Mother nature wasn’t having it on my last Junior Competition. The week before the competition my dad/coach decided to change my normal taper because I needed to get my legs stronger. So, two weeks before my competition, my squat went up. Because of all the squatting I had done, my
dad decided to try a different taper from my usual one.
The change from my normal taper plus Mother Nature (who kindly greeted me with her wonderful monthly gift) greatly affected my performance. The Friday before the big day I almost had a mental breakdown because things weren’t going as planned. I missed lifts that I normally lift on a regular. I was literally having a nervous breakdown. I didn’t want to accept the fact that I had to lift lower weights than I normally do. I was slowly feeling my pride creep away. After a heart to heart with my mom who gave me an uplifting pep talk, I relaxed.
The following day I just had to let life happen and attack whatever was on the bar. I didn’t achieve the numbers I would have liked but I learned how important it is to fight regardless of the situation. And I’m glad that I did because I performed better than I had expected, under the circumstances.