tosabarbell

I’ve been giving a lot of attention lately to how I’m acting in public. No, not the swearing, I gotta be me. But the overall vibe. Largely because people in public drive me crazy and if I don’t check myself I’m a hugenormous bitch that can shit all over an extroverts day. Not acceptable.

See, I always thought that I was an outgoing extrovert but am finding, well, not so much. Crowds? Not really unless it’s worth it. Chaos? Never. I get very anxious in chaos. I like to know when, where, how long and the current version of “wing it Jules” that takes hold occasionally has taken 48 years to get to. I’m not good having tons of friends with superficial relationships, I like real or fuggetaboutit.

I’m not a fan of the introvert description that they are all wrapped up in themselves because I actually know many who would walk through fire for a friend and even have for me. Matt told me the other day that one description of extroverts are that they get their energy from others so that when I’m faced with one, they are trying to get energy off me and I am wired so that I protect it fiercely. So each interaction almost becomes an emotional tug of war. Explains why people are so foking exhausting. True story.

Here’s an example, in an attempt to hold on to just a little bit of my Hawaiian bronze I’ve hit a new (to me) tanning studio. Truth is, I like to have a little color. I take after my light skinned Hawaiian mother who’s Portuguese coloring allows me to tan easy, but to be whiter than other locals. So tan I go. Upon walking into the studio, the owner who is a very friendly, VERY EXTROVERTED young woman hit me with so much energy that I was instantly on guard. But now that I’m kind of embracing the whole introvert thing I can step back and be aware of how I’m coming off. It’s a relief really, embracing how I interact and making sure I’m not a negative to someone else even in passing.

After the tanning salon owner’s inquiries on who I am, what I do, where I live, am I going on vacation (three times she asked that one), and expressing sadness when I said I’m not going on vacation I finally stopped the barrage of questions with a simple statement of, “I’m an introvert and all of your questions make me uncomfortable. I don’t want to be rude or mean to you but I can’t take all the personal inquiries” the interrogation instantly stopped and her energy dropped by about 75% which still made her more energetic than most D1 cheerleaders when the camera’s are on them but it helped. She simply said, “Oh, ok” and we conducted business. When I came out she simply said to have a good day, see me next time and that was it. Possibly more subdued than she would like, probably actually, but far more comfortable for me. I was extremely thankful for that.

So here’s what I’ve learned. I don’t think I’m a full on introvert. I like to be around people, a lot actually. Just smaller groups where I can connect with people. I hate pretend relationships, avoid them at all cost. If I am friends with someone I guess I expect that friendship to be on all fronts, not just a “oh my gosh we just have so much fun together and let’s have coffee again soon.” I am here if they need me and I know they are there for me when I need them. Real. I love having people to the house and sharing food, drink, stories, games. I love going to parties to celebrate people or things. I love a good sporting event and will even tackle IKEA on a Sunday. Brave, I know.

But when I go head to head with an extreme extrovert, I need to keep myself in check. The energy I kick out is going to come right back at me so I want it to be good. It doesn’t have to be fake and I don’t often need to let them know they’re making me uncomfortable, but I don’t need to shut down either and that’s probably my go to.

So while not just an introvert or obviously not an extrovert, I’d call myself a Hybrid. Cuz that sounds more fancy and good to the environment. Mainly, mine. Heh.

The only problem with seeing people you know is that they know you.

Brent Runyon

When the Z’s were younger, being good little Minnesota boy and girl, they played hockey. Zac turned into a defensemen and even at a very young age, had a keen eye for where the play was developing. Some negative ‘Association’ experiences had him leave it early and that’s on me to not handle it correctly. I so hated hockey parents and the “association” police. It’s not my first regret as a parent and certainly won’t be the last.

Zandra stuck with it much longer and had some good runs in the net. I won’t get into the absolute shit treatment goalies get from not only other parents but their teammates too. Today. That’s not the message for today.

One favorite term among parents of girls hockey is that, at times, other teams would play “chippy.” It’s said with disgust and anger as if it’s unpalatable to even utter.

Chippy, in girls hockey speak, means aggressive and dirty. Pushing the limits of the referee’s (we say ref’s, also with anger and disgust) in hopes that they don’t get caught and when they do they perform a European football sized display of shock and outrage that such a poor call was made. And this is at the squirt age. By the time they get to High School, they’ve perfected this trick good enough to fool some of the new ref’s into not making a call. The whole point of the act.

Duh.

And that was something to throw shade at? When I was 14 I taunted a girl at a softball game so bad that she ran right for me (I played shortstop at that particular game) on a hit and I faced her, braced myself and let her try to take me down. She ended up on her ass and I ended up on the bench. I deserved it but hot damn was that satisfying. I was the poster girl of “Chippy.” I love aggressive competition. Helloooooo, hockey fan? I have tried so many times to enjoy non-contact sports and I just can’t. It’s so torturous. Pretend fouls; throwing tantrums; pretending you need 911 at every turn. How is that enjoyable???

Anyways. Chippy. Chippy, in our circles I guess, was undesirable. If I had a dollar for every time I heard the sentence “just play the game, leave the physical stuff out of it” I’d have enough money to buy at least one sports mom a personality. LEAVE THE PHYSICAL STUFF OUT OF IT??!!! It’s hockey! Leaving the physical stuff out of it means you’ve just become a basketball player. Foking duh!

So that’s me…at a very early age. Chippy. Not dirty, per say. But pushing the limits for sure. And I still compete that way. Oh, the chippiness (it’s a word spell check, stop redlining me) has gone away mainly because I’m not competing in that setting. Once this late winter, I missed a snatch in spectacular fashion and as I fell on my ass the bar hit the shit out of my shin. Shin ouchies demand lots of swearing. Matt was in the gym at the time and stood up wondering what to do and was helpless as I walked it off cussing my brains out. Now THAT made weightlifting a contact sport and the bar won. Well done.

But driving myself in competition is still there and, in most cases, I thrive in it. Except for now. Something is going on where I’ve approached the last two Games with a bit of a relaxed, “practice this”, attitude. It hit hard last Saturday and is annoying the ever living out of me. So, yes, the season is young. Throws obviously aren’t where I want them to be 3 months from now but that doesn’t mean that mentally I’m not in the Game. And I haven’t been.

Unacceptable. Not me. I’ve adjusted my practices to work on that and as of yesterday, it worked. There are a lot of mechanical things to relax and think about on a throws day but at Gametime? It’s time to shut it down, relax; prioritize, and attack. I haven’t done that and it needs to change.

That’s how I like to compete and I have fun doing so. I don’t have fun not doing so and the numbers these last two Games show it. Abysmal is the only word I can think of so back to the drawing board to mentally prepare for Games day and hopefully my next one (June) will show as such.

Hopefully.

You have competition every day because you set such high standards for yourself that you have to go out every day and live up to that.

Michael Jordan

This is your car:

This is your car with muscle:

Get the picture?

My ex had a 70’s Chevelle when we started dating. It was badass. He and the Oz man have even seen it around town here and there. I loved driving it. There was some weird reaction when the men would admire a muscle car and then see a woman climbing out of it. As if they couldn’t quite get their heads around the fact a woman was driving a dude’s car. It was lulz.

One of the descriptions of Muscle Cars I’ve seen describe them like this; the car should be just like human, STRONG, POWERFUL, and with STRENGTH. 

Huh. So like this?

Obviously, a well fueled machine. (Rugby men FTW.)

I’ve known other Muscle Car enthusiasts and the one constant in all of them is that they keep their little beauty well fueled. Only the best. That V8 is so well taken care of it boggles my mind how they can put so much effort into a car and not apply it to their own lives. Everything is precise as to the TLC they give all the way down to the fuel they use to run them.

Fuel. Ya know, food in human terms. Big and strong doesn’t come without it. Sorry. You can look all you want for other sources. Some equate that Advocare shit with fuel. Nope. Not the same. Sorry. Food. Fuel. One of the first things people ask me or Matt when they meet us is which supplements they should be taking. The best supplement on the planet?

Food. Meat. Veggies. Fat. No shortcuts, no short changes. Food. It fuels us. Without it we are not performing our best. We leave ourselves open to disease; malnutrition; lethargy; obesity (what?); a revolving door of doctor’s visits; illness; lack of concentration, subpar athletic ability to name a few kickbacks of not fueling your body correctly. Ya know, fun stuff.

Yesterday, I played chauffeur for some friends and took their daughter to her lacrosse game. In the lacrosse world, we say LAX. So you know. Now, I don’t have a clue how this game is played but I did get a crash course of it and though it’s not something I would enjoy (so much running), I can appreciate the athleticism needed to do it well. The other team had maybe five or six girls (I think this is 6-7 graders or something like that so for girls a pretty wide variety of body shapes) who were what one mom next to me called, “overweight bully’s.” Nice job mom, start ’em young.

The funny thing is, these “overweight” girls were built very similar to how I was at that age. Already had a shape, bigger legs, and never again to see a stick figure in the mirror. Ya know what the fun part was? These girls were the best out there. Their weight held strength and their ability to apply force off the ground was noticeable. They were able to blow by the “non-developed” girls with ease as if they were a fly on their forearm. They were the best runners. They were the most athletic. Now, their team lost but I don’t care. These girls are on their way to having a chance to be very good athletes. Yeah overweight bully’s (yes, playing aggressive now is called field bullying. Foking ‘merika.)

Two of them came off the field as we were waiting talking about how hungry they were. Cause, ya know, they were short on fuel. They’d just been running for over an hour and a half and needed to refuel. So awesome.

These girls? Think they avoid fueling their bodies like a 70’s Chevelle?

ps: sprinters are amazing.

According to Livestrong, sprinters diets are dialed in precisely to be able to take in the calories needed for training (fuel) but without gaining too much body fat. 60% of your daily intake of fuel should be protein and you should consider 1 gram of protein per one pound of body weight. Pretty standard stuff. I get about 200g of protein in through food and protein powder which (right now) is less than 1g per bw but hey, I’m a phat (but really I’m just short.)

Honestly, if you google pretty much any sport where energy is expressed, the diet will be very similar. Fuel first, coming in the form of protein, carbs and some fat (coconut oil FTW.) Here’s a picture of Big Z’s breakfast prior to the squat event in last weeks WSM 2015 in Malaysia (he took second place, foking 3rd atlas stone and injured back. Still though, great job):

Now, of course we need to apply this to Strongman squatting instead of 6th grade LAX but still, get the picture? Food is fuel. Without it, we are not running at optimum performance. Why would we not want to run at optimum performance?

Why?

To me, breakfast is my most important meal. It’s often the meal you play a game on. I make sure I have oatmeal, milk, and fruit. It’s the fuel you use to hopefully do your best, so eating right is a big part of being a professional athlete. I wish I paid more attention to it earlier in life.

Andrew Luck

Block; Post; Whip; Drive; Orbit; Stretch; Right side: Finish; Eyes, what do all of these throwing cue’s have in common?

They’re not step 1.

And that’s the crux of being a new thrower. Oh sure, we may be older and have athletic backgrounds. Maybe even have competed in other sports for years. But throwing? An entirely new beast. And the biggest thing I’ve learned out of my whole whoppin’ two seasons is this: advice will be free; it will be plentiful, and in many cases, it will be wrong.

Imagine this: you are new to squatting. Sure, you’ve seen many different styles but this is your first time under the bar and there are plenty of bro’s to help you through it. Best piece of advice? “Dude, at the very end, snap your knees back and your hips through or it’s not finished.” 

Dude. Srsly.

At the end? THE END? But…the rep’s about done? How many ways did I fuck things up from getting under the bar; unracking; stepping back, and actually squatting the stupid thing. 100? Yes. 100. (Maybe not 100, but 10? Yes, 10.) Cuz you just cued (incorrectly) step 11. And if steps 1-10 don’t go well, step 11 won’t mean shit.

True story.

See, unless you’ve been throwing for years, step 11 isn’t as helpful as STEP 1!!! DUHHHHHHH!!!!

The cues you get may be the easiest for your throwing “bro” to see but not necessarily the best for you. The first time I threw the hammer, the word “orbit” was repeated at least 4,287 times. FoShizzle. As if the process of repeating it would make it make sense. Finally, Coach Mac pulled me aside and said, “Right hand, right foot.” Ohhhhhhhhh, useful. As we all know, I struggle greatly with this event but after two years guess what? The word “orbit” still means shit to me. There are steps I need to figure out before I worry about it or at the very least figure out HOW to get the ball in the correct orbit. Repeating the word isn’t helpful, telling me how is.

Groundbreaking.

Now, before I hear, “Well we’re just trying to be helpful and will never say anything at all so there you’re on your own dudette,” I know. I know every piece of advice is coming from a good place (most of the time.) The wonderful thing about Highland Games is that people want each other to succeed. That is cool. So cool.

But we must understand who we’re talking to. After two years of trying to “block” in stones, I was told that without enough drive or speed, it probably won’t happen. Ummmmmm, duh. I’ve been trying to “slap the giant” or something like that all this time when I could have been focused on gaining speed in a very short space. Now, it could be that those telling me to block assumed I knew this. But see I don’t. Cuz I’m green. A noob. Novice. Don’t-o Know-o Shit-o. Comprendre-o?

Step 1. What is step 1? If you don’t know, then should advice be dispensed? I honestly don’t know. I try to keep my mouth shut during throws unless specifically asked and even then I’m careful with what I say. Cuz I’m new, and I don’t know step 1. This may make me appear unhelpful. Don’t care. The last thing I need is to be telling others what to do in a sport I’m just barely starting to understand on Games day when we have no coaching/athlete relationship to begin with.

If I see something happening in others good throws (*COUGHkatieandluke*COUGH) I’ll usually say, “I see ‘x’ but am not putting it together, advice?” And the good one’s know. A quick, useful cue and then I leave them alone to their throws. At least I try to roll that way.

Also, judges. Often times judges have been around long enough and are throwers themselves. If I’m struggling in an event, the first thing I do is ask the judge, “what do you see?” They are invaluable. In Hawaii, I fouled my first LWD. I asked the judge about it and he simply said, “tighten up the feet. You’ll be fine.” And I was. Flat, but I fixed my feet and on Games day fixing the important stuff is priority. Flat is something I can work on at home.

Step 1…tighten the feet. YaBuddy!

I’m not a mean player. You’ll notice that I never pick on anyone with a number higher than 30.

Mike Ditka