Gold Crown IV

Gold Crown IV
FastMikie's Fun House, Del Mar, California

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Long Road Ahead

Vacation is over.  My pool year begins again.

My 3 weeks of no pool practice ended Saturday when El Maestro came by FastMikie's Fun House to shoot some straight pool to 150 points.  He won, of course, but that was expected since I haven't really practiced at all for so long.  But I had a decent run of about 22 balls.  Well, that's what he told me.  I wasn't really paying attention to the running count, just focused on the shot of the moment.  And I figure that's a good thing.

Yesterday, Earl and Paul E. stopped by for some cut-throat and some 9-ball, so that helped get me back into stroke a little.

And it was yesterday morning that I got back into my physical workout routine with some time on the treadmill.  I use the treadmill time to watch & study one or two previously recorded TV pool matches.  In addition to the treadmill, I do  several stretching and strengthening exercises for lower back, shoulders, and  neck, a few of the areas that have been giving me trouble in past pool tournaments.

I have 11 months to prepare for the next U.S. Amateur championship.  It's a long road ahead, but it will go by fast if I just take it one ball, one step, at a time.

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