So I last left off after just having had my first rolling session at the 50/50 academy and being lucky enough to have rolled with Ryan Hall; which a treat to say the least.
My first few days in VA were pretty much sleep days and I'm not sure if this has contributed to my sleep schedule being way off. After my first training session, and continuing on to my time in South Carolina, I've been staying up to 4-6am each night and sleeping in till anywhere from 12:00pm to 3pm. This is something that I'd rather not be doing but since I'm on vacation I'm trying not to worry too much about it. Still it does bum me out sometimes if I've sleep most of the day away. I worried as to how I'm going to remedy this once I get back home and to reality-I'll figure things out.
So You're probably wondering what my living space was like. Well here is a picture of the front of Seph and Kenny's pad:
As you can see a pretty nice little brick house (many,if not all, the houses were brick and I'm assuming that it is because of the humidity). Let me take you on a little journey. I walk up the side walk, open the chain link fence, close the fence. Walk up to the door and insert my key - Kenny was kind enough to give me my own key - unlock the door, walk in to some air conditioning (you pretty much need an air conditioner down here). If I were to walk straight I would pass through the living/tv room then on to the kitchen and to the left to the kitchen the laundry room.
But I'll take you on a small trip to the left and up a flight of stairs. Once you reach the top of the too your left is Seph's room, straight ahead is the washroom. Now I take a left and and walk down a very short hallway; to my left is Kenny's room. But I continue straight ahead to a door and the guest room. On my very first day the first thing I noticed was the bedding. Here is what I saw when I first entered the room:
Ninja Turtle Bedding; how cool is that? Pretty cool I must say. Anyhow, this is what my room looked like after a few days of training:
Which was pretty typical of my time in Rio - gi's and various training gear hanging around drying. It may be messy, foreign, perhaps even gross to those who are not familiar with the BJJ lifestyle but to those who have traveled and lived the life (for however long it was) it is typical and in someways a comfort. A comfort in the sense that, at least for awhile, all that matters is what you have packed - a few clothes, a Gi, your training gear and a few dollars in your pocket and bank account. I guess I'll never be any gals dream GQ kinda guy but I'm at the point in my life where I'm ok with who I am and the things I do (for the most part as I do have my days) and that's okay.
As I had mentioned earlier my sleep schedule was way off. So Thursday I got up around 2ish, showered and walked to the Potomac Centre. At this point I had also gotten my clothes so it was nice to have a clean pair of clothes to change into. At this point in my trip the heat in Alexandria/Arlington was deathly and I shit you not when I say that I walked half a block and I was dripping sweat. I made my way to the stores which were about at 15 minute walk away but seemed much further in the heat. I had found a Barns and Noble (Canadians think Chapters) bookstore which also had a Starbucks inside. I liked to hang out here and drink a coffee, surf the net, and then make my way around the bookstore. I ended up finding a couple of books for my father and a couple for myself. Anyhow, here are a few pics of the Starbucks.
This first one is of a cup of coffee - probably the first day I went there:
This one is of a nice mural above the coffee bar/register:
I would stay here for a bit then roam around the other stores and then make my way back to the house - usually after purchasing some supplies - water, gatoradge, coconut water, and a protein drink. So I did that and made my way back to the house,showered and walked to the bus stop and made my way to the 50/50 academy in Arlington. Tonight went a bit better as I was in the class with a few other guys who were around my skill level which made me fell better about things. After training I hung out for a bit then made my way back to the bus stop to catch the bus back to Alexandria. My particular bus stop went about half block further from where I would catch the bus to make my way into Arlington. This little walk would take me by the 7-11 and my ritual - for my brief time in Alexandria, of stopping for a coke zero and a hotdog. Yeah I know 7-11 food is kinda gross but what ever.
Anyhow, I got home, showered, ate a sandwich, drank some liquid and made my way up to my room to watch internet tv, surf the net, creep facebook, ha ha ha ha....and stay up till the wee hours of the night.
Friday was more of the same; sleep in late, get up, shower, and walk to the stores. Of course I ended up in the bookstore/coffee shop. I had my Venti cup of coffee and another Venti cup. Eventually I made my way back to the house to get ready to train. I might mention that the head on this particular Friday was close to unbearable and I would later learn the hottest day of the year - up to that point. Here is picture I took inside the bookstore/coffee shop that accents my point of how hot it was:
You can make out on the upper right hand side - yes! That does indeed say 39degrees C. I was later told that with the humidity added in that it was 46degrees C. I can honestly say I've never experienced heat like this. Which brings me to my next little story.
So I washed up and made my way to the bus stop. I was soaked in sweat before I even got to the bus stop. After about 15 minutes my bus arrived I hopped on and was thankful for the air conditioning. After about 45 minutes I was at the downtown town stop - Ballston I do believe - walked down to the academy and by the time I reached the doors and air conditioning I was once again soaked in sweat. So I made my way upstairs,changed and got ready for class.
Initially, class went well but about midway through I started to really get winded and shortly after began cramping up like crazy. It did not occur to me that anything might be wrong at this time and I just attributed it to a hard training session - as I had earlier mentioned almost everyone at the academy was much better than me. Well by the end of the training session my heart was beating fast, my arms were numb, and I was light headed and by this time I was a bit concerned. I walked back to the change room, drank a whole 500ml carton of coconut water, and sipped on some water. I did not feel any better and my chest was still feeling tight.
Now I had planned on taking part in what the 50/50 academy calls the Marathon Roll. The Marathon Roll consists of 10 five minute rounds back to back; with the 1 minute rest in between. It was one of my goals upon planning my Jiu Jitsu trip to Virginia. Now, unfortunately, I was not going to be able to take part. I stayed around and watched the action going on and as much as I would have liked to have been a part of it my body was not feeling right. I packed up and made my way back to the bus stop. I got downtown to the Ballston station and while waiting walked across the street to the 7-11 and grabbed a gatorade and promptly drained it.
The bus ride back to the house seemed to take longer than usual given my current state. In the end I made it back home safely and after a shower and some food I began to feel alot better but the lesson was learned. If you're going to drink to Venti (large) coffees and plan on doing any physical activity after that you had better make sure you are hydrated properly and double this advice if you are in any type of extreme heat and humidity.
Seph ended up arriving back at the house and I apologized to him for not staying around. He mentioned that it was not a big deal We ended up striking up a conversation about music. I learned that Seph had grown up in Richmond, VA and personally knew some members of a couple of bands I listened to back in the day. One of the bands was Avail and the other Ann Beretta - two Richmond, VA punk rock bands. Here is a sample of a very kick ass song by Avail:
Here is a clip of some competition footage from Seph Smith:
It was a pleasant surprise to know that Seph and I shared something in common (a taste in music - as the conversation continued I found out that we both like most of the same bands).
That is it for now - stay tuned for the next installment of my trip and adventure.
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