As it was the meet I had been in a sense preparing for all year, I was quite anxious in the weeks leading up to it. I wanted to do well and drop time, but I was also worried about psyching myself out. Sometimes if you stress about a meet too much, you'll end up not doing so well.
Things started out well enough. I felt strong and fast in the water during warm-ups the first days, which put me at ease for a while. But I started to get nervous as the 100 back approached. I ended up dropping some time in the event, but not nearly as much as I wanted too - such a small amount that it was practically insignificant. Although disappointed, I tried to keep myself from being discouraged for the rest of the meet.
Overall, the meet turned out to be a mixed bag. Although I dropped time in several events, it was never very much, less than I was hoping. A high point was the 200 free relay, on the last day of competition. Our team placed in the top 16, a major improvement on our entry time and we got a ribbon (and the y-nats ribbons are pretty fancy). Although I was disappointed with my performance, I realize that I can't expect to perform phenomenally at every single meet. Going through periods of little or no improvement is just part of being an athlete, and I still have a year of training left to put in some more hard work.
 |
| The Georgia Tech Aquatic Center |
No comments:
Post a Comment