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My time in Prague has been great so far. There is so much history
in the city and so much to see that I have been trying to see as much of
it as I can while I am here. Practices have been good, and I am very
excited to compete on Monday. It has been a few years since I have been
able to compete in a world championship event, and I am looking forward
to it.
I would catch you up on everything that has been
going on during our trip leading up to today, but that would take quite a
bit of writing so I will just give you today's update.
At this point in our training each individual is free to decide how
often or when they want to work out because everyone has their own
routine or ritual for making weight. The first group of weigh ins, which
I will be participating in, don't begin until Sunday, but some of the
guys who have more weight to lose than I do are already doing their
thing. There was a small group of us that went over to the training
center where we have been practicing, and we got a little work out in.
We had been on the wrestling mat for the past two days so today most of
us changed it up a little bit by using Ivan Ivanov's HIRTS system. The
acronym stands for high intensity rope training system, and you can see
what it is on his site www.suples.com to get a better idea of what we were doing. However, we weren't
training as intensely as he shows on some of the videos. The system is
essentially a set of elastic bands that you can use for strength
training. I broke a good sweat and I used the time to "wake up the
muscles" as Ivan would say. To finish off the little pump that I got, I
jumped rope for a bit and finished off with a good stretch. It was a
perfect workout for a Wednesday morning.
After the workout I went and grabbed some lunch with
KC Walsh and Cheney Haight. We ate at Bohemia Bagel, a restaurant that
offers a variety of Czech as well as American fare. I had some chicken
wings and fries. I don't have to worry as much about losing a whole lot
of weight like some other guys, so I indulge in some fattening foods at
times. In fact, I recently discovered that I am a catalyst for weight
gain. My wife has lost 3 kilos while I have been away from home, and my
roommate Walsh has gained 3 kilos. Now it may be coincidence, but then
again it may not be. Spend enough time with me, and I suppose that the
numbers will speak for themselves. After lunch, we headed back to the
hotel and I took a little nap. I am still trying to get my sleep cycle
on schedule, and I am sleeping alright through the night, but I have
still been needing a little nap here and there.
I woke up from my nap, and I was hungry again,
surprise surprise. This past weekend I met a business ethics professor
from the United States at church services that I attended on Sunday. He
was teaching an executive MBA course here in Prague, but he now lives in
Provo, Utah and teaches at Brigham Young University. I grew up about 30
minutes from Provo in Taylorsville, and he invited me to grab a bite to
eat with him tonight. We ate at a little German place, and I had the
salmon and potato croquettes. It was a pretty good meal, and it was nice
to get to know him as well as one of his former BYU students who
happens to work in Prague now. It is funny that it is really such a
small world that we live in. I am on the other side of the world and I
run into people from Utah. After dinner and a short trip to Wencelas
Square, I headed back to the hotel where we are staying.
I actually just got off of Skype with my family back
home in Idaho, and after finishing this update, I will be heading to
bed. I think Skype is one of the coolest applications out there. My
daughter is 14 months old so it is hard for me to be away and missing so
much because she is changing so quickly. She just started eating with a
spoon by herself a couple of days ago, and I was so happy that I was
able to catch that via videos that my wife had sent to me and I was able
to tell her good job on Skype. It helps to bridge the gap, and keep me
happy. My wife is also pregnant with our second child that is due in
November so I am able to keep in touch with her and see how she is
feeling.
Well that is all I have for now. I will do my best
to keep you updated as we approach the competition. Team USA is looking
strong, and I am expecting good results from this tournament. I love
what I am doing, and I am so happy to represent team USA. Until next
time.
Yesterday was quite the long day of travel. For the most part things went smoothly, however, I have learned that traveling never really quite goes completely without hitches or glitches. The team gathered in the hotel lobby at 9a.m. where there were a few vans waiting to take us to the airport. Myself and 5 others loaded our luggage and hopped into the first available van. We drove to airport and got there in about 30 minutes with no problems. In fact, it seemed too easy especially for a foreign trip. After the driver unloaded our bags and we were out of the van he asked the question that none of us were prepared for. "Who's going to pay?" he asked. Unfortunately we were all under the impression that the driver was paid in advance, and none of us had come prepared to pay the driver. To his dismay, we told him that he would just have to wait until the other vans showed up with the other athletes and coaches, and then he would be paid. He wasn't too happy about it, but there was nothing more that we could tell him and we left him to stew about it.
After we did get inside the airport, we got in line to
check in for our flight. It seemed like it was a pretty smooth process
for all of us with the exception of coach Anatoly Petrosyan. The agent
at the ticket counter was telling him that his bags were overweight and
that it would cost him $500 U.S. dollars to check his bags. He told them
that he didn't need his bags that bad if they were going to charge him
that much and that they could keep one of his bags and just check the
other one. This apparently was not an option that the agent would
accept, and she kept hounding him to pay up. Fortunately Anatoly is the
master of asking "why?" He kept asking the agent questions until she
finally gave in and checked his bags free of charge. In the U.S. even
though I don't particularly like it I have come to accept the fact that
if I am going to check a bag that it is going to cost me 25 bucks each
way. However, the fact that the agent was trying to charge Toly $500 was
just robbery. That was probably more than the actual ticket from Prague
to Moscow cost. How do they justify that?
One thing that I forgot to mention was that earlier
that morning I found out that we would have to fly to Kiev, Ukraine and
then catch a connecting flight to Moscow. Ivan let us know that Kiev is a
place notorious for its quick handed baggage handlers. He advised that
we should pack some essentials into our carry on bags so that in case
our bags got picked over or happened to not even arrive in Moscow, that
we would still be able to manage. I took my wrestling shoes and singlets
out of my larger suitcase and stuffed them into the backpack that I
would be carrying on and hoped that all of my stuff would make it to its
final destination safely.
When we got to Kiev we had to go through security
again after unloading from the plane. They wanted to see our boarding
cards for our next flight to Moscow, but the agents in Prague told us
that we would get them after we got to Kiev. After a short conversation
with the security worker we were allowed to pass and were also able to
get a boarding card in the terminal for our flight to Moscow. The flight
wasn't bad at all, and we finally arrived in Moscow around 6:30p.m. I
was excited to get to our hotel and get something to eat. If only it
were that easy.
We went to retrieve our bags in the baggage claim,
and as we waited and watched the carousel churn out bags that were not
ours that no one was claiming, I thought about what Ivan had said
earlier and started to think about what I would need to find at the
store later that night if indeed my bag didn't show up. After waiting
for about an hour, our bags showed up and we filed outside to get on the
bus that was to come pick us up. There was an interpreter that was
there to meet us, and she informed us that on a normal day that it would
take about an hour to get to our hotel, however, it was Friday so that
meant with the traffic that the trip would be closer to two hours for us
to get to a hotel. She was right, it took us about two hours to get to
the hotel, and when we got there it was pretty crowded. Fortunately
dinner was available, and I was able to go grab something to eat. That
made me feel much better. I have a pretty fast metabolism, and I eat a
lot. That is a good thing and a bad thing. It is good because I enjoy
eating and I can get away with eating a lot and not gaining much weight.
Unfortunately, I get irritable pretty quickly if it has been too long
since I have had some sort of meal or snack. That dinner saved me.
After getting our rooms Walsh and I headed up to our
room and got situated. I relaxed a little bit and then realized that
the wifi in the hotel was not free and that I would have to go buy a
card to access the internet. I found where I could buy a card, but I got
there 15 minutes too late to be able to purchase one. I was bummed
because that meant that I would not be able to call my wife and
daughter, and I also wouldn't be able to blog about the wonderful day of
traveling that I had. I borrowed someone else's card to shoot a quick
email to my wife to let her know that I would call her today. After that
I bought a big bottle of water overpriced at $5, but I was too tired to
care about it because I was thirsty and tired. Then it was off to bed.
Today I haven't done much other than get a wifi
card. I plan on resting most of the day and venturing out to find some
less expensive bottled water. I will also jump in the sauna at some
point to loosen up a bit. I weigh in tomorrow. I am pretty excited about
that. We have been gone for a long time, and it is nice that it is
getting closer to that time to get to do what we came here to do. Wish
us luck.
So today was a big day the day that the first group of greco wrestlers weighed in. The weights that weighed in were 55kg, 66kg, and 96kg. For me the day started off pretty well. I woke up and checked my weight. I was only 900 grams overweight so I had a breakfast consisting of a granola bar and a glass of water. I usually weigh around 100kg, but as I get closer to the tournament, I only eat one helping at meals instead of the regular two or three and the weight just seems to come off really quickly.
After that I spent some time online catching up on some
news and looking at emails. I also was putting some videos together. I
bring a flip camera with me on trips like this and film little tidbits
throughout the day. The last trip that I was on in Poland, I was able to
upload videos while I was there, but it can be a pretty time consuming
process so I haven't uploaded any to Youtube while I have been in Prague
and here. I will upload some when I get home. My channel is
justinruiz1979 if you are at all interested in looking at them in
another week or so. When I am uploading videos from out of the U.S. I
have to convert them before I upload them or it just takes forever.
Anyway, after I had put a couple of videos together, I spent some time
watching home videos that I have on my computer.
When I watch those home videos it is nice because I
get to see my wife and daughter, as well as how much my daughter has
grown in such a short time. However, even though I miss them when I am
on these trips, there are plenty of other people who have to spend more
time away from their families than I do. Soldiers, for example, do their
tours in pretty long stints that to me would seem hard. Also I was
talking to a Cuban wrestler today, and he told me he only gets to see
his family every three or four months because they live in Camaguey and
he has to train in Havanah. Anyway so I guess the point that I am making
is that it is hard to be away from home, but at the same time I am
grateful that I get to see them as much as I do. Now moving on to some
more wrestling stuff.
Weigh ins were scheduled to take place at 6:30 so I
intended to catch the bus at 3:00 so that I would have plenty of time to
get to the venue, work out, and relax before weigh ins. However, I
think that everyone else had the same idea as I did. There were so many
wrestlers that were trying to get to the venue at the same time that I
could not make it onto the first three buses that came by, and I
consider myself lucky that I was able to make it onto the fourth bus.
You see the real challenge is dealing with a lot of different cultures
where lines and waiting aren't a big part of life. The majority of these
people cut right to the front to get to the bus door, and then they are
experienced in jockeying for position. Today was some of the most
intense bus loading that I have ever seen. I will try to describe it to
you the best that I can. During the world team trials, I went to Henry
Doorly Zoo in Omaha. They have a stream filled with coy fish that you
can feed. When you drop a piece of food into the stream hundreds of fish
swarm to the small morsel and actually pile on top of each other while
in the water. I know it sounds crazy, and trust me it looks crazy too.
That is exactly what the bus loading looked like to me today. People
were pushing and shoving like they were Dennis Rodman looking for a
rebound. It was unreal. In fact, I had to film some just so that I could
show everyone back home.
The absence of waiting in lines doesn't just relate
to bus loading, it also especially relates to meal times. I don't know
how many times that I have been in a line after weigh ins waiting to get
something to eat when all of a sudden, several people will just butt in
the front of the line and help themselves like there is nothing wrong
with that. You just get used to it because getting upset at the people
that butt doesn't help. I have tried that before, and they just look at
you funny because they don't speak the language and have no idea what
you are saying. In fact, I think it would be hilarious to take a big
group of people from some of these non-line-abiding individuals and turn
them loose on a buffet like Golden Corral or Chuck A Rama and just
watch the chaos that would ensue the restaurants. I can imagine handfuls
of angry and confused customers that would have no idea that people
could be so rude, but really to them it isn't rudeness because they
don't know any other way. I am sure that during the Soviet era that if
you didn't push your way to the front of the bread line, you and your
family simply didn't eat. At least that is what I tell myself to remain
calm and patient.
So after that rant, back to weigh ins. I finally
made it on a bus and made it to the venue where they had six mats to
train on as well as a sauna and scales. It was a pretty nice set up, and
I would have given them props for a job well done except 6:30 came
around and no one was able to weigh in because of who knows what
problem. Twenty five minutes after the scheduled weigh in time athletes
were allowed on the scales and received their draws. I think doing that
in the U.S. would be funny too. I wouldn't really want to do it to
someone who was weighing in, but just have a movie start twenty five
minutes late or a high school football game or the six o'clock news
could come on at six twenty five one time just for a laugh. Please don't
misinterpret my observations for complaining. I am here to wrestle and
do my best, and regardless of what happens I am prepared to do what I
came here for. However, I just have to look at how things work in other
parts of the world and really count my blessings to be able to live in
the United States with so many amazing opportunities. There isn't
anywhere else where I would rather live. So God bless the U.S.A.!
We start wrestling tomorrow at 1:00p.m. Moscow time so wish us luck. We hope to do our country proud!
Today was a busy day full of wrestling. I felt pretty good with my performance, but I can't say that I wasn't disappointed with my losses. I did my best, but I still wish that I could have brought home a medal. However, I am grateful that I was able to place top five at the world championships. I will use this competition to build on the next two years, and I see it as being useful to help me reach my ultimate goal of winning the Olympic Games.
I would like to thank all of the people who have helped
me to get here and wrestle in the world championships. I thank my wife,
daughter, and the rest of my family for being so supportive. My wife is
very patient to let me to continue to follow my dream of the Olympics
and keep everything together by herself while I am away on these trips. I
also want to thank my friend and employer Russell Brunson for all that
he has done for me and my family. If it were not for him, I would not
have a job that enables me to train and compete at this level and
maintain a family all at the same time. I want to thank my coach Ivan
Ivanov for the time and effort that he has put into my development. I
want to thank my training partner KC Walsh for taking the time to come
out and train with me for this tournament as well as all of the
wrestlers in Boise who have helped me. I also want to thank the USA
wrestling staff for their help as well. I thank the NYAC for supporting
and sponsoring me. There are really so many people that have helped me
to get where I am in my wrestling career, and even though wrestling is
considered an individual sport, there are so many people involved in an
athlete's support group that it would be impossible for an individual to
succeed on their own. I know that there are plenty of others out there
who deserve recognition for their help, so let me just say thank you
everyone who has helped me. I couldn't do it without you.
Well tomorrow is another great day full of wrestling as we get ready for Jeremiah, Jake, and Dremiel to wrestle. I wish them the best of luck, and I am looking forward to them representing team U.S.A well.
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Justin Ruiz, a 2005 World Bronze Medalist, will blog from the 2010 World Championships!
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