Limit

Last night I went to my last sparring class before the tournament. Seeing as how we are very big on preparation at this school, I anticipated that many people would be there. Imagine my surprise when it was just Ms. E and myself. Two people for an HOUR of sparring drills.

There is not a possible way that I can explain the intensity of last night. It was the most exhausting, sweaty, draining, and incredibly painful experience that I have ever had. It is amazing, however, that you can have no energy, have no more push left, and still find some. Your mind can actually force your body to such extremes that you probably actually could run yourself to death.

There is a Gatorade commercial airing right now that shows this triathlete at the end of his marathon pushing himself so far that his body actually short circuits. It is the craziest thing I have ever seen. One minute he is running (not walking, running) and then he just stutters in his step and falls backwards shaking intensely.

I am not proclaiming to have driven myself that far last night, but I can tell you that I drove myself harder than I ever had for the entire hour and the SECOND that we closed class, both Ms. E and I LITERALLY collapsed onto the ground. If I had had the state of mind, and the sense of humor, I would have made a sweat angel on the mat. As it were, there was just a sweat corpse.

At the end of my last bag work, I was so intensely drained that I couldn't lift my 8oz. gloves. I just couldn't do it. And then Ms. E told me to push through to the end and I saw, rather than commanded, my arms flying into the bag for the last ten seconds which, I might add, was the LONGEST TEN SECONDS OF MY LIFE!!!

I still can't lift my left arm all the way, and typing is a challenge, but it is a very good sore.