Day 26- Conquering My Mind

    Today is the last day that I get of coaching. I am excited and apprehensive of the future but, I am going into the future with so much more knowledge of moves and tools to make me mentally ready for anything. 

    Club Wave was a high level again this morning, I went out even though I wasn’t too stoked to take a beating again. Sometimes it’s hard to just breathe in there, let alone do freestyle tricks. We were also doing another impromptu (loose) rodeo to see how we get into the competition state, three rides best one counts. My first two rides were less than sub-par, if that is even possible. 

    Den pulled me aside and asked me what was going on. I voiced that I didn’t really like the feature at this level and that I was having a hard time landing tricks without getting a trundling. We worked through what was going on and Den did a really good job linking freestyle with all of the runs on the Green that I have done. He asked me, even if I am not feeling 100%, do I still run the big rapids, I do. He then told me to look at the wave like the Green, even though I am not feeling 100%, I need to go out and do my best for myself. He added later, that I don’t know how I am going to feel on a competition day and I always need to be ready for adversity. I need to ensure, no matter how I feel, that I get into the competition state and compete at my best. 

    I learned more about myself in that five minute conversation than in the last two months put together. My last ride was great and I felt very happy with it, I also felt like I had conquered my mind and overcame my thoughts.

    After lunch, Claire, Den, and Jacko all left for their flight. It was sad to see them go but I am hoping to get to see all of them in Canada in a few months for the Freestyle Worlds. 

    The remainder of the day was pretty slow, Nile Special never came in so we watched Divergent and played Settlers of Catan. We all needed a bit of a rest.