1-28-18 (Sunday) HY: Tennis x2 + TCF.

1-28-18 (Sunday) HY: Tennis x2 + TCF.

Since Wednesday all the club members had been watching the weather to see if today would be a snowy, rainy, cloudy/sunny day.  The forecast said something like 45-50% chance of rain.  So we were all iffy on whether or not we would actually be able to practice on today.  Luckily, the club was able to reserve one court in the afternoon for 2 hours at the indoor facility.  If the weather was bad, we would cancel the out door courts and then play indoors and visa versa if it were good or playable weather.  It turns out that the weather was extremely unstable and there was a drizzle.  So, it turned out that we decided to give the out door court a try and if practice was fine, just leave it at that.  But voices rose within saying that they wanted to KEEP the afternoon court even it the morning session was played.  So that is what happened.  It was, for me, unprecedented to have two sessions in one day.  Since that was the official decision, my wife decided not to go in the morning.  I wanted to go in the morning, so I said I would go in the morning, then go with her in the afternoon, too.  So that is why I did a double tennis day.  It ended up being a total of over 5 hours of tennis for me today.  In talking with other members in the morning, it seemed like there were going to be a lot of people going to the afternoon session instead of the morning one.  So I figured, since we would only have one court, it wouldn't be as rigorous. 

In the morning, there ended up being only eight people.  But we also had only one court.  There are two on the grounds, but one court was rather water logged from the night before so we couldn't play on it.  So it was good that there were only eight people.  The menu was regular, following the warm up, Stroke/Volley, then Serve/Return, and finally Point Sims.  I felt just okay with my strokes.  I wish I could have been more consistent, but I was a bit erratic. I would hit a great shot in one rally, then just shank it in the next rally.  I'd feel really controlled one moment, then just totally off the next.  My Volleys were also the same way, I was hitting them in, but my control was way off much of the time.  I just couldn't keep it consistent.  My serve started off really good.  I was hitting my spots and with good speed, power and control.  Then, slowly, I started netting them and then I almost totally lost it.  I couldn't get anything in.  Not sure what happened.  I suspect it was connected with my elbow and right forearm pain.  Or maybe I just got tired.  For Point Sims, we started off with the forehand receiving cycle, then the backhand.  Here, I was able to get into a groove a little more.  I played some good points, and had some well placed shots.  The idea of this practice is to keep the rally going for as long as possible, so most of my missed shots were when I tried to save an out or bad ball.  But I want to be able to control everything which is why I go for even the bad balls.  By this time, my back started to ache and I was a little worried that I wouldn't be 100% in the afternoon.  Also, the rain started to pick up, but luckily, right at the end, so we didn't have to shorten the morning session.

Just two hours to rinse off, eat lunch, then head off to the indoor court with my wife.  Surprise surprise, there were only 6 people to begin with too.  Three people in the morning didn't come but they were replaced by three people in the afternoon.  But about 25 minutes later, a few more people came, but we still had only 8 people.  So, it was pretty much the same level of practice as the morning.  That is so because of my HRM.  My peak heart rate in the morning was 166bpm and only 156bpm in the afternoon.  But the funny thing is that my strokes, volleys, were much better.  I felt I had more control and I felt more consistent.  Then, maybe it was the Adrenalin, but my back pain didn't cause any bad movement.  And my forearm and elbow pain was there, but I was able to power through it without too much trouble.  But I was really happy about my volleying.  Much more crisp and consistent.  I was able to get the ball deep consistently.  I was able to also make some good shots during the Point Sims.  We didn't have time for Serve/Return in the afternoon.  I was happy that I went in the afternoon as well.  I just wonder how I'm going to feel tomorrow and beyond.

Later in the evening, I was/am feeling pretty tired and all's I could get in was a short Flow series.  I'm planning to go to bed right after I post this entry.

In the end, I burned a total of 3173kcals.  1679kcals in the morning and then 1494kcals in the afternoon.  What a huge way to start off my week.  Good news, this is my last week of classes so I'll be free because I'll be entering Spring Vacation soon!!!