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Valkyrie approaches Trinity College, a beautiful establishment of scholarship and the quiet pursuit of knowle- what is that sound? It comes again: thud! Whomp! “Oof!” Valkyrie hastens, drawn by the sounds of people engaged in combat of some sort. She steps inside a building whose door is just ajar, and is confronted by many people in pajamas, rolling around on the ground! How silly, what are they thinking- Oh! Not pajamas! Gis! And they’re not rolling around without purpose, they’re grappling, playing the human chess game of Brazilian jiu jitsu. The Irish Winter Open for gi BJJ is commencing! Valkyrie steps up to the scale to weigh in, she’s a solid middleweight, scraping by just under 69 kg with her gi on. She can’t help a flutter of excitement at the prospect of testing her skills against other women, and reviews her game plan: take down to full guard or take the back, which decide whether she plays a full guard game or goes straight for the submission via rear naked choke. Of course, she thinks wryly, things never go to plan. Adaptability and fluidity is the key! She who can think on her feet will prevail! —————— Sunday, October 22nd, is my first tournament in Brazilian jiu jitsu! All my efforts the past month have been to prepare for the tournament and make weight (didn’t cut any calories, but boy do I miss salt!), and Sunday I finally get to play! After that, it’ll be my last couple of weeks in Ireland, before I return home to the next adventure and my goal is to just continue what I’ve been doing and have a little more flexibility once the tournament is over. Goals for this challenge: 1. The Weigh In -I will make weight at under 69 kg (or 152 lbs), in my gi, on the morning of the tournament. I will accomplish this by keeping sodium low, water, sleep and steps high. - Sodium: <2000-2500 - Water: >100 oz - Sleep: 8 hours - Steps: >8k 2. Focus On Flowers, Not Weeds - I will write 3 things for which I am grateful every day. If attitude is everything, then mine should be positive and resilient. 3. For Fitness - I will run or perform some other form of conditioning on Tuesdays, and perform 3 sets of ab exercises every day I don’t train BJJ.