EDITOR’S NOTE:
Welcome to the Athlete Journal of world-class grappler Valerie Worthington. Follow Valerie as she trains and competes in various events over the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition season. Val’s journal will be posted every Thursday.
You can catch up by reading her previous journal entries!
Well, I don’t really have a deep, meaningful angle for this entry. I competed at Worlds on Saturday and I lost. I’m not happy with how I competed because I feel I regressed to old habits (through no fault of my coaches’, of course. This was pure, unadulterated Worthington). At this moment, I’m not taking any opportunity for growth or looking for the lesson in all of it. I’m not even doing a good job of enjoying my post-competition indulgences; I ate a lot of junk food on Sunday, but I kind of had to force myself, and I woke up in the middle of the night because the bile had risen to my throat and I had to dry heave. (Not my best showing there either.)
I’m just weary, as I imagine this year’s winners (congratulations to them, by the way! Lots of amazing action) must be, but they have more to show for it. Meh. So the plan once I settle in back home after my redeye is to take a few days off and then try to get back in touch with why I train in the first place: because I love it and it makes me happy. Back to first principles and simple motivations. Those seem to get lost during tournament preparation, so it will be nice to get reacquainted.
And I can say that I did catch most of the season finale of Game of Thrones. I was lost through a lot of it, but it definitely engaging, with the chopping and the hacking and the intrigue and the English accents, which make everyone sound smarter.