I got back from my beach holiday last night around midnight after an eight hour drive.  I stopped at a few places for food and gas on the way back so in reality it took about 12 hours.  Was the 20 hours on the road worth it?  Yup, you fucking bet it was.

I'm pretty pasty white, that's kinda what happens when you are primarily of Irish decent, so the sun and I don't get along so well.  But by lathering up in SPF 70, lounging under a beach canopy and not cooking myself for too long in the sun I managed to not get burnt or turn as red as a lobster.  From the time I arrived at 1230 on Tuesday to the time I left at 1230 on Friday I just chilled.  I went to the beach twice a day swimming, walked the beach in the mornings, ate like I'd never seen food before and drank just enough to keep a nice buzz.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, between 30-32 degrees with a few clouds and a nice breeze.  I even squeezed in a run one morning and managed a ghetto workout on a beach-side playground.

Aside from the weather and good company, the other highlight of my trip was getting in a training session at Gustavo Machado BJJ.  The academy was easy enough to find, about ten minutes from my condo.  Upon entering I explained who I was and where I came from and how I came to be there, mainly based upon meeting Taylor at the NY Spring Open.  After filling out a waiver, I walked in and saw Professor Machado sitting on the mat with a student so I went over and introduced myself.  He was extremely friendly and welcoming, asking some questions about myself, where I trained and what I was doing In Va Beach.  Then I spoke to Taylor who was happy to see I did actually make it there while on vacation. 

After changing into my gi and stretching, class began.  We started with some core exercises, wall sits, crunches, leg lifts before starting some shrimping drills all of which took about 15 minutes.  Once this was done we got into the technique of the day.  We circled up as the Professor demonstrated the 3 techniques (sweeps from half-guard) which took about 10 minutes.  They were vaguely familiar as Brian had showed them in the past.  We drilled them for about 25 minutes with the Professor walking around and correcting, observing and offering pointers.  With the remaining class time we matched up to spar.  Professor Machado matched me up with a guy my size with a Purple Belt, I held my own and managed a sweep and a pass or two.  Afterward we took a picture and I thanked everyone and went on my way.

This whole trip and the training was exactly what I needed.  Some time away from home, my jobs, and my gym.  I feel reinvigorated and refreshed.  It's one thing I really enjoy about Jiu-Jitsu, being able to go somewhere and walk in and be welcomed and train.  It really is a brother/sisterhood.

I will put some pics up here tomorrow probably.  Now it's back to the grind :)