Sickness Go Away!
It’s been a rather rough few days for me as I caught a cold over the weekend. It must be that time of the year because pretty much everyone around me is getting sick as well. I guess we can thank the sudden drop in weather. After all, it still felt like the middle of summer only a couple of weeks ago.
One of the bad habits I have is I just can’t sit still even when I’m sick. I get too antsy about working out. But as we all know, not resting when you need it most can backfire and set you back even more. Thankfully I’m feeling a lot better after spending the last couple of days hibernating and recouping so I should be ready to get back in the gym again.
This is perfect timing as I’m pumped and motivated to workout after watching the world championships last week. Watching my friends compete and do well added to the fuel and revamped my desire to get back on the world stage again. Gotta remind myself to take it one step at a time though. Like I just said, rushing can backfire.
Speaking of exciting things, I’ve also been glued to the TV watching the Giants play in the world series. Being a Bay Area kid, I’ve always been a Giants fan so the last couple of weeks have been really exciting. While it’s not gymnastics, seeing any athlete/team compete at the highest stage is awesome. Hope the Giants take it all the way! 
A Little R&R
After several weeks of up and down weather, I think fall has finally arrived in California. I’m a pretty big fan of fall weather when it comes to training because it doesn’t wear me out as quickly when it’s cooler in the gym. Then again, there’s also a downside. When it’s cooler, I can definitely feel it in the joints and it definitely takes a while for me to warm-up.
Anyway, the last several weeks of training have been tough. My coach and I have revamped my conditioning workout to increase strength but luckily he dropped the intensity the last half of the week gave me the chance to recover. Judging from how my body felt, I think I really needed it. I even went to go get a massage to get some kinks out. The person I generally go see is an old Chinese man in San Francisco that works out of his garage. He’s a rather small guy but his massages are intense. It’s definitely not one of those easy-going, soft-tissue massages. I’ll admit they’re rather painful but I can definitely feel a huge difference afterwards. In this day in age with this sport, half the battle is keeping your body healthy enough to compete.
Now that I’ve had this opportunity to rest and recover, it’s time to hit the gym hard again. Just gotta make sure I don’t catch a cold because it seems like that’s been going around!
The Grind
I’ve been a pretty boring person lately. My days have been fairly mundane and not much stands out outside from my normal training and my part-time jobs. However, they say that the daily grind is what gets you to the next step. Having a consistent schedule has allowed me to make a ton of progress both in and out of the gym. A lot of this has to do with having the time to simply train and not worry about having to prepare for a competition. I’m definitely using this time wisely in order to get stronger, but also backing off when necessary to avoid injuries (gotta remember my body is getting older!).
On an unrelated note, the gym community is still dealing with the shock of losing UC Berkeley’s gymnastics programs (both women and men). Stickitmedia writes a great article about this situation. I don’t know if there’s much that can be done now that the decision has been made but it looks like the five teams that were eliminated from Cal athletics is holding a rally tomorrow (Oct 9th) at 9:30 am at UC Berkeley’s baseball field. They’re hoping that with enough support, they can overturn this decision. I’m not sure if I can make it myself but for anyone that is in the area, I urge you to go and be a part of the rally.
Here’s an article with some information about the rally tomorrow. Good luck to the Bears tomorrow!
