Brasileiros Day One: Gettin In To Rio

Weight: 220.2

Well I am a bit worried about my weight but, will hit the sauna when I get into the hotel and maybe hit the beach to run/surf it off...Hit the airport, and it wouldn't be a Pesadelo trip if something wasn't wrong...Plane is delayed two hours and 15 min because of 1. Weather, 2. Service needed on the plane!!!, and 3. The routed the plane to the wrong terminal from the mechanic hangar....Well, that delay pretty much assured that I would miss the connection flight in Sao Paulo and so was put on another flight which would have me about 4 and a half hours later into Rio than I was supposed to be...Being me, I also was worried about my luggage but I've learned to carry the essentials with me...The flight was uneventful, but I must make a declaration which should be put into law: ANY nasty bastid that farts on a plane MUST be publicly beaten to within an inch of their life...I have my suspicions, but if I knew for sure who it was I would have strangled them in their sleep! Anyway, I get into Sao Paulo, and in my downtime I check online to get the brackets...I check my age group: Senior 1 and my belt, weight, etc: Brown and Super Heavy and my name is no place to be found...I check the weight class above and below, and ....NOTHING!!! So now I am freaking out...I send frantic emails and call into Jacare to see if he can see what is happening as if my name is not in the bracket listing, I will just be making a vacation trip and not competing...I get a quick email response from the federation (something they are NOT known for generally) which tells me, I was moved to the Adult (18 and up) category by Fabio Gurgel so I had to fight in that division. This gave me some pause as the Brasileiro is widely noted as one of if not THE toughest tournament in the world (some even say harder than the Mundials) and I would be fighting guys in their early 20s who have been practicing the art much longer than me in the toughest tournament around...I was confident of my cardio but had trained for 5 to 6 minute matches and not 8 minute matches as is the case in Adult...I catch the flight from Sao Paulo to Rio and share the plane with the Canadian National Women's track team...Whoa!...Guess that makes up for the flight delay! lol...When I finally get to Rio, I call Jacare' and he explains Fabio moved me as the team would be in a close race for points and he thought I could help...I admit I did not feel the same way, but wanted to do what I could to live up to those expectations and was flattered that The General thought so highly of me! I was also worried because I've had a good streak of the Major championships going at my age bracket in the GI since getting my brown belt...World(Master&Seniors), American Nationals-Weight and Absolute, US Open Absolute, European-Weight and Absolute, Pan Am Weight and Absolute, and wanted to see if I could keep the same through this year's World(Master&Seniors)....Ah well...We will see how it goes...Get in to Rio and it's raining...MAN I am pissed as I wanted to hit the beach...I do proceed to go and eat at Porcao (you have GOT to have the baby beef!!!) and then get in the ca to try to go over to Prof. Alexandre Paiva's gym to break a sweat....The cabbie gets lost...I tell him to stop and proceed to get out and get lost myself and wander around Leblon for about 40 minutes...I finally find the hotel and hit the sauna...Take off a few pounds (Some I'd gained from Porcao) and it seems I am just right for my day tomorrow or perhaps over one pound or two...But I would let the overnight weight loss as usual take care of that...The Marina Palace Hotel is where I am staying (same place I stayed for last year's Master&Senior tournament), and it is really nice...bed's are a bit small but as soon as I hit the bed, I am OUT...(This is after I find out I can't get my laptop to download my doggone pics from my phone so pictures are coming whenever I get home and dump them...)...Sleep for now...In the morning...I fight on...


Though For the Day: Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.