I’ve now had a few days to reflect and summarize my first competition and the process leading up to it. I did a lot of competing when I grew up, not in martial arts or anything extremely physically demanding, but things that pushed my mind and focus to the limits. Growing up I was very afraid of failing and not living up to the expected standards, which made me sometimes not even attempting things just in order to not be able to fail at it. I was always nervous competing as young, but not about the competition itself, but about failing and not being good enough.
Reaching my 20s I stopped competing and while working out stuff in my backpack competitions was not interesting for me. I always knew I would reach a point in life where I would have to put myself out there again, both for healing old wounds but also to push myself to my limits on my own terms. I also want to have “walked the talk” when I become older and eventually teach my own students. Now that we have gone through the infancy years with both our kids I felt that this was the right window in life to pursue this, my body is not getting younger and there is no time to waste. Let’s get to it.
I received a great training program for competitions in late december and I sticked to it leading up to the competition. A few colds, as expected with children, disrupted my schedule a few times but it was not that bad. I was prepared for way worse disruptions. My conditioning and strengthening sessions gave continuously results in increased performance and recovery. Although I didn’t start from zero the sessions were/are still very demanding, it’s another game. I looked over my diet and hydration, not counting calories but making sure I ate good food on good times. However, I managed to lose 4-5kg leading up to the competition, weighing in on roughly 89kg. My plan was to increase in weight, not lose it. This is something I immediately started working with after the competition, I adapted my diet and I will focus more on building muscle mass the coming months.
Overall I am satisfied with this first part of my competition phase. I had good results in fixed step and felt very confident in that environment. Not as good results in moving step and not as confident. I’m not super disappointed because it gave me good feedback on what I need to focus on for the next competition and I had fun doing it. Having put myself in this environment I also now know how my body and mind reacts when it’s pushed to the absolute limit and when there is no option to rest. It’s actually very interesting to see that part of yourself. It’s not a side that one meets in the everyday life.
Next stop is most likely Baltic Open in Riga in October, exactly 189 days from now. So for the coming 99 days I will enjoy some mixed training before the intensive part leading up to the competition begins again.
I feel more motivated and hungry than ever before and I’m so curious to see just how far I can take my body and mind! Work continues!