Revelations

The A-Team is back, and what a difference a month makes..


After talking myself out of competition, I was gently nudged back into it. I don't do well with peer pressure and after Max texted Ilya and I that he was confirmed for Nationals we had a day of conversation weighing the pros and cons and decided to sign up as well. Ilya and I dug our heels in a little bit with each other: I didn't want to be the reason Ilya competed, and he didn't want to be the reason I didn't.


I'm competitive by nature and was worried that I would be in full 'win' mode. But Ilya said something that made me come to a realization: "How often at Green Swamp were you in the air worried about someone being ahead of you?", and the answer was "Never". I didn't give a crap about who was ahead. I was just focused on making goal, or even the first waypoint, or even just staying in the air. I was mainly looking for Ilya and Max when I was flying, but I do that up in New England anyways. Ilya said I also made a comment that changed his mind: "I'd rather regret that we did it than regret that we didn't." This chance doesn't come around too often, and we're going to be right there at demo days. Neither of us could envision leaving for Tennessee or staying at Wallaby knowing that the competition was happening so close to where we were.


I know my limits, I took a DNF one of the days at Green Swamp because I wasn't comfortable flying in the windy conditions and even though it bumped me to 19th, I managed to claw back up to 13th overall with an 11th place finish on the last task.


Comps are all about balance. Some days suck, some don't, but it all seems to even out in the end anyways. We're both relieved that we signed up so that's a good indicator that we made the right decision. I don't care if I come in 30th of 30, at least I can say I competed in the Nationals just once.

Back Where I Belong

Day 102.. No flying, supplies running low, no water, resorting to hunting squirrels..


All jokes aside - it's been way too long since I've been off the ground. There was a glimmer of hope for Wellfleet last weekend until Ilya and I took a good look at the rain percentage. It's hard keeping busy during winter in Maine, even harder busying yourself with something that won't cause a season-ender and ruin the 2019 season before it even starts. Especially with WW Demo Days and a 3 day Mikey Barber clinic with my two favorite Russians coming up in 2 months and 24 days.. (but whos counting)


So how do you fill your free time in the arctic tundra and stay prepped for flying season? Work out, of course. My own personal agenda with it is mostly injury recovery and prevention. It's helped immensely with my shoulder. 2 years post surgery I've finally passed my pre-surgery max weight with all of my overhead press-type lifts. I reverted back to the lifting routines I did when I was competing and only focus on a couple muscle groups per day rather than the garbage full-body routine I was doing for the last 8 years. I also changed the food I eat and the portion sizes. It's working..


 

Another huge help: Quitting sugar and booze. Unless you actually look for it, you don't realize that sugar is in almost everything. There's natural sugars in fruit and such, that's not the type I'm talking about. That delicious, disgusting, processed shit that people love pouring into their morning coffee- that's the type. Studies have shown it triggers the same parts of the brain as cocaine and claim it to be just as addictive. Now I've never snorted coke, but I can attest that sugar is fucking addictive. Ilya jumped on board with scrapping sugar and booze as well, so we went through withdrawals and were cranky together. That's not a joke. We went through legitimate withdrawals, the stuff is poison. I'm not telling you to give up your vices, I don't care. I'm just saying it was a noticeable difference in how we felt, healed, looked, weighed, hell even our moods became so much more balanced out. (I'm still tweaked but I'm charming as fuck, ask anyone).

So back to beating the winter blues.. weightlifting, ah yes. Almost 15 years and I friggin still love working out to the point where I look forward to it all day. Don't ask me why or how, I have no idea. And doing it with joints that stay in place now is pretty awesome. I coddled my shoulder for almost two years up until a few months back. I was doing military presses and it was hurting my shoulder every rep. I wasn't even close to my max weight, got frustrated, and did a set of  push-presses. I heard a *pop*. My assumption is scar tissue broke loose because it was a floodgate for more range and strength without as much pain. It's still stiff and I don't have full range but it's a noticeable difference. Since then I have passed my PB on multiple lifts even from when I first started, so that's been pretty awesome.

This is probably the healthiest and strongest I've ever been, and it finally happened at the ripe old age of 31. The biggest obstacle is finally admitting to myself that something hurts and not just working through it, the revelation to which Ilya gets all the credit. Don't do that 'New Year, New Me' crap. Try to be awesome year round- do something healthy or challenging. It may require a legit lifestyle alteration, but it's totally worth it. Carpe the diem, bitches!