The good people at Breaking Muscle have given me yet another opportunity for which I am grateful: writing about myself. For the next couple months as I prepare for several grappling tournaments in California, Abu Dhabi, and New York, they have asked me to contribute to the Athlete’s Journal section of the website, structuring one of my two stories a week (the Thursday story) as a training journal. They’ve asked me to discuss things like my diet, my workouts, my rest, my feelings, as I fill in holes in my game and count down the days till these events.
I jumped at the chance, but I’m also a little wary; note that the other journals are being written by athletes who are preparing for the CrossFit Games, which is like the Olympics of the sport of fitness. Further, these athletes have a history of collegiate competition (which I don’t – too busy playing beer pong), are basically full-time athletes (I suppose you could say the same of me, but it just doesn’t feel the same), and are all in their twenties (I am 41. While I feel great physically, I am always aware of being a little long in the tooth for this grappling stuff. But I’m not afraid to ground the other athletes if they get lippy.). So, one of these things is not like the other.
That being said, in recent years I have discovered I’m either too stubborn or, more likely, too clueless to let external stimuli dictate what I’m going to do or what’s going to make me feel happy and fulfilled. So I plan to ride this competition train as long as I feel inspired to do so – and as long as I manage to earn a spot. I have the benefit of amazing coaching and teammates, as well as the rock-steady support of my family and friends. Win or lose, how can I go wrong?
So if you’d like to come along on this ride, you’re cordially invited. And if there are certain things you’d like me to remark upon, like the physical toll competition might take on a – ahem – mature athlete, etc, please feel free to make a note of it in the comments section, and I’ll do my thing.
Watch for my first Athlete Journal entry next Thursday!
