Braulio, Bad Weather and Backaches

(2/5/10 6:00pm) Braulio Estima Seminar at Gracie Barra Huntington Beach

We have all heard the stories. Insert grizzled old man here describing the treacherous trek back and forth to school every day; uphill, both ways, in the snow, without shoes. Point being, they had it so very bad so how dare you complain about your own little inconveniences in this rather comfortable age in which we live. Well buckle in youngsters, cause I got a whopper (no not from Burger King....mmmm burgers).

On Friday night I attended a seminar put on by Braulio Estima. In case you don’t know who that is; he is an awesome BJJ competitor and won the ADCC last year. But we’ll get to him and the seminar later. I need to talk about the drive down.

I live in Palmdale California and the seminar was in Huntington Beach. According to MapQuest, to get to GBHB its 97.95 miles one way, so I am going to round to 100. It’s my story, if I want to take liberty with 2.05 miles I will.

Not only was it 100miles, it was 100miles with more than half of it on the 405. Anyone familiar with LA traffic knows that the 405 is a special little slice of hell. I refer to it as the world’s longest parking lot.

So, not only was it 100miles, it was 100 miles with more than half on the 405, and it was a Friday afternoon, when everyone and their uncle is either escaping to or away from the city.

Did I mention that it was raining? It was. So it was 100 miles, down the 405, on a Friday afternoon, in the rain. Beat that gramps! Yeah, that’s what I thought. You got nothin! MapQuest tells me that it should take 1 hour and 46 minutes. That is optimistic without the weather being a factor. So let’s do math, I left at 2:30pm and I arrived at the academy at 5:45, just before the scheduled 6:00pm start time. I will subtract 15 minutes for the quick stop I made into Jiu-Jitsu Progear and that puts my total, one way time at 3 hours. Yes, not a typo, 3 hours.

What could be worth spending 3 hours sitting in LA traffic, on the 405, on a Friday afternoon, in the rain? That’s easy, Braulio Estima. Braulio is a Gracie Barra black belt with more accolades than I can mention. Perhaps the most significant, recent, feat of his was his winning the ADCC Absolute last year. Beyond that, he is such a nice guy.

I won’t go into specifics about what we covered because I think people need to go see Braulio when they can and learn from the source. His seminar dealt with working in the guard primarily. I am always looking to fortify my guard game so this was great for me. We took good notes while there so that we would be able to remember the techniques we learned as well as the overall strategies that he gave us. Braulio has a unique way of looking at positions and submissions that I have never thought of but it makes so much sense once you hear it.

His enthusiasm for teaching and sharing his knowledge is so apparent. He genuinely enjoys helping everyone in the class learn something new. We counted 51 people on the mats and though there was zero extra mat space, he made it feel like a small group of friends. Braulio made a point to personally check up on everyone and it felt like one big private lesson.

I have to give some thanks to Professor Filipe “Jerry” Oliveira. He made us feel welcome and at home in a strange academy. He treated those of us from different academies as long time friends and was so very helpful. In fact, everyone at his academy treated us very well, so a big thank you to them.

Ok, so now the dark lining on this big shiny silver cloud. Somewhere during drilling techniques I managed to hurt my lower back. I have no idea how it happened. I was working with Dr. Evil and all of a sudden there was a little pain. That pain began to escalate and by the time we left it was horrible. I made the drive home (two hours this time) and got home at 12:30am.

I tried to get some rest but I could not get comfortable. I managed to get myself out of bed and in agony I drove to the urgent care at 5:00am. The doc there gave me a shot in the muscles in my back and sent me home with a prescription for Flexeril. All day Saturday I wrestled with the pain and tried to rest it as much as I could. Sunday was just as bad, if not worse. There were times that I thought I had broken my back it hurt so bad. I went back to the urgent care, during the Superbowl. This time they took x-rays and luckily they were clean. The doc said it could be a minor burst or slipped disk. Hopefully it’s just a pinched nerve or something. As I write this, it’s Monday and I am still in a great deal of pain. I will keep up my meds and hopefully whip this thing into submission soon. I hate how much I have been off the mats already this year and I don’t need another setback. Fingers crossed it’s just a pinched nerve or something and I can get back on the mats soon.

Bottom Line, if Braulio comes to an academy near you, pay the fee, make the drive and enjoy a fantastic BJJ experience with one of the most talented and nicest guys out there. He is making his way around the states so be on the lookout.

Rehab, Retention and Repetition

(1/25/10 6:30pm) BJJ

One of the odd things about training in a gym that has yet to open is the fact that most every night is like open mat. For me this proved to be a very good thing as I am still nursing my shoulder and back…back to health. The pain all day had been very mild which was a welcome change. For days it has felt as though the muscles in my back had gotten shorter and like someone had shoved a small rock underneath my shoulder blade. So, to whoever it was that shoved a rock in there…..a very sarcastic Thank You!

As far as training; I found someone else who just wanted to go light and we worked on drilling a few specific techniques. Armbar from mount, a neat side control kimura set-up from Braulio’s Invisible Jiu-Jitsu, and as always I worked on my guard retention.

After enough reps we moved on to specific training. I put myself into bad situations (mostly under side control) and worked to get back to guard or to reverse completely and end up on top all the while my opponent tried to pass to mount or submit. I forced myself to try a few different escapes. In live rolling I typically rely on the upa-shrimp-up to knees and shoot for a single leg. That escape has served me well but from time to time I am against people who can greatly out-wrestle me and I typically end up losing any advantage and end up back where I started. So for this session I really tried to work on getting to half guard and getting back to full guard.

I had a great deal of success with getting back to guard and I think that now I will be more apt to do the same in live sparring when against a formidable wrestler (of which we have many). Now I am not discounting the fact that I need serious help with my wrestling. If I happen to find that one gem in the rough that is smaller than me with even less wrestling skill I end up doing well. But most of the time I end up working from a bad position. I guess that should be another goal for this year, to improve my wrestling / judo.

When I got home my shoulder started to talk to me again. I dosed up, hit the sack and this morning it feels much better. I am debating between doing jits again tonight and risk aggravating it or to just hit 24 Hour Fitness with my temporary pass and just work cardio and such to save my shoulder. Decisions decisions.

Feeling Un-Awesome

Ok, so far this year has not quite gotten off to the start I wanted it to. I started out with some kind of cold that just would not go away. Then I developed a pain in my shoulder / back that just continued to get worse and worse. Once the cold subsided and my shoulder was just unbearable, I decided to go to the urgent care to make sure nothing was seriously wrong. The doc took x-rays and thankfully they looked normal. He told me it is probably a spasm underneath the shoulder blade that is causing all the muscles around it to tighten up and guard it, thereby perpetuating more pain. It’s a vicious cycle. He prescribed Vicodin and Flexeril. The Vicodin is for the pain and Flexeril to relax the muscles. Cool. A few doses of these over the next few days should do the trick.

So I got home from the doctor on Tuesday night, popped my new pills, had dinner and went off to bed. It would seem as though two prescriptions were not all I got from seeing the doctor as I awoke at 0100 racing to the bathroom to vomit. I felt horrible. Then I performed encores at 0200 and 0330. Needless to say that was a miserable night. All day Wednesday I was in agony. I alternated between the sofa and the bed all day, trying to find some relief. I tried to keep my fluids up but it just was not working. I wasn’t even able to eat but a few spoonfuls of the chicken soup my wife made me. It seems as though I picked up some kind of bug at the urgent care that wanted to see me suffer for 24 hours.

This morning I am feeling 1000% better. I still have absolutely zero energy so I know I won’t train again tonight. My shoulder is still killing me so I am planning to get some real food in me and to resume taking those meds to hopefully heal it up. If I am going to miss training it might as well be to heal up so I can get back to healthy. I have not had one single week of being totally healthy at all this year. I can’t wait for that to happen! Mentally I am ready to conquer the world, physically…not so much.

So that is the scoop for now. I am sure that by the end of this month I will be back to 100% and will be able to get back on the path to world domination.

Lets Get This Party Started Right

Goal Setting (1/17/2010)

Ok, it’s the end of the second week of 2010. Really, 2010? We have only had two weeks in this New Year and already there is so much to report. It has been a busy year thus far and this is the first real chance I have had to be able to sit down and put virtual pen to virtual paper. Since this is my first post of the New Year and I have had some time to reflect I guess it is time to announce my goals to the community.

Recap of 2009:

January started off like I had hoped and expected. There was a lot of BJJ going on until I went back to work and then naturally it began to curtail as the grind resumed. Still, I was optimistic and feeling improvements for the first time in a long time. It might just be a good year.

Then in February I suffered two strokes within 24 hours. Those were strokes 4 and 5 respectively in my relatively short life. To my friends under 30, shut up. I’m still young…ish. Anyway, these strokes landed me in the hospital and shaped the rest of my year.

While in the hospital, I was diagnosed with a PFO, a hole in my heart that allows small clots, less oxygenated blood and other nasties to circumvent the normal filtering process and loop straight to my brain. Yeah, it’s as crappy as it sounds. Well at the end of April I had heart surgery. I was free to return to action in the gym around July. Needless to say, six months of NOTHING really took a toll.

I spent many a night in the fitness kickboxing class to rebuild cardio and strength. That was a long, tedious and sometimes frustrating process. I felt a great sense of accomplishment after each session and now I am so very glad I did it. I can really feel the difference and I know it has helped me to lay a foundation for this year.

I did do more and more BJJ toward the end of the year and I even got my second stripe. Finally. I have been training off and on since October 2007 and I am a two stripe white belt. I am not complaining, just stating the fact. During all that time I have had strokes and other medical problems keep me off the mats for long periods of time. I am so very optimistic that 2010 represents the first year ever in which I will have no substantial interruptions in training so I can get where I should be.

So with all the off the mat stuff in mind, lets take a look at the goals I set for 2009 and assess where I have made progress and where I have not. My comments as of now are in blue following the asterisks.

2009 Goals:

• Become a better BJJ player (Easy one eh?) *I think I did this one despite the odds
• Train more consistently *This one was impossible because of all my medical drama
• Attend minimum of 3 classes/week *As was this one
• Attend Open Mat more frequently (it rocks) *I did attend more sessions when I could
• Improve my guard game *This I fear was a point of regression
• Make the Triangle my go-to submission *Also one I was unable to work on
• Improve my conditioning *After 6 months off the mats and then 6 months of work; I feel that I am now better than ever
• Fitness kickboxing classes *I did a ton of these to recover and rebuild my cardio. It worked
• More cycling (Mountain / Road) *Only made it on a few road rides and NO mountain rides
• • Keep my head in the “right” place *I think the time off helped my mental game. I don’t freeze nearly as bad anymore.
• Get more photos during training *Not a single one
• Write more *I did write more, most though was chronicling my heart condition and surgery

So now that last year is over and all the medical stories have gone by the wayside I can take a look forward. I didn’t want to overanalyze my goals for this year I just want to take it as it comes and enjoy being able to train and train hard. So, with all that in mind, here are my goals for this year.

2010 Goals:

• Continue to Work on my Guard
• Work Hard Enough to Deserve Promotions
• Third Stripe
• Forth Stripe
• Blue Belt
• Train BJJ 3 Times/week (Minimum of 156 Sessions in 2010)
• Strength and Conditioning 4 Times / Week (Minimum of 208 Sessions in 2010)
• Visit and Train at 4 Other BJJ Schools
• Write More; 2 Posts / Week (Minimum of 104 Posts in 2010)

I think this is a doable list. In fact, I hope to add to it as the year progresses. Since this will be my first uninterrupted year of training, I don’t want to create a laundry list of unattainable items nor do I want to box myself in with a gaggle of restrictive goals. This is BJJ, we are supposed to be able to just flow right?

Now, keep me honest community. Hold me to the fire and help me attain these goals, help me to grow as a BJJ player and help me to grow this fantastic endeavor that has us all in its spell.

*PS: My original Professor, Kazeka Muniz is opening a new gym in Palmdale and I have left Fight Factory to train with him. The new facility will be as amazing as his instruction. So, if you ever find yourself in Palmdale California, stop by Premium Fitness and take a look.

2 Hours and 5 Rolls

(11/3/09 5:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing
(11/3/09 6:00pm) BJJ


Kickboxing:

Renee taught the class again tonight. And again, the "warm-ups" were rough. We started off with what I think were 50 squats before we started jogging. The warm-up period is always difficult and leaves me doubting that I will be able to push thru and finish. Particularly when we do sprints down the long sides with shuffles around the short ends. That little delight feels like it lasts for an hour and a half but I am willing to bet it is only like two minutes.


We worked some different combinations on the heavy bags tonight, which was a nice change. Over the past few weeks my left hook has been getting pretty strong and tonight we worked hooks on both sides and now my right seems to be catching up.

The end of the class was pretty mild as compared to normal. The ab work, though a lot of reps, was not too extreme and only included a handful of the normal torturous exercises. At the conclusion I went to the locker room to change and get ready for Jits.

BJJ

I hit the mats just as the warm ups were hitting the to-the-wall and back phase. I looked around, saw Dr. Evil but someone was conspicuously missing. Where the hell is Neil. Ok enough of a jab at him for not showing up. I hope the Big Mac was worth it buddy!

We drilled a spider-guard pass. For this one, we gripped the pants, on the inside, shook off their foot-to-biceps control one arm at a time. You then drive one leg to the ground, never letting it go till you obtain stable side control. With the other hand you shoot under the free leg, drive your head to their thigh and reach back grabbing the belt to prevent escape. You then walk around, passing the trapt leg and establish side control. This was pretty nifty and I actually pulled it off twice in rolling. That is great for me because I typically suck at getting past spider.

Rolling:

My first round was with Paul, a big guy tipping the scales at 240+. Big, strong guy. I did pretty well against him. To my surprise, I was able to negate a lot of his strength. I even got to mount and threatened a choke by the end of the round.

Second round was with Dr. Evil. As always we had a see-saw battle. The first half I was in control and even caught him with a wrist lock from on top in side control. But then, I started to gas. As he later pointed out to me, this was like minute 116 of training for me so it is understandable. We finished out the round with him taking my back.

Third round was with Sarge (Ruben). Traditionally Sarge would always take my back right off the bat. This time though I did pretty well with my wrestling and even managed to win an exchange. Sarge is very strong and surviving his constant onslaught felt good.

Fourth was with Ian, our resident phenom. He would instantly trip me up with his slick spider-guard entries and I would be on defense from the start. He choked me from various positions in many different ways. At the end of the round he said something that I am going to try to remember. He said that when being attacked, you need to respond right away; when attacking, you can take your time and wait for openings. On defense I tend to wait for small mistakes or opportunities and sometimes I get too patient till I don't have anywhere to go any longer. So thanks for the advice Ian.

Fifth round was back with Paul. I was doing well again till I missed on a guard pass, got caught in an oma plata sweep attempt and rolled into the wall. Once trapt I was pretty well stacked and with his weight bearing down, I felt something in my left ribs pop. I verbally tapped and sat out the rest of that round (about a minute). The rib is just fine now, but at the time it really took my breath away.

Great night of training. I seemed to hold up pretty well with the double work-out. Just need to keep it going.

Death to the Fat Kid

No offense to any actual fat kids out there. I am not talking about you. This post is about me personally and is not intended to portray any other fat kids real or fictional.

About one year ago I wrote a post in which I talked about having lost 30 pounds (195 to 165) and that I was 15 pounds from my goal of 150 (http://grappling-with-life.blogspot.com/2008/11/changing-weight-classes.html). Since that time I have had some...challenges. I had a couple of strokes at the beginning of this year that kept me off the mats, followed by the diagnosis and surgery to repair a hole in my heart.

All in all the first half of the year was shot from an exercise perspective. I was not allowed to do anything but normal life minus exercise. That was pretty difficult for me but hey, it is what I needed to do in order to make sure I would be alright for a long time to come. So I followed doctors orders and in the process lost focus on my eating habits. Lets see, no exercise and eating too much, not a good combination. Lets just say that I backslid a bit.

I was down to around 165 last November and now I find myself at 178.4lbs a gain of 13-14 pounds. When I look at it in that perspective, 6 months of nothing and only a 14 pound gain, its not too bad. Only 2.5ish pounds a month. Needless to say I still want to reach my goal. I want to get down to my original planed weight of 150 and I am motivated to do so.

I have added a weight tracker to the right hand side of my blogs homepage. I will keep track on a weekly (at least) basis of my current weight and body fat percentage. My first post in there is:

• Weight: 178.4
• Body Fat %: 21.5

I am hoping that having it out there in front of me and in the eyes of everyone who reads this will help to keep me marching toward my goal. My biggest problem as of late has been my food choices. I have been eating out tooooo much and enjoying large portions of the wrong foods. I love you ice cream and I will miss spending as much time with you.

Bottom line, I need an accountability system and this is the right venue. Reporting progress or lack there of is a heck of a motivator for me. So I ask your help. Keep me honest and if you see me eating crap, call me on it. Help me kill the fat kid once and for all.

Kicking Off The Week On Tired Legs

(11/2/09 5:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing

I started this session with quite a bit of apprehension. I totally expected for my legs to barely work if they worked at all. Yesterday was the now fabled 50 mile road ride so I knew that I would just be spent.

I was surprised all day that I was not really sore at all. I had a little bit in my legs but my shoulders and arms bore the brunt of my residual soreness; what there was. I guess that ice bath really did help. Thanks interweb for all those videos of folks like Wand and Tito dunking themselves into freezing cold water after a workout. Finally something useful pulled off the idiot box (other than this blog of course).

We did basically the exact same workout as all of the sessions I attended last week. Starting off with 110 squats before we even started the normal"warm-up" phase. I started feeling it in my legs around squat #30, but I pressed on and completed the entire workout as normal.

Unlike Saturday morning, at the end of class I was able to prop myself up without collapsing into a heap on the mats. Progress. Tonight I actually felt as though I started to turn a corner and that I am in fact getting a bit fitter. It has been a long while of plateaus, road blocks and uncertainty about my heart. Now though, I think it is all starting to come together. So a big thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way to get to this point and thanks in advance for helping me to see it thru.

On the Road Again....and Again, and Again

(11/1/09) Road Cycling
*I normally don't list my cycling workouts here but this one is special.

Sunday. Normally this time of year Sundays are for sleeping in and watching football. Not this Sunday. I was up at 0600 (would have been 0700 but my phone didn’t auto update with the stupid time change) and getting ready for a ride on my road bike with my neighbor Greg. We had been talking about going mountain biking together for just about as long as I have lived there (4 years now) but as of yet had not. On Halloween evening as my wife and I were sitting outside waiting for kids, Greg and his wife were doing the same. We got to talking and he suggested a road ride and for once, I had nothing else on the docket so I eagerly said yes.

Greg said we could take a normal route of his, do an out and back. Now I already knew that Greg was in much better shape and that he would be kicking my ass on the ride. What I did not count on was just how destroyed I was from Renee’s beatings at the gym all week. When I left the gym on Saturday I could barely walk or hold my arms up due to totally fatigue. So that was the state I was in prior to this ride.

We started out at 0800. I was on my slick little road bike and Greg was plugging along on his mountain bike. All was well until we hit the first little climb on Godde hill road (it is a big, steep, up and over) and that is when all the leg work from the week hit me. Lactic acid was flowing and I could not shake it. Greg pressed on and waited for me at the ends of various sections. I was dying the entire time but I pressed on and made it. I am very proud of that ride.

Here is the box score:

• Total Distance: 50 miles (yes really….50!)
• Total Time: 3.5 hours
• Total Elevation change (climbing): 3,000’

That was pretty rough. When I got home I was physically spent and sunburned. I did the old fighter ice bath trick to try and alleviate the inflammation in my legs and lower back. Basically I filled the tub with cold water and Ice and sat inside. I sat there for 3-4 minutes. Believe it or not but I think it helped. I expected to be worse for wear today and instead I feel fine…..relatively. We’ll see how I feel after tomorrow night's workout!

Earn That Candy

(10/31/09 9:30am) Fitness Kickboxing
Happy Halloween!

I decided that my costume at the gym today would be an in shape and talented BJJ practitioner. If nothing else, sometimes it helps one to perform if they simply play the part right? Well maybe it worked a little bit, the in shape part. I’ll explain why the talented BJJ player didn’t work out.

I arrived at the gym right at 0930 (class start time) but not to worry, Renee was just getting there as well. There were 5 of us in the beginning (this too would change by the end). We started out by doing the warm-ups. Renee’s class is a bit different from the others. His warm-ups are so very brutal and are a good mix of cardio and strength (two things I do not possess) and leave you broken before the real fun even begins.

Being a Saturday morning, we did circuits right after the warm-ups. This weeks slice of hell consisted of the following five stations of purgatory:

• Cable Rows: 70lbs
• Triceps Extensions: 20lbs
• Alternating Dumbell Presses: 25lbs
• Lat Pulldowns: 70lbs
• Hanging Leg Raises: My own fat

We did three sets. We did 1 minute on each station with 30 seconds rest in-between. That equals a lot of weight moved in a very short period of time. During the first round, one of the group wrestled with asthma and tapped out due to MPH. the rest of us kept on, keeping the five stations.

After the circuits we went back to the mats and put in our ab work. We did the same exercises as normal with counts of at least 50 on each. Some of them we doubled up on and hit 100. I cant remember all we did, I think I have already repressed that memory, but trust me when I say it was yet another ring in the inferno.

When all was said and done and we were allowed to go toward the light (Carol Anne) I could not even lift myself off the mats. As I was sitting, holding myself up with my arms, they were acting like jackhammers, shaking uncontrollably. Now that’s a good time!!! The BJJ part didn't work out because nobody showed up for open mat. At least not in the time I was willing to wait. Oh well, I'll break out that costume again next week!

It's Been a While, I'll Have a Double

(10/28/09 5:00pm) Fitness Kickboxing

(10/28/09 6:00pm) BJJ

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been attending a number of kickboxing classes and had not posted anything about them. Well, last nights (as well as Monday's) are worth reporting on. Monday (10/26/09) Renee was at the helm. Normally when Renee runs a class, it is safe to assume that first; it is going to be brutal and second it is going to be different than we are used to.

Well, he did not deviate from his normal form in either of these sessions. I have thrown the term "destroyed" around before and I truly feel like I have not done it justice after going thru these two workouts. The warm-ups were harder than a typical entire session. We kept a relentless pace and he made us perform sooo many reps of sooo many different exercises. Every part of by body hurts. Here is a brief example, when we were at the "cool down" phase of the workout; the section wherein we decimate our abs, there were 12 of us in the class. Renee would count off 10 reps for us then pass the counting to the person on the end. Once done the next person counts off 10 and so on, and so on. Yes, that is 130 reps of each ab exercise in rapid succession. Here is a list of what I can remember:

• Crunches 130
• Planks 130 (counting)
• Planks with Right Leg up 130 (counting)
• Planks with Left Leg up 130 (counting)
• Side Planks 130 (counting)
• Ceiling Touches 130
• Knee Slides 130
• Long Arm Crunches 130
• Raised Leg Toe Touches 130
• Obliques 130
• Flutter Kicks 70
• And many, many more!

Basically total devastation twice this week. Looking forward to doing it again tonight!

BJJ

It had been a long time since I have been on the mats. But since I got thru two brutal cardio sessions with no chest pain, I figured it would be safe. I took my sweet time putting away my gloves and wraps before changing into my gi. I made sure that the BJJ warm-ups were done before joining the class. It quickly became a bit of a nostalgic night as myself, Tank, Kemo, Fritz, Dr. Evil, both Alex's and Neil were all on the mats. It felt like old times. I drilled technique with Neil and the Doc worked in with us until Tank hit the mats.

We worked on spider guard passes. Particularly we learned the "bullfighter" or "matador" pass. Where, controlling the knees you fake out your intentions by moving their knees either side before exploding around to one side, dropping your near shoulder into their chest. Fritz also showed us a number of ways to pass if they are defending. Including a nifty knee on belly kinda version.

For the rolling portion we did the Submit, Sweep or Pass drills. This was my first bit of "rolling" in quite a while so while I never did get a pass, I had a few shining moments in that black sea of frustration. On my go with Kemo I actually broke his guard, almost passed, got swept but kept him from establishing position, shot for a single, he took my back, I rolled him off and almost drove to side control before he was able to sweep me. All the while I could hear Fritz coaching me and that was awesome. Knowing he was watching and wanting me to achieve means a lot.

My other moment was with Iron Man. I got out of his guard and found myself in his spider, just as we had drilled. I knew he was expecting the Matador so I faked it and tried that Sakuraba style Cartwheel pass. I didn't quite make it and ended up right where I started but at least I got a good laugh from the sidelines. Ian was laughing his ass off and that made me laugh a bit too. I said "at least I tried it huh?". At that moment class was over and we did the cool down. Good times.

Bottom line, I am back in action. No chest pain to report on either Monday or last night. So I will keep charging on and getting better.

BTW: I am so very, very, very sore today.