Region 1 Congress/Future Stars Weekend
It was only my first full weekend back after returning from the National Championships but it turned out to be busy one, and one filled with a ton of gymnastics!
Not only did I swing by the Region 1 Congress to do a couple of presentations but I was also called upon to evaluate the boys at the Northern California Future Stars Testing.
I was totally lucky to have my old teammate, Abhi, with me for the congress presentations this time around. He definitely picked up a lot of the slack and put together some good slides while I was away for Nationals. Last year, I had a tough time when I signed up to do 7 lectures all by myself. Not only was it tough to prepare all of the slides, but by the end of the day, my voice was pretty much gone from speaking so much. Signing up for less presentations, and being able to do them with another person definitely made things a lot easier! As always, it was great seeing some familiar faces and also to meet some new coaches and gym enthusiasts!
As for the future stars testing, I definitely saw some good gymnastics. Big props to the boys who are involved in the future stars program. It’s tough because they have to learn specific routines for the future stars season on top of the other routines that they have to perform for the regular season. Most of these boys will go off to the Regional testing next so definitely lots of luck to them!
Successful Congress/Future Stars weekend!
Back to the Grind
After a week in St. Paul for the Visa National Championships, I’m finally back in California. It definitely feels great to be back, but at the same time, it’s crazy how swamped. I’m finding myself working double-speed just to catch up with my daily routine. I’m sure that this will last at least a couple of days!
Anyway, back-tracking to last week. It was definitely great to be back on the competition floor. Although some events did not go quite as planned, overall I’m pleased with how things went. I’m always super hard on myself but I definitely have to remember to keep things in perspective and remind myself that all of this is a step by step process! As much as I’d like to jump from 1-10, in reality, it just doesn’t work that way! On the upside, I felt really comfortable being out there. I sure as heck didn’t feel this way the last couple of meets, especially coming back from the injury. That said, I know that I’m definitely making some improvements on my mental side.
Anyway, I was glad to be named back onto the national team, but at the same time, I know that this is only the beginning and that I have a lot that I need to do as I prepare for the Olympic trials next June. I’m definitely giving my body a couple of days rest to recuperate, but after that, it’s back to the grind! My next meet will be the Pan American Games which will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico in late October.
Speaking of gymnastics, I went to the gym yesterday for a light training, and guess what I saw when I first walked in?
Thanks for the sign guys!
Big thanks to Champions Academy, the gymnasts, and their families for the awesome sign! And same goes to everyone else who continue to support my journey!
Back on!
Hey All, wanted to write a quick note saying that I successfully made it back onto the national team following the US National Championships.
It was a long two years after I hurt my knee back at Japan Cup in 2009, but thank you to all that supported me and believed that I could return once again. This is only the beginning!
I would totally write more right now but sadly the meet went for a long time and it’s super late here. More details to come soon.
Thanks again!
Go Time!
I can’t believe that USA Championships is already next week! It’s honestly been a long time since I’ve felt the time move this quickly. I think a huge part of this has to do with the fact that I’ve been very busy outside of the gym. Training has been going well but I’ve also been putting a lot of my attention towards my work at the start-up company when I haven’t been in the gym. All in all, the balance has been a healthy one and the two have been complimenting each other very well. I’m sure that if I wasn’t working, that my time would be moving at a much slower pace! My typical day goes like this:
- wake up
- eat breakfast
- work
- eat lunch
- back to work for a few (some days I’ll go off to my physical therapist to get some treatment)
- drive to gym (takes about an hour)
- train
- come back home
- eat dinner
- back to work to finish up whatever is left
- sleep
Yes, my schedule isn’t very flashy but it sure does keep me busy. I’m definitely very excited for the meet next week though. The last I competed was in February for the Winter Cup Challenge so it’ll be fun to be able to go the competition floor again. I’ve been training hard so this’ll be a great opportunity to go put on a performance. Can’t wait! Hope the weather in Minnesota is nice though.
