KB Girl preps for the world championship

[KB Girl]

Thanks for the concern! 

I was feeling better last Friday and caught up on a lot of work on Saturday.. but then I went down for a couple of days with very nasty headaches. I haven't had migraines since I was a child and they really weren't quite that bad.. but bad enough. So I focused on just surviving for a bit. 

 

Yesterday (Thursday) the headache was easily managed with a painkiller and I even got in my first training session in almost 2 weeks. Today it's also manageable. 

So while I managed to keep up with the urgent work things and take basic care of us.. I now have a mountain of housework to deal with and all the non-urgent work to catch up with...

 

And the world championship is next week. 6 days.

I'm quite sad that I couldn't finish the competition prep as I would have liked these past 2 weeks.. but I'm trying to just.. roll with it. An interesting mental challenge.   

 

[Mad Hatter]

Aww man that’s a bummer.  I’m glad you’re on the mend now though, even if you didn’t get to finish your comp prep according to plans at least you’ll be able to go!

[@mu]

4 hours ago, KB Girl said:

I'm quite sad that I couldn't finish the competition prep as I would have liked these past 2 weeks.. but I'm trying to just.. roll with it. An interesting mental challenge.   

 

That's pretty annoying but there is not much you could do about it. Besides migraines, did you also  have body aches? 1 week left is still good though. I mean far from ideal but it gives you some buffer to get back on your feet.

[KB Girl]

15 minutes ago, @mu said:

 

That's pretty annoying but there is not much you could do about it. Besides migraines, did you also  have body aches? 1 week left is still good though. I mean far from ideal but it gives you some buffer to get back on your feet.

Yea, I did get aches.. why'd you ask? 

 

1 week left is.. well I am actually still undecided what to do. In a normal prep you'd be on full rest in the last week. I think I'll maybe do 1 more serious set and then another technique set or two.. Just to build a bit of confidence.

[@mu]

4 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

Yea, I did get aches.. why'd you ask?

 

So not sure how it goes for you, but I do feel those aches are a little bit annoying to recover from (when the virus was quite violent). I need a bit more warm-up and I will still get tired more quickly. If I have a daily moderate session of push/pull/twist/invert/stretch, I can go back to the previous level of intensity a bit quicker. I will also wear more clothes than usual even if it's a bit too warm. But no science, just personal xp. These types of virus make me feel like I have been ousted from my body for a while and I need to take ownership again  

[Elastigirl]

Sorry. That's frustrating. I hope you surprise yourself and do amazingly well.

[JessRed]

On ‎4‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 10:32 PM, KB Girl said:

 

Once I started doodling I couldn't stop x) 

 

The rowing is not on there, because I am tracking it on a different page.. it's a long story, but I was challenged to row 1 million meters in 1 year.. which is crazy, but also inspiring. Even if I don't make it, I'm curious what it will do to my endurance/fitness and body. I've been building up my rowing the past 2 challenges, but I'm slow and everything hurts after a bit, so I couldn't quite make the 20k yet.. let's see what happens this week

 

(every square is 1000m)

Love this!

[WhiteGhost]

On 5/17/2019 at 10:08 PM, KB Girl said:

And the world championship is next week. 6 days.

Yikes! So soon!  Hope you are able to feel fully recovered by then

[KB Girl]

On 5/17/2019 at 9:38 PM, @mu said:

 

So not sure how it goes for you, but I do feel those aches are a little bit annoying to recover from (when the virus was quite violent). I need a bit more warm-up and I will still get tired more quickly. If I have a daily moderate session of push/pull/twist/invert/stretch, I can go back to the previous level of intensity a bit quicker. I will also wear more clothes than usual even if it's a bit too warm. But no science, just personal xp. These types of virus make me feel like I have been ousted from my body for a while and I need to take ownership again  

It does go that way for me too, and getting tired more quickly is so annoying with an endurance sport, hehe. But thanks very much for the reminder, I read it on my phone and I've made sure to do a couple of daily sessions of just moving around- it does feel like taking ownership again. No extra clothes were worn because it's been bloody hot here, but I did wear shoes instead of going barefoot as I would normally do while roasting

 

On 5/18/2019 at 1:08 AM, Elastigirl said:

Sorry. That's frustrating. I hope you surprise yourself and do amazingly well.

thanks, I really hope so too. I've gotten reasonably good at putting it out of my mind and just going when I'm on the platform, so I'm counting on that kicking in when it's time. 

 

On 5/18/2019 at 10:23 AM, JessRed said:

Love this!

Thanks

 

7 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Yikes! So soon!  Hope you are able to feel fully recovered by then

Thanks! I'm feeling like I'll be able to get to fully recovered in the next few days, but I don't and won't be feeling prepared, and that's still a major bummer. But I'll deal. 

[KB Girl]

The challenge started out very promising. I'd never had a training week without any reds or yellows before! I'm sad it doesn't all look like that, but I'm sure it has still been beneficial, physically and in habit building. The rowing I think is also good for me, building a bit of a cardio base. 

 

Sleep has been a challenge- and even on days that I did go to bed on time I'd often still be awake for far too long. I'm still without silly phone games, but I'm starting to think that reading fiction might be even worse for me. If it's too good I just can't put it away. But if I stop reading fiction I just don't know how I'd deal with the rest of lives troubles x) 

 

Food - eating veggies was also a real challenge. It was harder than I expected. Definitely something I want to revisit.

 

 

 

Also a bit more behind on the rowing challenge than I would have liked.. I ought to average 20k a week, but I have not yet been able to even hit that number.. so it will not be easy to make up for this missed training. I probably won't make the 1 year goal anyway, as I'm sure I'll be sick more often and other things.. but who knows, it won't hurt to try. 

(the little crosses are week markers)

[@mu]

I think you did great this challenge considering the being sick part + the stake. That said, the prep has started long before this challenge, it's like going through a long flight of stairs and having a hick-up on one of the last steps. It's just one missed step, it's more disrupting because it's close to the deadline but overall you have done a lot of prep. Let's see what happens It could be a bit disappointing but it could still work out. And if not, there will be more opportunities. Maybe that "I'll deal" mindset can give you an edge mentally.

 

What's up with the veggies exactly? is it having them in the fridge, cooking them, or simply a lack of desire to eat them?

[Mad Hatter]

4 hours ago, @mu said:

That said, the prep has started long before this challenge, it's like going through a long flight of stairs and having a hick-up on one of the last steps. It's just one missed step, it's more disrupting because it's close to the deadline but overall you have done a lot of prep.

I like this analogy!

 

I also think you did awesome this challenge considering. Even with the sickness you never stopped or gave up on the challenge, you kept doing what you could.

[KB Girl]

I like the analogy too  though I wish I had as much confidence in not having missed any other steps, I feel like I've just accumulated years of half missed steps never quite sure if I'm just being realistic or pessimistic. But whatever- it is what it is and fuck it I'm not doing half bad as in that I'm allowed to compete in a world championship in the first place. 

 

The headspace is so interesting pre-important-competition. It's not just me that gets like this. The past few days/weeksI've been helping my team deal with their identity crisises too. Some rambling on that behind the spoiler. 

 

Everybody is trying to figure out a plan for what to do in their 10 minutes. Some will simply do as I say/suggest, others want to give their own input or keep wanting to change their plan according to how their last training went (or how they're feeling that day, haha). 

 

It is what I love about this sport- sometimes I wonder how I got into this endurance sport.. I know I like the technical aspect of it the most but then I could have done weightlifting.. but it's the platform mental aspect that keeps drawing me back. The insanity before the competition is also lovely, but what happens when you're standing there and suffering for 10 minutes is really something else. 

 

The advice I give my people is based on this piece; you need to be thinking about and focusing on your technique, what you need to do at that moment.. and nothing else. 

Distractions are ranked from mild to worst; 

1. immediate distractions (the music, someone in the audience, a random sound etc)

2. thoughts about how it should feel ("normally my feet don't hurt at this point, normally by 6' my grip starts to give" etc) 

3. thoughts about the possibility of winning or losing (fear of having to put the bells down, excitement from being 1 point ahead of your competition)

4. thoughts about the consequences of winning or losing (what will friends/family/coach think, what will I think) 

5. existential questions about why the f you're even doing this

 

Obviously 5 is the worst, but 4 is also pretty bad.. so in the days of prep before hand I make everyone REALLY think these questions through, so that when those thoughts pop up on the platform they can tell their brain to 'shut up, I've already thought all this through, get back to what we need to focus on pretty please.' 

 

It's so interesting how diverse the answers are. I have one guy who mostly worries about what everyone else will think and I have one girl who doesn't really care what others think but is SO hard on herself that she's afraid of failing because of the self-hate that will follow. 

 

I'm reasonably practiced in this. I've got pretty clear answers as to why I'm doing this (it's the travel and the food mostly ) and I've thoroughly dealt with the concequences of winning or losing. I'm also good at dragging my focus back to where it belongs in the moment and I'm good at suffering on the platform. If only I were as good at training consistently and with intent I'd get lovely results. 

 

Fun example of my focus failing by nr 3; my goal had been 100 reps for a loooong time now, so at the European championship after rep nr 99 I lost focus and failed nr 100. I was lucky enough to be able to catch it and still do 5 after that, but they could've ended up on the floor by being distracted with the thought of success. 

[KB Girl]

10 hours ago, @mu said:

What's up with the veggies exactly? is it having them in the fridge, cooking them, or simply a lack of desire to eat them?

It's remembering to prep/bring them when I'm not eating at home.. That's the thing with 3 servings in a day, I'll have 1 or 2 for dinner pretty much always.. and breakfast or lunch is no problem when I'm at home, but when I'm having both those meals at work it's tricky. 

[Elastigirl]

Thanks for the write up of the mental aspect of the competition. I don't compete, but I find that fascinating

[@mu]

12 hours ago, KB Girl said:

It's remembering to prep/bring them when I'm not eating at home.. That's the thing with 3 servings in a day, I'll have 1 or 2 for dinner pretty much always.. and breakfast or lunch is no problem when I'm at home, but when I'm having both those meals at work it's tricky. 

 

Indeed, 2 in a row is a tricky one (prepping for just one can already be difficult ).

 

Very interesting account on mental prep. I was thinking there were quite a few similarities with performing (as an amateur in my personal xp,  so less at stake than a pro). There is no winning / losing but there is a sense of having a "successful" performance vs maybe a poor one. (5) "why the f I am even doing this" is very much the same  

[raptron]

So much mental prep!

 

I know you're not feeling as READY as you wanted to be, but Worlds!

 

On 5/19/2019 at 5:01 PM, KB Girl said:

But if I stop reading fiction I just don't know how I'd deal with the rest of lives troubles x) 

VALID CONCERN. Hehehe. <3 

[Sloth the Enduring]

I knew it was going to happen, but when 100 didn’t go up I gasped.

10 minutes is a real long time to hold that kind of focus.

[Mad Hatter]

I loved reading about the mental aspect of the sport, it’s really fascinating. It’s cool that you as a coach are going through the same things as your athletes, it must really help them. Why do you think you can’t bring the same attitude to your training? Except for the obvious comp adrenaline, is a just life stuff pulling you in different directions or something else?

[KB Girl]

On 5/21/2019 at 7:29 AM, @mu said:

Very interesting account on mental prep. I was thinking there were quite a few similarities with performing (as an amateur in my personal xp,  so less at stake than a pro). There is no winning / losing but there is a sense of having a "successful" performance vs maybe a poor one. (5) "why the f I am even doing this" is very much the same  

Yes! I can really imagine that being similar

 

13 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I knew it was going to happen, but when 100 didn’t go up I gasped.

10 minutes is a real long time to hold that kind of focus.

It's a really really long time.. and the suffering aspect makes a large part of you want to convince yourself to just put the damn things down. 

 

6 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I loved reading about the mental aspect of the sport, it’s really fascinating. It’s cool that you as a coach are going through the same things as your athletes, it must really help them. Why do you think you can’t bring the same attitude to your training? Except for the obvious comp adrenaline, is a just life stuff pulling you in different directions or something else?

Competing myself definitely helps me figure out ways to help them

Focus-wise in training the "why the f am I even doing this" is much harder to answer.. it can get really painful in longer sets, not just oxygen debt and muscles full of lactate, but also pinched nerves or breaking skin. I don't really want to put myself through that in training and I'm not convinced that I have to. The issue with training is really mostly making enough volume- life stuff would be a convenient excuse but I also chat away large parts of my training time so.. hm. 

[Mad Hatter]

1 minute ago, KB Girl said:

I also chat away large parts of my training time so.. hm. 

Heh very easy thing to do, it's part of the fun training with friends.  But if you have a time limit on your training and have to stay efficient it's a bit of a problem. 

[KB Girl]

14 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Heh very easy thing to do, it's part of the fun training with friends.  But if you have a time limit on your training and have to stay efficient it's a bit of a problem. 

Yea I think I have around 5 hours a week al together.. I could maybe find 2 more.. and if I then used all of that time effectively I could at least double my volume.. but it's much easier said than done. And I should be pleased, because I've been increasing my volume steadily since Emma was born.. as long as there is an upward climb I'm reasonably ok with it all. 

 

Next challenge; 

 

 

[Mad Hatter]

2 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

Yea I think I have around 5 hours a week al together.. I could maybe find 2 more.. and if I then used all of that time effectively I could at least double my volume.. but it's much easier said than done. And I should be pleased, because I've been increasing my volume steadily since Emma was born.. as long as there is an upward climb I'm reasonably ok with it all. 

5 hours a week and you still manage to go to worlds, now that's impressive!

It makes me realise how extremely inefficient my training is considering how much time I spend doing stuff in absolute terms.  

[KB Girl]

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

5 hours a week and you still manage to go to worlds, now that's impressive!

It makes me realise how extremely inefficient my training is considering how much time I spend doing stuff in absolute terms.  

I wouldn't draw that conclusion.. On one hand your training is simply less focused, not quite as single mindedly goal oriented... plus I've already accumulated years of technique work. And then you're probably also overestimating how impressive going to worlds is. Remember, it's a very small sport AND I'm not even competing at the highest level. 

[Mad Hatter]

1 hour ago, KB Girl said:

I wouldn't draw that conclusion.. On one hand your training is simply less focused, not quite as single mindedly goal oriented... plus I've already accumulated years of technique work. And then you're probably also overestimating how impressive going to worlds is. Remember, it's a very small sport AND I'm not even competing at the highest level. 

And I think you're underestimating yourself.