A Wendy Update

I know its been a while since I have wrote about my knee, my life or my personal rugby adventures…and I know you have been waiting with abated breath…so here I go!

The last month has been crazy at work, we have been WAY busier than normal and that is a good thing. I recently began doing web site work for my company as well and that extra little project is pretty time consuming. I have finally learned what most of middle America already knows, once you are salary, the hours don’t matter. I am not complaining though, I love my job and the people make it worth the extra hours! So basically the rugby posting has turned into news and updates for awhile since I am so busy at work.

The knee is doing fabulous, I have been a bit of a gym slacker lately (look above for the extra hours at work), but have been able to start doing more at practice. Last Saturday I attended the Texas Rugby Union Senior All-Star Tryouts with the intention of just giving Dave (head coach) a hand, but my competitive spirit got the best of me. Since I now have my sexy new ACL brace the BREG Fusion I am starting to be able to cut and do some more active rugby work.

So at the tryout they ran the dreaded Beep Test and I was going to just count for my partner, but then I was incredibly curious to see how far I could make it…so of course I ran it. Drum roll please….

I got a 6.8….

Not bad for limited working out for 3 months with a brand new ACL! Surprisingly I beat almost half the camp (even a few backs!) and that is interesting as well! Just an FYI I did some research on typical Beep Scores and Elite Beep Scores check it out below:

*Front Row: 9 -11 stages, 2nd Row: 10-11, Back Row: 11-13, Half backs: 12 & Backs: 12-13

*The Dutch U21 selection used the scale above.

**The Springboks in 2007 expected scores for the beep test range from 11.5 for the props up to 13.5 for the backs (conducted on grass, more on Springboks norms).

**NSW (Australia) Under 17 rugby union squad are required to reach at least level 10.8 (Tamworth Leader, retrieved Aug 07).

**Most professional rugby flankers score in the 12 to 13 range, while props score around level 10. Jonah Lomu, the awesome 260 lb winger from the New Zealand All Blacks, has a best of only level 10 explaining why he is a winger and not a number 8.

**These results and others were found at Topendsports.com and may be factual or not…

Sorry to go off on a tangent there, I haven’t ran the Beep Test in quite some time. The last time I ran an 11 something, so halfway to my regular beep score at 3 months after ACL surgery is pretty good! So at practice I have ceased standing around wishing I could play and now I am able to do ball handling, fitness etc as long as it doesn’t contain contact. The knee feels really strong and I get less sore everyday I attend practice. While the knee is less sore, it is making me feel more reckless, I have began dreaming about playing as early as May…

So a little update on me and my ACL recovery, fitness and busy work life. Hopefully work will calm down and I will be able to return to my regular blogging, not just regurgitation. Thanks for reading!

This weekend the Valkyries are playing Little Rock, AR (University of Oklahoma dropped out) at 1:00pm at Highland Park in Dallas, TX. I will also be at Western Collegiates all weekend reporting live scores and updates.