Making the Most of Down Time/ Preparing for Junior Olympics
Last weekend was a meet-free weekend for the fencing team. After a busy couple of weeks, I was very thankful to have a weekend without competing. I made the best of my weekend by sleeping in and catching up on homework. When I am very busy is when I appreciate down time the most. One of the greatest feelings in the world to me is knowing that I have time to relax and take my mind off of daily stresses. When I have too much free time, for example, during this past winter break, I find that I take time off for granted and do not truly enjoy it. While fencing takes up a large part of my time during which I could be sleeping a couple more hours or searching for internships, I believe that I would slack off more if I was not occupied with this sport. I highly value having a busy schedule, as it motivates me to work hard and efficiently, and it makes me appreciate time off. Beyond college, I will try to keep myself busy beyond work with physical activity to keep my drive to work diligently, as well as my gratefulness for the limited down time I allow myself to have.
After a weekend of unwinding, it was time to get back to practice on Monday. Mondays are a swell transition from the weekend, as we only have conditioning for an hour and then practice is done! Unfortunately, for the remainder of this week, I did not find myself enjoying practice. With the end of the season approaching, I feel that I am slowing down at the end of the race versus keeping up the pace and motivation to successfully reach the finish line. It has been difficult for me to get a decent amount of sleep, which is such a crucial component in determining how the rest of my day will go. On Tuesday night, I slept for about four hours and dreaded leaving my dorm the following morning at 6:30 to get to practice at 7. Wednesday’s practice dragged on and felt much longer than two hours. Thursday’s practice went much better, as we just fenced for most of it. I fenced decently, and focused on trying new actions, which is more beneficial than simply trying to win bouts. I am not going to practice on Friday, as I am going to refrain from too much physical activity before my competition this weekend. Yay for sleeping in!!
I am traveling to Kansas City, Missouri this weekend to compete in my last Junior Olympics. Truthfully, I have not given much thought to this coming weekend. I have not been putting pressure on myself in practice, mostly because i have been too busy with school work to truly think about this competition. However, I have found that the less amount of pressure I feel to perform, the better I do, as I fence more freely and am not nearly as nervous. Many people watch Youtube videos of Olympic fencers before competitions to gain some inspiration, or they practice extra hard a few days prior. While this heightened intensity prior to competitions aids some fencers, I find that giving little thought to my opponents, or fencing in general, works best for me. As bad as it sounds, I hope to carry this somewhat careless attitude into my competition on Sunday.
As always, thanks for reading!
Stefania