A good change

This week, I have been training in Kingston preparing for the Canadian Youth Nationals that begin August 10th (a week from Monday). This year will be my fifth and final time competing at the Youth Nationals, as I will be aging out. For the last 5 years, this regatta has been my peak event: the event where all of my hard work over the year is supposed to come together and result in a winning performance. The last four times, I failed. It is quite interesting to see something completely different in my mental state than what I have experienced in previous years. In the past, around this time, I would be quite nervous. Fear of failure would have been the most prominent emotion that I was experiencing. In addition, there was always a need to squeeze in as much last minute training as possible because I felt like I needed to do more to have a shot at being successful. This year, things are completely different. I feel comfortable, confident and excited. This must be what being prepared feels like. I understand that this is not the time to build skills. That’s what the last eleven and a half months have been about. Now, my focus is just on maintaining the skills that I do have and tapering off my training so that when the regatta comes around, I am in the best place both physically and mentally to execute what I have been trained to execute. I can’t predict the future. I can’t tell you that I will be successful or that I won’t. What I can say is that I feel really good and that I feel prepared.

Stay tuned for updates!

Thanks for reading and until next week.

Fillah