Survival

I feel like getting a T-shirt with "I survived a PreSeason Training Session" printed on it. I went last night, and more importantly, I survived.

There was an interesting assortment of activities at the session with the main emphasis being on running, and lots of it. There was also a lot of players turning up which even the coach intimated was a positive sign. I'd hazard a guess that there was roughly 35-40 players training which was pretty good to see.

It was obvious early, and more so later on, that the things I need to work on are the things I always knew I needed to work on. Primarily my stamina and increasing my ability to run for longer periods of time without stopping. I have been putting in some effort towards that and had thought I was making good progress, now I'm not so sure. When it comes to progress there is no doubt I have made some, it's now just an issue of it's still not enough. I guess deep down I knew it wouldn't be but I was kind of hoping to be able to make a better impression. I'll continue to strive at it and work at it though and I'm sure one day it'll be reasonable at least.

The other things I need to think about, and work at, are the other obvious requirements of AFL players. Speed and strength. I don't think I will ever be fast so I'm not deluding myself into that but I think a combination of losing a fair bit of weight and increasing leg muscle strength should help with speed. Strength will have to come through hard work, I don't think I want to join a gym as two nights a week of training and games etc will take up enough of my life as it is. I'll try to do more pushups, situps, dips, squats etc at home. Might buy a cheap weights kit for home or something...

Anyway I'm feeling surprisingly okay after last night, it certainly wasn't the "world of pain" I thought it would be... although I think that's not that far off. I'll continue to push myself hard during the training to get the most out of it and run/do other exercise in my own time to help out too. Maybe one day I'll even look like an AFL player and not just some bum in off the street!