The Last Competition

The last competition of this season starts on Thursday so I don't have a lot to report today.  We travelled last night to Vancouver since the meet is happening at the Richmond Olympic Oval.  We have practice ice and weights sessions between now and the start of racing to get used to the ice and the altitude and the time change and then four days of racing and then it's all over.  This is the last competition of what feels like the longest season ever and I'm so excited to be done but first and foremost I'm excited to race; racing is the fun part of skating and I haven't done it in a while since I was sick during the most recent competition.  Right now I'm just trying to keep positive and motivated so that I can have the best competition possible and know that I have done everything I can to succeed.

(source)

sidenote: obviously I will not be posting anything next weekend as I will be racing

Get Pumped!

There's only two training days left until we start racing National Qualifier so this post is just about getting all pumped up to race.

Starting off with my favourite motivational video of the moment.  I'd seen it before but my dad e-mailed it to me last week and I watched it right before bed and was so amped up to train after watching it I had to calm myself down before I could sleep.

"Luck is the last dying wish of those who believe that winning can happen by accident" 

Next up is my race day playlist which is really just a list of songs that make me happy and want to dance that will hopefully put me in a good mood so I won't be anxious or stressed out.

Or alternatively Roar by Katy Perry on repeat

Short and sweet post for today, skating went really good today so feeling more ready to race than nervous but I still think I'll go listen to happy music until I feel completely calm.  See you on the other side.

"Be Miserable ... Or Motivate Yourself"

I saw this picture on tumblr and for some reason I thought it was so important that I saved it to my phone. 

I think that sometimes it can be so easy to wallow in our own misery, to sit at home, to feel sorry for ourselves, to listen to every sad song we know on repeat.  When you feel down the last thing you want to do is listen to a whole bunch of upbeat, happy music because it's the opposite of how you feel, because the upbeat nature of the music almost feels like it's mocking your sadness.

It's obviously not easy to perform in sport if you're feeling sick and that's also true if you're not feeling mentally good. I feel like mental health is often overlooked when it comes to overall health.  People perform better when they're in a good mood (whether it be in sport, scholastically or at work) and I didn't realize until last season that by listening to one of my endless playlists of sad songs I could be affecting my performance. 

So if in order to skate well I have to listen to Best Song Ever by One Direction before every race to put me in a good mood that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.