Doing What I Gotta Do... Friday, December 3

The month leading up to my fight either makes it or breaks it for my bout so there's various things I religiously do to better prepare myself for fight day.

My Game Prep Rituals

1. I omit the F-words – family, friends and fun – from my mind and replace them with R-words – rest, relaxation and rigorous training.

My immediate family and in-laws don’t support my boxing, friends question why I
continually kill myself at training and prepping for bouts, and any kind of socializing is put on hold because when I’m not killing myself at training I really rather be sleeping and relaxing. I really can’t distract myself with outside stress, preparing for a bout is stressful enough – physically, emotionally and mentally – so cutting out stress where I can definitely helps me stay focused. Moreover, rest is just as important to training as is putting in the time and effort at the club.

2. I make an effort to head into the boxing club when the High School Kiddies are training.

Unlike me, they don’t train to fight, so they always come to the boxing club with contagious levels of energy. Their high level of enthusiasm towards boxing and enjoyment of exercising at the club acts as a constant reminder to me to keep my passion and love of the sport alive by remembering to enjoy it.

3. I occasionally have designated “Crash Carb Days”.

Two weeks leading up the bout the pressure gets thick, so I incorporate one or two “Crash Carb Days” into my game prep diet then. It’s a day when I purposely overload on carbs. It means totally killing my weigh-in numbers for a day or two but it’s a much needed day. I use it to shock my body so that it doesn’t become accustom and use to my restricted game diet. It’s also a means of keeping me sane and focused. It usually consists of me eating lots of brown rice, sweet potatoes, and bread and downing it all with a 2 liter carton of milk. Today I had a Crash Carb Day and put on FIVE POUNDS!!! Yup, I weighed in tonight at 50.1kgs and ended the evening by weighing in at 52.3kgs, mind ya most of that excess weight resulted from all that milk I drank. My belly felt full to the max of carbs. I felt so bloated, as if I were going to explode, but oh it felt soooooooooooooooo good.

4. I wear my turtle shell game bra the week prior to my fight instead of wearing a normal bra so that I can get use to the odd feel of plastic snugged tightly against “the sisters”.

5. I buy a new Adidas sweater to wear to game weigh-in day.

6. Occasionally I’ll sleep with my mouth guard in so that breathing with it in becomes very natural.

7. A week prior to my bout I cut out weight training from my routine and focus in on my speed.

8. Sweets become a much-needed and depended upon part of my game prepping.

Thirty minutes prior to running, I down three of those sugar-infested Korean yogurt drinks to elevate my sugar levels and for a jolt of sudden energy. I usually have a homemade double espresso coffee an hour prior to boxing, not only because of the fact that it leaves me super hyper but also because it’s a natural laxative; it helps to flush my system. Moreover, I keep a bag of chocolates stashed in the boxing club’s fridge for those occasional times when my blood sugar level dips too low.

9. I do a lot of You Tube boxing bout watching so that I can press pause and dissect their moves.

10. The night before my bout, I put on all my game gear and stand in front of the mirror.

There’s the initial spook and nerves that flood over me when I see myself all geared up and my hair all braided but I’m quick to calm those nerves by literally talking to myself and reminding myself why exactly it is I am doing this – because I love it, because I CAN.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How do you do what you gotta do?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Only those who risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go.
- T.S. Eliot