Camp & First Match

Kevin survived camp last week. I'm back in Seattle and he can't get on his computer for the time being, but I wanted to give a rugby update. Camp training sessions were tough and the lack of food made it even more difficult, but overall, it went well. All of the boys are fatigued and sore, so at least he's not alone. He really enjoyed his first experience with the backs coach, Christoff, but the language barrier is still so frustrating. He's looking forward to the French lessons starting in August. He has no clue what the coaches are saying at trainings and in meetings, except the few times someone translates and that's definitely not the same. He is limited to watching and following for now, which is hard because he enjoys picking up the details from a good coach. They had a scrimmage at the end of the week and he seemed content with his play. He can tell there is a perception amongst the players (and maybe even coaches) that Americans lack good skills, so they seem surprised when he makes good plays.

They returned home on Friday and quickly got ready to compete against Narbonne in their first pre-season competition. Narbonne is a good team from the D2 division and provided a good test for the boys. They played three 25 minute periods in a small, neutral stadium halfway between both towns. He got a glimpse into the passion of Agen supporters as the stadium was overflowing with spectators excited for the team's return to the Top 14.  Contrary to what Kevin has heard about French play, Narbonne played a lot of rugby with very little kicking, so they tested them with change of direction, switches, double miss passes etc. Kevin felt he had a solid game, but nothing special. His defense was good, but he missed one tackle. There were four clear opportunities to score on, but he wasn't able to for a variety of reasons. He covered the back well and even kicked well to territory after he caught a contested high ball in the 22m and called a mark. He rarely kicks in games, so it's great when it works out!

He played 2.5 periods out of the 3, and the final score was 26-5 with Narbonne's only score with 5 minutes left. He hasn't played in a 15's match since last November and things move much faster in 15's compared to 7's as you have much less time to make a decision. The defense is on you quick so your skills get tested more. But overall, it was a good game for the team and Kevin, and his body feels good. First match of the season is August 13th verse Toulouse... a powerhouse in the Top 14.


On a side note, we found a wonderful house to rent in town which Kevin will be moving into today. I will post pictures of it this week.

Weekend Get-A-Way

We took advantage of Kevin's weekend off from rugby and made our way North through the center of the Dordogne region. We had lunch in Sarlat-la-Caneda on Saturday, spent the night in Beynac-et-Cazenac, and visited the Chateau de Castelnaud before heading home.

Sunflower farms are numerous throughout the entire region and it makes for a pleasant drive. We planned on staying the entire weekend in Sarlat, but we realized we weren't the only ones with this idea. The extended French holiday kicked off this weekend and we found ourselves in a very popular destination. The narrow streets were packed with vendors and visitors from all around the world. Apparently it is beautiful at night with gas lamps that light the streets, theatre festivals and international music.

 

 

We had lunch in the park and walked through the massive market for a couple hours, but we decided to escape to a small village we had passed along the way - Beynac-et-Cazernac. It's a tiny village along the Dordogne river and its single street winds up to the Chateau of Beynac at the peak.

The steep walk to the Chateau was breathtaking. This 12th century construction is perched on a limestone cliff and has a dominating presence along the river. It's fascinating to hear the history of this region, with the ownership of the Chateau changing hands numerous times throughout the Hundred Years War.
 
 

   

Enjoyed a great dinner of duck and trout before settling in for the night. We were so happy to find a last minute hotel room in this peaceful town of 500 residents, not to mention one that opened up to a huge balcony and overlooked the river!

Before wrapping up this long post, we visited the Chateau de Castlenaud on Sunday. This medieval fortress was erected to face it's rival, the Chateau-de-Beynac where we stayed the night before. During the 100 Years War, Beynac and Castlenaud were fierce local rivalries.

Farmer's Market

The farmer's markets are very popular.You can pretty much get everything you need - bread, meat, eggs, cheese, fruits and vegetables - for much cheaper than in the grocery stores.  

Pre-season Training

After my first full week of training there's not much more I can say except that I'm relieved that it's over! I'm glad I came here in pretty good shape, however, there was nothing I could have done before I left the US to get me ready for this training. This may be boring to some, but let me try to explain how the running has been for those who are interested.

Previously, my training was based on time of running, over a certain distance and a specified rest period (i.e. run 100m in 20sec and rest 20sec, x 12...3 sets). This type of workout was for everyone, so the fit and the not-so-fit were all trying for the same time over the same distance (obviously much more difficult for the not-so-fit, but at the same time, not pushing the fit hard enough).

Here however, the running is in 4 groups, red, yellow, green, and blue based on how each individual did on the fitness test (blue's the fittest group). For each group, the time to run and the time to rest is the same but the distance is longer/shorter for the groups. There's about a 5m difference over 100m per group. So the top group is running 108m and the last group is running around 92m in 20 sec, with 20 sec rest.

Below is an example of our workout yesterday:


1. 20 sec running, 20 sec rest for 12 minutes...rest 3 min
2. 15 sec running, 15 sec rest for 12 minutes...rest 3 min
3. 20 sec running, 20 sec rest for 4 min, 15 sec/15 sec for 4 min...rest 3 min
4. 20/20 and 15/15 randomly for 6 min

We did this conditioning in the morning 3 times with weights in the afternoon. The other days we do rugby training, which I can't participate in yet because of my healing broken hand. This morning was a massive speed and agility training to end the week. It's coming close to the start of preseason games so trainings will be all rugby oriented soon. We have one more week here in Agen, and the week after is "camp," where we travel 6 hours by bus to a remote place and do double days of rugby. Our first preseason match is on the 24th of July.

It's a short and very intense preseason, which isn't bad. As one teammate who played in Australia said, "it's better this way, hard and quick, rather than at home where we have a 13 week preseason before a 14 week season." Here in France it's about a 5 week preseason, for a 30+ week season. Two weeks down, 35 to go!

Bordeaux

Traveled to Bordeaux on Sunday. Enjoyed seafood and sausage kebobs at the riverfront market. We didn't venture outside the city center on this visit, so we will have to make another trip to see the renowned wineries.

The gothic Cathedrale Saint-Andre was consecrated in 1096!

The retail stores have month long sales in France. July and January are the designated months for "soldes". This is a popular shopping street in Bordeaux.







This railway serves as their efficient public transit system. I risked my life for this picture.

The next post will be an update on Kevin's rugby training. I'll try to get some pictures of their practices and conditioning sessions this week... as long as they don't ask me to join in.

Training & BBQ

Kevin is tired. He had two-a-day training yesterday and an intense conditioning session this morning. I'll get him to blog once he recovers :) We have both experienced some difficult conditioning in the past, but nothing like this. SU Agen puts huge emphasis on fitness, which is great for Kevin and their style of play. It will be neat to see him reach his potential under one of the best coaches in France.

Junior, a veteran player in France (upper left), invited us to a BBQ at his house in the countryside. It was a wonderful home... we don't expect to find a place of this quality. Of the 41 players on the team, many are foreigners. We enjoyed a great feast with people from Australia, Tonga, New Zealand, England, and Ireland. You can imagine how much food was prepared to feed these boys...

It was great to meet a few of the wives and partners of the players. There was lots of good advice for me to absorb... like where the best sushi restaurant is, the usefulness of a Tom Tom GPS device in remote areas, and where not to live.

It's really hot here, even for locals. It was up in the high 90's this week, but thankfully, we were blessed with a summer lightning storm last night that cooled things down temporarily. We hope to go enjoy the city of Bordeaux, only 1 hour away, before a busy week of training and house hunting.

First Days...

Kevin's face shows you how well our French is coming along... here we practiced with our patient waitress. It's hard to not feel shy as we fumble simple words and sentences, but everyone is very friendly and helpful. We find ourselves blurting out Spanish words as our brain reverts to our first foreign language lessons from high school. It's been surprising to see how much Spanish we actually know!

We had dinner on this charming street last night. All the restaurants fill the ally with tables each night and a strand of lights zig zags across the building tops. In the States, an evening like this would seem like a special occassion, but in Agen, it's just every day life.

This is where Kevin will shine. This old stadium holds about 15,000 loyal fans and there is a lot of excitement surrounding the team since they have returned to the Top 14 divison this year. Agen is known for two things: prunes and rugby. The town has about 40,000 residents with another 17,000 in the surrounding villages. It has everything we could possibly need, but is still very quaint. The old part of town has cobblestone roads and beautiful old architecture. It is perfect for us.

Kevin's coaches, admins and physios speak little to no English. We've been in shock since we arrived, hence the too few pictures we have to show. They gave us our car - a Ford Focus hatchback - without having us sign a lease contract. They pretty much set you loose and say 'good luck'. Good thing Kevin can drive manual.. He'll be giving me my first lessons this weekend ... I'll be looking into automatic scooters..

This weekend we will travel to some nearby villages and towns. The team doesn't train on Sunday so we might head to Bordeaux for the day - it's only 1.5 hours West. Next week they will take us to view several homes. Some of the players live in flats in downtown, but many live in houses in Agen and the nearby villages. We hope to find a place quickly so we can begin the furnishing process and set up my office. We've got some work ahead of us.

Au revoir!