Owed a Half of a Round

Last night, Carlos and I began sparring in the middle of a round.  After that round ended, Alan told me, "You still owe me a half a round."  "You gonna do that to me?  As old as I am?" I said while I huffed and puffed.  "Yeah, you gotta push yourself," Alan smiled.

The next round proved that I have become better at covering up.  Deflecting punches is something I still need to work on, howver.  Carlos was going non-stop.  It was as if someone had put rocks in an oversized slingshot and fired them all at once.  I did get in hooks to his head and his body, but they were not effective in slowing down his onslaught.  I was done after that round.

Jamil sparred with Carlos, and there was blood around the collar of his white shirt.  It was hard to tell who was bleeding, as neither man had signs of crimson leaking.  Carlos had a bruise on the underside of his top lip, and Jamil had taken hits to the mouth as well.  But it still was a mystery as to whom had been cut.  It could have happened while Jamil was sparring with Demond earlier.  "My mom's gonna yell when she sees it," Jamil smiled.

I heard Alan ask Diana if she was going to spar.  "No, I don't have a mouthpiece," she answered.  She told him that she'll pick one up for next week.  The other women did not come into to the gym last night. 

This morning, I did my usual workout in the church gym.  "Tell me if the music is too loud," I told Pastor Roger before I went downstairs.  Today is the National Day of Prayer, and most churches are open for people to have some quiet time in the sanctuary.  It wouldn't do to have people in the sanctuary trying to focus on God and hearing some R&B and hip-hop floating up from below.  During the workout, I felt a little twinge in the middle of my upper back.  Several years ago, there was pain in that area after I helped a nurse lift my dad so she could change his bed sheets while he was in the hospital.  He was average height, but he was heavyset.  I didn't have enough leverage as I thought on my side to lift him.  That happened a couple a weeks before he passed away.  I ended up going to the chiropractor to have my back straightened out after that.  I hope that little twinge doesn't mean I reinjured myself.  

Carlos likes to cook.  He told me he had eaten some chicken fried steak with gravy, and that his son Justin really liked it.  He's trying to change his diet in order to get down in size.  Alan joked to me, "Did you eat the whole pizza you ordered Monday night?"  I had told him when he dropped me off at home that I was going to order one.  "I ordered lasagna instead, but I didn't eat the whole thing," I answered.  Having noticed that Paulette will save half of a restaurant meal to eat later, I made that suggestion to Carlos and Ralphie.  I've been doing that myself lately whenever I order out.  If I'm actually at a restaurant, I'll either save half to take home, or just leave it on my plate.  It is so true that most restaurants serve bigger portions than necessary. 

Paulette and I had gone to a luncheon this past Tuesday, so I didn't do my usual workout that day.  I'll have to do another one either tomorrow or Saturday.  I haven't done a kettlebell workout in awhile, so I may do that if I don't do another boxing workout at church.