I started this season as a big fish in a small pond, but the other big fish in my pond is just as big. And she's just as incredible of a skater. When I came off my injury prior to the start of the season, I said to myself "this season is MINE! I'm going to show people what I'm capable of!" and I picked out the best skater in my league and made it my personal goal to beat her All Star try out scores. I trained my tail off. Dry land workouts, running, swimming, skating, physical therapy. I revamped my diet, and paid closer attention to nutrition and fuel. I read books about Michael Phelps, and Michael Jordan. I watched basketball, football, baseball, and roller derby. I studied the best athletes facial expressions, muscle tone and muscle memory, and how they handled stressful situations. I set out to be like them. Mentally and physically.
On the day of All Star try outs, I made sure to go up against my target. Every blocking drill, I made sure I was with her. When she hit me, I made sure my hit was more powerful. For the timed lap sprint, I made sure to be in perfect form and have perfect technique. For strategy, I knew I had the upper hand due to all the film I had studied. I left that try out feeling proud and confident.
The scores were released a few days after the try outs. Sitting in my cubicle at work, I hesitated to open the file for an hour. Finally, I took a deep breath and clicked on the download. At first I didn't read the document correctly and couldn't find ANY of my scores, and just saw hers. My heart sunk when I saw her scores up at the top. I thought "This can't be right," and looked again. Sure enough, right above her scores were mine. Turns out, I had accomplished my goal. I was the top All Star scorer! I beat her in over all scoring.
After try outs, I continued to work hard because I knew that things weren't going to get easier. Just because I reached one goal, doesn't mean there aren't better athletes in the world. I have to work hard to maintain my success, but I have to work that much harder to rise above my success.
Now that I have a new goal, and now that I see the level of athleticism going into these try outs, I have a long road of hard work ahead of me. It's very exciting. I feel very motivated and confident that I can achieve my goal. Even if it takes a lifetime, I'm going to reach it!
Team USA Try Outs are in 30 days. I've been training hard again. Lifting weights, doing plyometrics, running, and spending extra time on my skates. I've been studying film and photos with my coach, and trying to incorporate the new skills I've been learning in my game. It's been exciting. But there is still much more to be done.
Oh, and I've set up a fundraiser to help offset the costs of the try outs. Please share this link! Donate if you feel so inclined! I'm going to make sure my presence is known at Team USA try outs!
https://fundrazr.com/
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