Raptron: Season Finale

[raptron]

Hi friends! I'm Raptron, I am a grown-ass woman who does gymnastics with a team of likeminded adults, lifts weights, loves food and drink, and generally overbooks herself with social engagements. My gymnastics national competition is April 12, 2019, which very nicely coincides with end of this challenge. 

 

What's on the horizon:

3/15-3/17 - quick trip to NYC

3/24 - Gymnastics meet (last one before Nationals!)

3/30 - Season send-off party / big team event / debuting the 2019 hype videooo (that I have to make)

4/11-4/17 - Nationals & post-competition vacation in Florida

 

A lot of the things from last challenge actually went really well, so I'm just going to carry them over for the next 4-ish weeks. Maybe I'll consider what life holds for me when the season ends along the way, but mostly I'm just here to grind it out and do my very best in our two remaining meets.

 

1. Comp season strong

• Vault 1x per week
• High bar direct connections every other practice
• Beam routines every practice

2. Don't break the bank

• Limit meals out and/or 2+ drink nights to 6x between March 18-April 10

3. Hold yourself together

• Shoulder PT 2x per week
• Ankle prehab 1x per week
• Pelvic floor control drills 3x per week (90/90 breathing, intentional relaxing, pri squat things, etc).

4. Write it out

• Some sort of creative writing practice 2x per week

[WhiteGhost]

Here!

[raptron]

Zero Week Update:

I flew home from LA Wednesday morning, got to my house, and took a 2 hour nap at home before going into the office for the rest of the day. I went and lifted after work, which was ambitious, but I am glad I did because I feel better after moving almost always. I did deadlifts up to a set of 5 at 285, then 2 x 5 x 270 and 1 x 5 at 260. Heck yeah. Also did volume bench (4 x 10 x 105#), db rows, and hypers before heading home. 

 

It was my friend's birthday yesterday and he had no plans and seemed down about it. It makes ME sad when people are sad on their birthdays if it's something I can have any good and positive impact on. He is one of those people that doesn't like to plan things for himself but is always happy to come out when invited, so I suggested we get some birthday drinks. We went out for beer and some food and then to my fave bar for cocktails and celebratory bday pie, and then I actually left at a reasonable hour but was still up until 2 AM like a dingus. SUCH A DINGUS. He said it was a really good time and cheered him up though, so good friendship things anyway.

 

I'm very tired today. I should stay in, but my friend who moved to Colorado last year is in town and she and our mutual friend (the one with breast cancer) invited me over and I haven't seen either of them in a while and I really want to both for myself and to support our friend, so you know, I'm going to go. 

 

And my NYC trip this weekend is entirely because my friend's father passed away last year and they used to go to the city for St. Patrick's Day every year, so this is something of a memorial/last hurrah trip kind of thing. And no one else wanted to go with her and I promised I would. So here I am. Hopping down to NYC tomorrow after work despite just coming back from LA and really being ratherrr TIRED, given my life choices.

 

But my friends are very, very important to me. And being a person that can be there for other people is probably my #1 priority in life. So this week will be very tiring, but it's worth it. And the following few weeks are actually pretty chill on the social engagement front, so. I can suck it up. AS LONG AS I CAN BE CHILL AFTER SUNDAY FOR A BIT. 

 

[CourtnieMarie]

you ARE a dingus! but seriously such an amazing friend. let someone (or you!) take care of you after this weekend <3

 

 

idk why this seemed applicable but it does.

[annyshay]

Such a good friend! Here for antics.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following.

[KB Girl]

Ohhh nationals so close! Any grand goals for that one as a team?

Also I just read your deadlift number and did the math in my head and it was just one of those moments of quiet realisation of how strong you are. Wow

 

5 hours ago, raptron said:

But my friends are very, very important to me. And being a person that can be there for other people is probably my #1 priority in life. So this week will be very tiring, but it's worth it.

<3

[Stronkey Kong]

I'll be lurking/following as usual... and Hodoring, definitely gonna do some Hodoring.

[Happienumber]

9 hours ago, raptron said:

But my friends are very, very important to me. And being a person that can be there for other people is probably my #1 priority in life. So this week will be very tiring, but it's worth it.

 

Awww, and you're being SUCH a good friend to them!!

[WhiteGhost]

15 hours ago, raptron said:

But my friends are very, very important to me. And being a person that can be there for other people is probably my #1 priority in life. So this week will be very tiring, but it's worth it.

Such a good friend!

Raptron level friends arrange drinks at a dive bar after you finish

[Mad Hatter]

17 hours ago, raptron said:

But my friends are very, very important to me. And being a person that can be there for other people is probably my #1 priority in life. So this week will be very tiring, but it's worth it. And the following few weeks are actually pretty chill on the social engagement front, so. I can suck it up. AS LONG AS I CAN BE CHILL AFTER SUNDAY FOR A BIT. 

 

 

12 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Also I just read your deadlift number and did the math in my head and it was just one of those moments of quiet realisation of how strong you are. Wow

The numbers always seemed big to me, but now that I've started lifting myself I'm beginning to realize just HOW big.  

[raptron]

15 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Ohhh nationals so close! Any grand goals for that one as a team?

We're hoping for a top 3 placement! We've gotten 4th at least twice since I've started competing with the team, which is fun. This year, the format is different and we have two types of team categorizations: community and college. We're not sure how many teams are going to be under the "community" banner, but since we often make finals (top 8 teams overall), it seems very possible we could be top 3 in our category.

 

There is some drama though, like I mentioned before, because we have 12 athletes at this level and a max of 8 can go up on each event. Some of us floated the possibility of having two, moderately equal teams because only the top 3 scores per event count toward the team score, but it seems to be the best option to have one team of 8 and one team of 4, stacking the first team with the better score potentials. 

 

And people have a lot of ego-related feelings that are separate from their actual performance in competition about wanting to be on the "A team."

 

I volunteered to be on the second team because while my floor usually scores really well, my other events are hit-or-miss and honestly I don't care if I PERSONALLY am on the group that goes to finals as long as it's our team, you know? There is one girl that really wants to be on the "A team" but she doesn't really have the consistency or the scoring to really make the cut. I think it may help for our meet coordinator, who has the final say, to talk to her directly about it before posting the teams, but idk if she's willing to, or really how well the aspirant will take it. 

 

Quote

Also I just read your deadlift number and did the math in my head and it was just one of those moments of quiet realisation of how strong you are. Wow

2 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

The numbers always seemed big to me, but now that I've started lifting myself I'm beginning to realize just HOW big.  

Hahah, thanks you guysss. I always feel like I should be lifting even MORE after all this time. But things are slowly progressing in the right direction and that's all I want.

 

5 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Raptron level friends arrange drinks at a dive bar after you finish

 

 

[raptron]

Day 0.4

It was great seeing my friends for the evening, and it wrapped up nice and early. I was home at 10:30 and in bed by 11:00, which was perfect.

 

EXCEPT. OH GOD, FOOD POISONING. I spent 2 am - 8 am mostly awake with intense stomach cramping and so many trips to the bathroom.

 

Why, world? Why won't you let me sleep?

 

I'm eating bland crackers and drinking lots of water. And will hopefully be able to get some sleep in this afternoon before my train out to NYC.

[CourtnieMarie]

what the heck>?! that's awful. i actually had trouble on wednesday from maybe too much cheese? idk but my time with the toilet was shorter lived that yours. sorry friend.

[raptron]

18 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

what the heck>?! that's awful. i actually had trouble on wednesday from maybe too much cheese? idk but my time with the toilet was shorter lived that yours. sorry friend.

I had a bagged salad (those potentially murderous leafy piles) and also like shredded, rotisserie chicken from the supermarket yesterday for lunch. I'm sure one of them is to blame. 

[Mad Hatter]

Oh noooooo, that's awful  

[WhiteGhost]

Oh no!!!  Food poisoning is the WORST!  Get some rest, yo

[Happienumber]

OMG what? Horrible!!! I hope you can catch up on some sleep soon. 

[Mike Wazowski]

You're a great friend!

 

Also, WTH food poisoning - hope that passes real soon. Darn murderous leaves.

[RogueLibrarian]

Oh god, food poisoning! Take care of yourself!

[@mu]

I knew I was missing a thread somehow!

 

6 hours ago, raptron said:

I had a bagged salad (those potentially murderous leafy piles)

 

Well I remember reading some bad news about salad somewhere in a US area with the word e.coli in it but maybe it was old news and/or you are not in that area - I hope!

 

7 hours ago, raptron said:

We're not sure how many teams are going to be under the "community" banner, but since we often make finals (top 8 teams overall), it seems very possible we could be top 3 in our category. 

 

That would be brilliant, so much hard work, it would be nice to get some recognition

Re the drama, doesn't have each competitor a chance to shine individually in any case? team work is TEAM work on the other hand, bah!

 

You're a brilliant friend

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Oh man, I hope you're feeling better by now.

[KB Girl]

I always thought it was highly ironic that pregnant women would avoid even super fresh sushi like the plague but eat salad out of bags without a second thought. Hope you feel better soon! 

 

After getting fourth a couple of times it'd be really nice to get on the podium I bet  

The drama.. well.. aren't there cold hard numbers available to make the selection? Hopefully everyone will get into the mentality of it still being ONE team, that will help. Though I suppose it doesn't always feel like you contribute anything at all to your teammates performances.. 

[raptron]

On 3/16/2019 at 5:39 AM, KB Girl said:

I always thought it was highly ironic that pregnant women would avoid even super fresh sushi like the plague but eat salad out of bags without a second thought. Hope you feel better soon! 

Haha, right?

 

On 3/15/2019 at 5:05 PM, @mu said:

 

That would be brilliant, so much hard work, it would be nice to get some recognition

Re the drama, doesn't have each competitor a chance to shine individually in any case? team work is TEAM work on the other hand, bah!

Oh, yeah, it doesn't matter what team you are on when it comes down to individual rewards. 

 

On 3/16/2019 at 5:39 AM, KB Girl said:

After getting fourth a couple of times it'd be really nice to get on the podium I bet  

The drama.. well.. aren't there cold hard numbers available to make the selection? Hopefully everyone will get into the mentality of it still being ONE team, that will help. Though I suppose it doesn't always feel like you contribute anything at all to your teammates performances.. 

It's really funny to me because I really didn't and don't consider gymnastics a team sport at all. Obviously you get a lot of good atmosphere and encouragement from your teammates, but uh, that doesn't really mean you are actually performing as a team! I've gotten into long arguments with my friend about this and she thinks I undervalue team atmosphere or whatever -- when really, the team atmosphere is part of the reason I compete (and still... I think it is a much more individual sport).

 

Day 0.6-0.7

The trip was good, but not exactly restful at all. I went to many a bar, the parade for a minute, out dancing, out to delicious meals, and got my butt on the train by 9 PM last night, but wasn't able to sleep on it at all -- though I slept pretty well on the way out on Friday. 

 

MY BODY STILL HATES ME. SO MUCH HATE. 

 

I'm sure the whiskey and beer are unrelated to how my digestive recovery has gone. I'll just eat bland things for the foreseeable future. 

 

I'm planning to go to bed really early today and start getting things back to normal. Guhhh.

 

[WhiteGhost]

Recovery Mode, Activate!