I'm sitting at the Albany airport right now due to a delayed departure for the 2013 judo Grand Prix in Croatia. What better opportunity to punch letters on a keyboard for a blog! Watch your feet people, I'm about to drop some knowledge on you.
The week leading up to my departure has been fantastic. Training at the JMJC has been so smooth. We have seen many national and international athletes come and go, formed new friendships, and strengthened old ones. Playing dodgeball for a warm up never gets old. That game has the ability to give ANYONE the mentality of a child again. Running around mental, screaming, people getting hit in the face & other sensitive areas…What's not to like I ask you?!
Special thanks to everyone who has contributed to my "make a champ" campaign. Every donation helps me remain a contender for the 2016 Olympics. News of my latest and greatest judo adventures can also be seen on my Facebook athlete page here
Making weight for this comp has been a breeze. Before leaving my apartment I was tipping the scales at 60.7. Time to play the "hurry up and WAIT to weigh in game" haha… Weak play on words. Pretty sure I lost another .1 today due to laughter induced by the jokes of good friend Anthony Vanetti.
Later in the afternoon my fiancé Jean picked me up for a lift to the airport. All I gotta say is, when a girl lets you kiss her goodbye when you have weight cutting dragon breath, you know you've got a good thing going haha. It's nice talking about the similarities and parallels that come with what we do with our lives. Quality of food, limited portions, "hurry up and wait", strains on the body & mind, friendships, alliances etc. These similarities help us understand each other on a deeper level than normal.
Last night I stopped off at the "Albany Rail Yard" to drop off some tour footage to my Hard Soul bandmates. The band hosts 2 open mics a week. Every Tuesday we're at the "Albany Rail Yard", and every Wednesday were at the "Putnam Den" in Saratoga. My friends/bandmates are pure awesomeness. They have been so supportive of my judo career and Olympic dream. Thanks guys! For an inside look at our 2013 Northeast tour check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel here. Please also check out our Facebook page here. Like the page and spread the word of my band!!! Lastly you can follow us on twitter: @thehardsoul.
That's all I have for now. Thanks for tuning in and reading. Hopefully I'll bring back some hardware from Croatia!
