I’ve been putting off admitting to myself that the season opener is less than a week away. It was distracting. I just needed to live, work, train, and throw. But the one handed count down begins today and it’s time to bring it in.
See, I get nervous. Really nervous. Before I threw at Enumclaw last July I was barely able to choke down a few bites of oatmeal and sausages and a cup of awesome Seattle coffee before we left the hotel. We had some drama brewing back at home between our new neighbors and our dogs sitter which was causing drama between me and Bigg. I honestly just wanted to go back to bed and forget about it all. I was almost shaking when we parked the car and started to unload the gear.
But then two things happened. First off, we happened to park right next to Kristi Scott and chatted with her a bit. Now if Kristi, who’s calm strong comes across in every soft spoken word she utters isn’t a bundle of nerves, then I don’t think I should be either. She had more on the line than me and she was fine. Lesson learned. The next thing that happened is we found this little guy…
I had a slight twinge of sadness for the little one who’s stroller our games minion probably fell out of but then grabbed hold and brought him along for the ride. I got checked in and started searching the perfect spot for his first photo shoot and we were off. Cuz finding that silly little evil minion reminded me that this throwing stuff is fun. First and foremost, it’s fun. We’re blessed to be able to travel around the globe, meet amazing people every time that quickly become friends, and just throw. It doesn’t lessen the hard work everyone has put in, it just pulls it into perspective.
So this off season as I trained and ran drills indoors I kept my focus on the now and not this far away competition that will kick off the 2014 season that happened to be the first time us ladies and amatuers throw at the Arnold. But now it’s time to let it in. Feel the nerves and let them go. Be excited.
And have fun. Games day needs to be fun. I’ll have my Bigg guy, my games minion, my support staff (KCon and Little Con), and friends (old and new.) I hope to throw far. I hope not to embarrass myself. I hope to put drills into motion with releases. But at the end of the day, I hope to just take it all in and have an absolute blast. Let the countdown begin, we’re ready.
Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
tosabarbell 