Woo, sparring yesterday was rough. Figured out that cutting my hair makes my headgear fit loose and that I need to tighten it. Got paired with a big 6'3 guy (we compared heights and reach afterwards). I've trained with him in class before - we always pick each other for partner drills because we're the two biggest and most muscled trainees in intermediate. 

Right away he starts throwing heavy bombs. His jab actually jolted me the first time I felt it. It was then I realized that every hit was shifting my headgear in front of my eyes again. At one point he cracked me and as I was stupidly adjusting my headpiece right in front of him he smashed me with a clean cross. It was also the first time I've ever been staggered in sparring. Didn't feel things go dark, but I got knocked off balance three times. Each time he'd hold his glove out and ask if I was OK, which pissed me off in the heat of the round more than the hits themselves. I went for a lot of body shots but had a hard time seeing where his strikes were coming from and should practice keeping my eyes up more when level changing to go low. I ate a big uppercut when going for the body at one point.

By the middle of the third round, he slowed down and I was starting to land 1-2s and some hard straight rights of my own, backing him up. Despite my earlier beating, I had more success with a looping overhand right in the third round than I've ever had before. The final round ended with me teeing off on him.

I have to say that I was the least tired I've ever been sparring. Part of that is being at the point where I'm not tense under fire. I can take a hard shot and not wilt, which negates tension and anxiety over getting hit in the first place. And my home conditioning with 5-minute rounds has just been plain working. When round 3 was over, I wanted SO BAD to go more rounds and was genuinely shocked that it was done so soon.

Afterwards, I noticed my Adam's apple hurt and it was painful to swallow, similar to when you're sick with a bad sore throat. Eating a steak dinner was a little annoying later that evening, but manageable.

As soon as I came home, I grabbed the 50 lb kettlebells and did 21 ABCs in 6:30. Right after that, I did a 5-min shadowboxing round and a 5-min heavy bag round.