We spent all morning/afternoon yesterday waiting for the match against England. We got to watch some of the earlier matches. There was quite a big upset in the mix with France beating Canada pretty handedly. After watching some rugby we had to go bag inside to rest some more so we spent that rest time finishing the puzzle and having hallway dance parties.Finally it was time for the match. We Once again the fans were amazing. Blair's whole gang was there and they were body-painted and decked out to the nines. Blair's mom brought 25 Abe Lincoln-style tall red-white-and-blue hats for folks to wear. We could hear them all over the field. Though we didn't win the match, it was a great game and I am very proud of the way the team played. We fought hard and left it all out on the field, which is all we could ask for. After the match it was more ice-baths and pool sessions before heading back to my room to hit the hay. I was exhausted. Completely drained. It's been a while since I've felt that tired both mentally, physically, and emotionally. I think all the physical energy coupled with the emotional energy that always goes into a game of that magnitude and intensity just took it out of me.
I wish I would have gotten a chance to sleep in, but alas I told Monica I would meet her and A-C in the Starbucks at 9am. So IWoke up and made my way over to breakfast at the Sports Complex. At 10am, I received a text saying "I think we are talking about different Starbucks". Though I wished I could've been sleeping, I wasn't too fussed because I got to do a lot of reading, which I had been missing. We had a quick pool session at 11am before getting lunch.
After lunch, and several outfit changes, we loaded up into a bus (and several mini-vans) to head out to Windsor Park, which is a part of the Windsor Castle Estate. Beckett's uncle had gotten the whole team tickets to a match at the Queen's Guard Polo Ground. We were there to see the finals of the Duke of Cornwall Tourney. It was a 4 chukka match (4 periods) with the first two chukkas happening in typical British weather - rain varying between a drizzle to outright downpour. The last half was held under a clear blue sky, though. At half-time we got to go out onto the field and stomp in the divots ala Pretty Woman. I think perhaps we resembled Julia Roberts a bit in our cheering as well. We weren't sure that we were allowed to be super loud, but then the commentator goaded us into getting a bit more boisterous in our applause. After the match, Ashley and I helped hand out awards to the two teams which entailed a whole lot of cheek kissing.
After the match we took the bus home, and then many of us headed into Guildford for dinner with friends and family. Monica and I met up with my mom and John and went out to dinner at the Three Pigeons, which is the restaurant I ate at with Stina last Sunday. It was good, to get away and see my family and get to spend some time with Monica. After dinner, we walked around town a bit before heading back home. I went back the dorms and hung out with folks chatting a bit before heading back to my room. I originally was just going to download pictures from Bill English's Photo site, but then I got a second wind and decided to write this post. I was going to wait until tomorrow to do it, but the schedule looks pretty busy, so I decided not to wait.
So, now it's time for bed. Gotta get some good rest in preparation for what looks to be an intense day tomorrow. I am a little nervous for how sore I am going to be tomorrow since that'll be two days after the match and that tends to be when the soreness hits its peak. I guess it's a good thing we are hitting the gym in the morning, so we can work out some of it before practice.
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