Bad Game Day Recovery Plan

I'm waiting for my team's game film to finish uploading and I got a lotta rugby thoughts on the brain, so I don't even know who's reading this but if you are bear with me 🤣.

Today we played in a sevens tournament. To put it lightly...it did not go as planned.

Things went wrong that were completely out of [and in] my control.

I looked and felt slow. My fitness feels nowhere near where I'd like it to be. I genuinely got burned a couple of times while playing defense. Out of 3 games, my team only scored 5 points 😳

I left the tournament today feeling wildly disappointed and even a little embarrassed.

I just-felt-bad.

And mad.

And defeated.

When I'm feeling more sure of myself maybe I'll divulge a little more into my brief interaction with the WER earlier this year, and while I'm grateful for it, it's also left me feeling insecure and chronically not good enough. I feel a lot more pressure to perform and a lot more stress and disappointment when things don't go the way I hoped they would. Every day that I don't meet my goals feels like I'm waving bye bye to any chance or opportunity I had [if any] to play rugby at a high level.

I cannot stress this enough...I could be fully delusional and chances of playing at a higher level could be [and probably are] 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%. That's a lot of stress and pressure over pretty much a fantasy!

But then on the ride home I got completely stuck in traffic, which actually started to turn things around for me mentally. Taking the time to quietly reflect on the day was a huge help. HENCE THE POWER OF RUGBY JOURNALING!

Bad Game Day Recovery Plan:

1. I got to play a full day of rugby, with people I love

2. I got to play a full day of rugby, and while I'm torn up from turf and sore, I'm not injured

3. This pain and soreness is a badge of honor. I put in some hard work today and genuinely tried my best.

4. I got to challenge myself today and see where I'm at

5. I get to go back to the drawing board and try again

6. My team still had glimmers of good play and laughs along the way [that rhymed so it's double true]. Something that brought love and laughter is never a loss.

7. Someday I won't be able to play anymore and I will WISH that I cherished these moments

Also...after I got home from the tournament and showered, I immediately started reviewing and editing our game film.

It did not look as horrific as it felt 🤣.

I need to remember that for the future lol.

ALSO ALSO, do not underestimate how different 7s and 15s are from each other. That transition is real, valid, and HARD! The rules, strategies, fitness prep, and skill prep all have a lot of differences. When I have more time and energy I would love to dive deeper into that topic, but for now it's a great idea to research that on your own.

And for now, I'm going to let the universe play out and see where it takes me. Maybe it makes me stay right here with my club team, and that's great. In the meantime I'm still going to post my silly little highlight reels to help remind me of my own continuing progress and maybe...just maybe...have it be seen someday.