There are only three days remaining at the Pan Ams. Thank goodness, as this is a tiring tournament, especially at altitude, but there are still two games left for us. We play Colombia in the semi finals later on this evening, and I am looking forward to it.

 

   

 

I am ready to complete our schedule and go home. Multi Sport games like the Pan Ams are very demanding and one area that is always a concern is the food. I have had enough of it, even though shockingly I have still managed to maintain, if not gain weight. At the end of a long tournament I find myself dreaming about my own bed and the first meal I am going to eat at home: Green salad. I am at the end of eating rice, beans and peppered pasta.
 
I am looking forward to this evening's game against Columbia, a team that many people see as being second only to Brazil in Latin America. I usually do not enjoy waiting all day for a game to arrive, but in hot Guadalajara, Mexico, I was thrilled to hear that we had the 8:00 pm game in the cooler evening.

 

 There is also something special about playing at night in a stadium under the lights, I am hoping that the cool and the lights, all on top of the preparations we have been making, will end in a good game for us. There is no doubt that Colombia is a good team. I remember watching them at last summer's World Cup and being impressed. Once again, we will have to be at our very best if we want to get a good result.

The coaching staff has given us the last two days to recover from our final game in the group stages against Brazil. The Pan Ams are tough for soccer players. Playing a game every second day, on artificial turf, is really hard on the body.

 

The two days rest has therefore felt amazing. Everyone looks lighter on their feet than they have for a while. On the day immediately after the Brazil game, we had the mandatory recovery session, but then the rest of the day was ours.

 

Most people spent the time lying in bed or getting treatment. A day of rest was really needed. However, most of us did manage to drag ourselves out of bed for the Canadian women's basketball game in the evening. The Canadian women's basketball team has been wonderful in coming out to our games to support us, so it was good to be able to reciprocate. The Canada team played Jamaica and dominated them from the first whistle. Unfortunately, the Canadian women are now out of medal contention, but they will be playing for 5/6th spot later on today. Our best wishes g out to them.

Yesterday, we were back to work preparing for today's game. We had a late training to get used to the lateness of the game. So, once again, I had plenty of time to rest and relax during the day. The session on the field went well and I think everyone looks excited and ready for the semis.

 

I have especially enjoyed training out on a grass field. Even though the grass is far from perfect, after turf, the ground feels like running around on a pillow. Wonderful for old knees!

A majority of the squad has been watching many Criminal Minds TV episodes. For all those people out there who wonder what it is we do between training sessions and games, the answer is embarrassing. Those who are not watching TV, can be broken down into the  readers, the board game players and the knitters (shockingly the only knitter is me).  

 

We only have one television for the entire apartment and it is attached to nothing. There is no cable, not even a means to watch other Pan Am events. We are therefore very fortunate that someone brought a HDMI cable as well as a whole bunch of box sets of series to watch.

The most popular are comedies, but dramas usually last longer so the majority is into these at the moment.

 

Given the nature of Criminal Minds and other shows of that genre, I am not surprised that I am now having trouble sleeping. I have nightmares.