Needless to say I didn't attempt to find out the truth of this statement for myself. After the bar we headed to an underground club, Club 10, that was having throwback R&B and hip hop night. RIGHT down my alley! Nothing beats a night with your teammates, dancing to good music and witnessing a DANCE BATTLE followed up by some Finnish pizza. Definitely the best Saturday night I've had since I've been here. I look forward to more!

Yesterday, Sunday, was just that: Sunday. I did absolutely nothing and loved every moment of it. I planned some meals, downloaded movies and caught up with friends. Although I don't do anything during the week Sunday is really the day I do NOTHING. I think the highlight of my day was hanging my laundry outside, haha. Yeah, for those who don't know driers aren't very common in Europe so clothes are dried via lines outside or a drying rack. Crazy? Perhaps but at least there's no worry about shrinking. 

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This week wraps up preseason in a way. We have a three-day tournament against other teams in our league this weekend in Salo. It will good measure of where our team is right now before season starts October 12. I can't believe season is only 26 days away! Time is already moving fast...cray. Just have to take advantage of each day! 

Until next time... <3

NEED A GOOD BOOK TO READ? Since I have so much time over here I've gotten back on my reading game. I've decided to re-read all the books I half-assed through high school and college to make it through the class and the exam. You know, all the classics that were kind of good but you put off until the night before discussion or the night before the exam to actually read. Currently I'm reading Gold in the Water: The True Story of Ordinary Men and their Extraordinary Dream of Olympic Glory by P. H. Mullen. It's a GREAT read that follows the journey of 4 or 5, can't remember right now, swimmers, and their coaches in the pursuit of qualifying for the 2000 Olympics. Dynamic characters, real life instances of failure and doubt turned into a source of self-discovery and motivation. A read that makes you evaluate your life goals (despite the fact that they're aspiring to reach a goal only few can realistically dream about, the internal struggle each character faces is relatable to all readers), what's keeping you from achieving them and inspires you to never give up. I was supposed to read this book for a grad class buuuut life happens, don't tell lol. I'm glad I finally have time to check it out! 

Below is my favorite of the many quotes I've taken from this book. After reading, ask yourself are you a participant or merely watching from the sidelines? Take the leap to enjoy life.

"Life is truly sweeter to those who live it. The world belongs, and will always belong, to the people who participate. Those who stand on the outside, who never risk, who never fail, cannot know, or will they ever, understand the beauty of each breath of life. So don't feel sorry for those who fail, feel sorry for the majority that never participates. They'll just never understand, let alone feel, all that life can be and should be." -Dick Jochums 

Same Old Song

Four weeks in and it's pretty safe to say that my weekly routine is exactly the same. Although it may seem monotonous to some it's a good way for me to compare my performance from week to week. For whatever reason, last week was pretty tough. We had a scrimmage Tuesday night against another team in our league; HPK. They are an outside-dominate team, probably because their Croatian pin hitter was phenomenal. It wasn't until we shook hands after the match did I realize that their dynamic superstar was no other than Marina Skender from LSU. I remember playing against her the one season we were both on the court and she was exactly the same, aggressive but smart player. It's always refreshing for me to see familiar faces across the net, makes me feel like I'm still in the states. Although our team won the scrimmage, it was an ugly win. We lost the first set all on our own errors but won the following three. Everyone seemed slow, probably due to the fact it was the first day since Friday that many had touched a ball, and our libero was out due to illness so all the outside's had to take turns playing libero. That's right, ALL the outside's. For some reason I thought I was immune to this situation until my coach told me to switch jerseys. At first I thought he was kidding but...he wasn't lol. Despite the fact that I am still somewhat a novice in the back row, I had years of listening to coaches and coaching left back myself. It's safe to say I held my own and actually had some pretty good plays! 

The rest of the week followed the usual routine. As our schedule continues it seems as though we have a lot one singular practices and weights/individual training in the morning. Friday was the only double day we had last week and it made up for every day of not doing much of anything.

After morning practice, my teammate and I returned to our apartment to relax a little until we had to meet with our club president to turn in our permanent residency information. When we arrived at his house we were ambushed by the fact that we were going to Tampere, 20 minutes away, to fill out the necessary paperwork. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem except neither of us had eaten anything since breakfast and thought it would be a quick meeting in town and we would head to lunch afterword. Wrong. Once in Tampere we waited for about a half hour in the wrong location then went to the right building only to find out that my residency forms could take longer than three months to clear while Nicole's, my teammate, would only take about one to two weeks. This is no problem EXCEPT the fact that as a foreigner, I'm only allowed 90 days in a foreign country without documented residency. This also means that as soon as November 16th hits, 91 days, I will not be allowed to compete in any matches until I'm cleared. Needless to say this didn't sit well with my club director or myself, he started making calls right away to expedite the process. After a long morning we were grabbed a quick lunch then headed to the bank to set up our accounts, a much easier process. All of the political odds and ends were finished around 3 and at 4:10 we headed to practice for pictures and practice. Friday night's practice was surprisingly good, most likely due to the fact that it was the last practice before the weekend. Everyone seemed to empty their tanks for a solid two hours. You really can't ask for anything more than that. My Friday night was relaxing, watched movies and got some much needed rest.

The rest of my weekend followed suit and was delightfully boring. Saturday I seemed to have cooking fever, making brown sugar banana pancakes (inspired by Hash House A Go Go), Greek pasta salad, and blueberry muffins with cinnamon topping. Besides grocery shopping, cooking has always been another favorite way for me to clear my head. Everything turned out delicious, which I was genuinely concerned about since they use GRAMS TO MEASURE HERE. It took me about 30 minutes to measure everything out on my teammates scale, too much thinking for a Saturday if you ask me. I made sure to tell my mom to send my measuring cups in my first package. The rest of the day was very slow; I was able to see all the excitement buzzing on Twitter about tailgates and football games. To this day I've never really been to a tailgate of a collegiate or professional team. Guess they'll go on my bucket list! Saturday also marked an important date for two reasons: (1) My grandpa's birthday and (2) Two year anniversary of my ACL surgery. If anyone knows me, they know how my grandpa was basically my dad. He loved my sisters and myself unconditionally and spoiled us to no end. I think about him every day and although he's terribly missed I know how proud he is of my mom, sisters and myself for being strong, confident women. He's my guiding light and inspiration. It always amazes me how fast time pasts. To know it has already and yet only been two years since my knee surgery makes me realized how truly fortunate I am for this opportunity. Last year, my last season at UT, my injury kept me from reaching my potential. The season started off rocky, I played different positions and felt as though I couldn't get into a groove. But despite the drama that occurred and my initially decision not to play, God planned otherwise. I never planned on playing professionally; I still don't see it as my calling or career choice but more as an opportunity. The pursuit of my professional career is a selfish one, to prove to myself that I can reach my full athletic potential. Of course I love to compete and play, but I like the challenge of it more...and this is what this season is about, the challenge. When April 12, 2014 hits I want to leave my team knowing I gave my all every day and didn't have any excuses. As of right now I feel like my old self pre-knee injury, it's a liberating feeling.  

Sunday mirrored Saturday with the exception of me thinking I was Paula Dean. In the morning I went for a three-mile run, a run I'm looking to eventually complete three times a week. Although it's concrete the surfaces are much flatter than the U.S. so the impact doesn't feel as bad but I'll probably make the middle day a trail day. Nothing beats a little sweat getting lost in my iPod. I really enjoyed my relaxing weekend. Sometimes you just need a few days to do nothing but watch movies, chat with friends and pig out. Sounds like a typical weekend back home! Every day I find more and more people coming across the seas. It's like a giant reunion!

This week we have two scrimmages. Time to get focused for another "work" week!!

...Live life with light...

Week 2: Slave To The Routine

My second full week in Finland provided more consistency than the first, mostly because I knew what to expect. Instead of recapping every day, I'm going to provide my schedule of what a "typical" week looks like. Some days may vary due to scrimmages but they're usually during practice times.

Monday: Lifting

*5:00-6:30 This week went MUCH better than my first. I immediately saw improvements in my form and was actually pleased with my performance.

Tuesday: Long practice day

*8:00-9:30 Practice. Usually includes some light jumping

In between practice today my coach attempted to take my roommate and I to get our bank accounts set up. Apparently we have to get a Finnish social security number soOo hopefully we get cleared soon. I need my money honey!

*5:00-7:00 Jumping practice. This practice has a much higher intensity; every minute from start to finish is spent with a ball. I enjoy this practice because it works on my focus and ability to push through tired moments. The rapid, high speed of the drills during this time keeps everyone moving.

Wednesday: Split

*8:00-9:30 Lifting/cardio. This week we did a 30-minute jog and a circuit lift, complete with cleans and hanging abs of course! Prior to coming across the water I hated running if it wasn't sprints. The pounding of the pavement and the sounds of my own hard breathing always turned me off to this form of exercise that many people find enjoyment, but running with my teammates around a new city, Tampere, didn't feel as bad.

*5:30-7:00 Jumping Practice. Today's practice was pretty typical. Serving, passing, and running through rotations. Currently we're still trying to figure out who plays what position. I know I'm locked in as the starting outside, never subbing out, but there are some other positions still up for grabs. Thankfully my teammates are all of great talents and passion, playing with any of them serves as a great source of energy and drive to me.

Thursday: One Practice

*Morning off: Thursday mornings are solo 60-90 minute cardio. During my initial visit in July we did some forest running that I really enjoyed. This morning I took the opportunity to find the trail, off the beaten path, and created my own cardio routine. It's located up a set of winding stairs that rises above the city, giving exercise enthusiast a beautiful of treetops and far away lands. I've developed a liking to my routine, these mornings allow me to clear my head and discover my own drive. Prior to my workout I received my first recovery massage, JUST what I needed after a tough physical adjustment week. Going into my massage I wasn't exactly excited about running afterward but when it was completed I seriously felt like a new woman!

*4:30-7:00 Thursday evening practices start earlier so we can lift before. There's a floor ball team, yes it's a REAL competitive club sport in Finland, that has practice until 5...5:30 so we get our lift and warm-up in while they have the floor. The lift was predictable as always, cleans, upper, and abs. It's not that I'm against my coaches’ workouts; they're just very monotonous which I think can be very dangerous for a group of athletes. Doing the same lift every day, every week leaves little room for motivation but our workouts do transfer well to the court in regards to being explosive and having a strong core. My washboard abs are coming in QUITE nicely if I do say so myself.

Friday: Double Practice

*8:00-9:30 This Friday morning was slow since we had a scrimmage against another team in our league, OrPo, in the evening. Personally, the practices when we focus on our technique are my favorite. There's no time during the week to break down skills and coming from a program that focused a lot on technique and passing, I struggled initially with the lack of reps. However, the decreased amount of reps forces me to take care of every rep I do get during the week, making sure I execute them to perfection.

*5:00-7:00 Scrimmage against OrPo. Friday night was my second time not wearing orange, still weird. The scrimmage went really well! During our preseason scrimmages we play four sets, no matter how many either team as won. Fortunately we won all four sets and had moments of greatness and heart throughout our play. OrPo is a well-organized team with some dynamic hitters but I think we present more strength and athleticism. Playing here is really easy, my competitive drive takes over and I go into autopilot. I feel like I can just play. I've also adjusted to playing six-rotations and learned how to conserve energy when needed. While at UT I only played in three-rotations, it was a lot easier to play balls to the wall for three-rotations then be subbed out to rest, not the situation here. Playing in the back-row is invigorating. I'm still an offensive threat and I get to work on a part of my game that's not as developed, it keeps me in both physically and mentally active in the game. Our playing started off slow, as our assistant coach made reference to in our post-game meeting in a Bulgarian remark about "pushing" a bull into a crate before he "pushes" you back. Obviously he didn't use the word pushing and didn't say it in English but based off the reaction of my teammates I was able to get the gist of what he was saying. As I keep saying throughout my blogs and Facebook, I'm really excited for this season. Our passion alone makes it enjoyable, a feeling I lacked in my last season of collegiate ball. Every day I'm reminded that I can ENJOY playing.

After the game decided to grab some groceries and had an "OH EFF" moment when I realized I left all of my credit cards in my apartment, mind you I was currently getting checked out at this time. Thankfully my apartment is very close to the supermarket so I was able to run back to my apartment and grab some mulah. The cool down that had settled into my body while grocery shopping quickly dissipated three steps into my jog/sprint to and from my apartment. Grocery shopping has always been one of my errands, don't ask me why. Probably the same reason why most mother's tell their kids they can't come when they're going to get groceries, that and the fact that when you bring kids you always spend about $100 in sugary crap they claim the NEED. Need? No, what kids needs are the essentials. All that extra crap leads to bad teeth and hyped up kids running around. I know I won't NEED that once I have kids....please excuse that random moment.

Friday night was also the first time I experience Tampere nightlife! One of my teammates knew some basketball players from Helsinki coming up for the weekend; we met them at a popular bar in Tampere called Miami. Nightlife in Finland is very similar to the U.S., Friday's aren't lively but it's a perfect opportunity to enjoy the time with your friends without being squished in a corner by a Saturday crowd. It was nice to finally make some friends! All four guys had played basketball and were originally from Africa but came to the states during their adolescent years to pursue basketball dreams. I enjoyed being surrounded by a nightlife scene, after a long week of practice and workouts it's just what I needed! Unlike many of the Finnish natives I saw stumbling across the streets or impressively sitting upright passed out, I didn't turn up like an American. Those moments are saved for my crowd of friends back in the U.S., but I did try a few Finnish signature drinks! Fisu is a mint shot. After taking it I told them it tasted like toothpaste, apparently they thought it was hilarious. I also had an adult vanilla milkshake. As soon as I smelled the licorice aroma coming from the drink I already knew what was the secret ingredient, absinthe. Now, if you know about absinthe you know all about the hallucinations people have claimed to experience after consumption, I had none of those. It was a milkshake people, not a blackout drink. Lonkero is another tasty Finnish treat. It's gin and grapefruit juice on tap, very delicious! Once I had tried some drinks and we danced a little, we noticed individuals of our group had a liiiiittle too much fun so we headed to a favorite pizzeria spot before going home. Yum.

Saturday proved I was a slave to my routine. After going to bed at 3 I woke up bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 8 am. Not being able to go back to sleep I decided to conquer my weekend cardio. Heading back to my favorite forest spot I did some sprints, footwork and push-ups. Apparently since my trip overseas I've always developed the desire to be a chef. For brunch I whipped up French toast with fresh strawberries and a mushroom, ham, onion, and spinach omelet. Not sure if it's my insanely fast metabolism I've also acquired since being in Finland or the ample amount of time at my disposal but I've being going to work in the kitchen! The rest of my Saturday was very chill. Lots of movies, icing, catching up with U.S. friends and hearing about their crazy nights. If there's one thing I miss the most it's the moments with my friends and not just the crazy moments, but the times where you can sit laughing at nothing or go for a ride with the top down blasting music. In my mind I'm still in the U.S., just in a new city where I don't know anyone. I don't think it'll hit me until the holidays but even then I can always escape to a new location where I know someone, I definitely feel lucky to have friends everywhere.

Oh snap! Tomorrow is Labor Day! Maybe I know I'm not in the U.S. after all? haha

Today is a lazy, rainy Sunday. It's my time to have some one on one time with the Lord through The Walk podcast, catch up on some reading, and mentally prepare for another week in the gym. I've started following some inspirational people on Instagram to keep me focused through the week and began compiling my favorite quotes to do something with later. As time continues I think I'll start picking up some new hobbies and/or projects but right now I think I'll stick to my R&R routine. I think nine years of busting my ass has earned me that right?

Hope everyone had a good weekend; enjoy the holiday!!