Lessons Learned

As I said, three days later I would update! Kinda nice having a day to be able to take to myself and be able to reflect on the happenings of the last few days.

It's been a whirl-wind since our Team's Exhibition here in Riverside. To those of you who showed up, THANK YOU! We couldn't directly ask anyone to take off their own personal time to come watch Synchro, but we're thankful for those that did! With this being our second day off, I've come to enjoy the three days on, one day off. It almost gives me a way to really push hard for three straight days, and have a bit of time to recover and refuel.

Now if only I could refuel correctly...food options can be really hard to deal with as a hungry athlete craving nothing but carbs and sweets. Good thing I'm from Texas and I love my protein right?!

Anyways! Like with everything, there are lessons to be learned around every corner of life. So in lieu of our Exhbition (and the whole 3 days of training at a time...) here's 3 things I have learned!

1.

Teams have individuals who have different strengths and weaknesses. Each person within a team brings something to the table that no one else can. That's America. When we work together, we can move mountains. Work by yourself, and things won't work.

2.

That doesn't mean you have to go where you don't want to. It means you have to push yourself further than you think you can. I struggle with this daily. I don't like things to be difficult, to be hard. I don't enjoy breathing heavy, or my muscles burning, or turning down that dessert. I fail at being uncomfortable sometimes. I fail at pushing past what I want to do for what I should do. No one is perfect, but I have to try and get as close as possible. Being a good athlete means striving for perfection. Being a good person means striving for perfection. Perfection isn't the same for everyone, and it doesn't have to be impossible.

3.

Apologies for the small swear word, however, this is totally true. Synchronized Swimming isn't exactly recognized as an art form all the time, but is very similar to dance and life alike. As a soloist, I connect to the music so that those around me can connect to it as well. Sometimes it's not what everyone likes, sometimes you can't even connect to it yourself. What I have to do, is just dance. I can choose how I react to changes in tempo and music, and I can choose how I react to coaches corrections and scores from judges. You can't control what life throws at you, but you can control if an when you dodge. 

Stay tuned! We're in Riverside for 3 more training days, then we head to Toronto for the Pan American Games!!! I'll do my best to take pictures so you can feel like you're there as well. Wish us luck!

--Mary