Just participated in tournament #2 yesterday. My first tournament I had to sit out on half the events because of my broken elbow so it was my first time competing (i use the term loosely) in all 4 events...patterns, sparring, power breaking, technique breaking.
I was put in the bracket with all the teenage/adult guys so that is why I use the term competing loosely. It wouldn't have been fair to put me in the girls bracket becuase I think I would have swept it because of my size. I am the only adult female at the school right now who is doing tae kwon do. Makes things a little tricky every now and again.
Patterns was our first event and it went really well for me. I was nervous about going up against one person but other than that, I just went out there with my game face on and did what I knew I could do. I ended up sweeping the bracket, never losing a round and having all 3 judges vote for me each time I was up. That felt really good. I'd really like to see where I end up in a tournament that is bigger because I think it would be interesting and a ton of fun.
Next up was sparring. I wasn't mentally prepared for sparring and when I showed up to the tournament to warm up, I was told we were going to spar each other. I was not in the mindset to spar. At all. It was really sad and I'm a little upset at myself for not placing at least 3rd in this category. I really should have and I think I have the ability to but I let my mind win and take over. Not cool. Not cool at all.
I went up for three rounds. Remember I'm the only girl in this group. I won my first round which I was really happy about. My second round I went up against a guy who I know is a really awesome fighter. I really tried my best but he beat me. On my third round I went up against a guy that I should have kicked the crap out of but at that point my mind had totally taken over and taken a vacation. It was such a terrible round that I embarassed even thinking about it. I know I could have gone in there and really opened up on him but I didn't. If I had gone in on him, I would have been a contender for 3rd place.
I learned a lot about sparring. I know I made mistakes, some major, that I am going to learn from and not make again.
The last two events were breaking events where male genetics will outdo female genetics every time.
Power breaking. This is another of my favorite events. We had to do a side kick and a downward fist. I knew I had the side kick in the bag as far as being able to break a lot of boards. I feel like the kick I did was one of the best I've done in a long time. I feel like I put all of my power and speed into it. It felt fantastic!!! I broke all 3 boards.
I was nervous about the downward fist because I had only got to practice the break once during class and it was my first time attempting to do this break with my right hand. In the last tournament I participated in, I did a downward knife hand with my left hand because of my broken elbow. I'm actually very happy with how I did considering the lack of practice I had with it. The station was set up with 3 boards and I was able to get full points on two of them.
At the end of this round I was told I missed placing by two points!!!!!!!!!!!! That would have been so awesome to place in power breaking in the guys category!
The last event was my absolute worst but I did enjoy it and I tried my best. It was technique breaking. We had to do a flying side kick and a jumping front kick. The flying side kick is a mental game for me and the more I do it, the more I conquer myself. I was able to perform the kick on the first round really well. I felt like I hit the board very square on. Round two we had to jump a little farther and I didn't make it. What kills me about this is that I know I can do it with more practice and I enjoy it so much I want to do it again.
The jumping front kick I really thought I would be able to do but this is another one that I have done less than I would like....I got to try it twice before the tournament. I think with practice I could have a shot at this too. I just need to do it more.
All in all it turned out to be a good day and I learned so much about all of the events that I will carry forward.
Now it's time to heal up my shins. They're pretty bruised up from sparring and my left ankle is giving me problems again. Other than that, I'm feeling good and ready to go again.
The more competitions I do between now and Brazil, the more I will learn and grow, and the more prepared I will be to kick some ass.
Had my first bad nurse day yesterday. I had been taking care of a 400 gram (14 ouces) baby all week. Yesterday the baby decided to have a huge episode where it drops its heartrate and stops breathing. This is extremely common in premature babies becuase the CNS is still growing along with everything else so they "forget" to breathe and hence the heartrate drops. What's not usual is to have to bag the baby. Usually just some gentle stimulation will remind them that they are not in mom anymore and have to breathe on their own.
So my kiddo has this huge spell where it needed bagging. I went in when the isolette and started stimulating him as soon as the monitors started going off. I kept looking for the heart rate to come up and it didn't. It was down way too long.
Then I froze.
I don't know how long I froze but I panicked. I finally remember someone asking me if I want RT there and I said yes and I want the practitoner as well. Then my pod partner came over and jumped in and totally saved me and started bagging the baby for me.
I feel like I'm a terrible nurse because I froze and could have killed this baby due to my lack of action. It really makes me second guess what I do.
Please don't mistake this for me giving up. I LOVE what I do. It was just a HUGE blow to my confidence that I need to recover from. I also learned a lot of what not to do for next time.
Then it doesn't help that every time the charge comes around (this was not a permanent charge btw) she hounded me on how I need to ask for help.
Well yeah, I kinda figured that out and am already beating myself up over this, I don't need your help.
I'm very nervous about going back to work now. I know I can do it though. It was just a setback.
Today I got my braces on. I was supposed to get the upper and lowers on but it was determined that there is not enough room for the braces to clear my overbite so they put the uppers on and are going to get them moving and then I will get my lowers on.
I got them on this morning and was thinking that it wasn't so bad. Now it's 4:30 in the afternoon and I'm singing a totally different tune.
Ouch is all I can say! I tried to eat some Triscuits with sour cream (don't knock it til you try it, yum!) and it hurt so much when biting and trying to chew the Triscuits that I ate two and gave up and got a can of soup out because it was soft. So far the can of soup is still sitting there. I drank the juices off of it but am a little leery of trying to chew the veggies in there.
I took some ibuprophen before my appointment at the suggestion of my coworkers. I just took another dose now. I sure hope it helps.
If I don't touch my top and bottom teeth together I'm OK but if I accidently bump them, it's game over.
I'm going to see how I feel but I am planning on going to tae kwon do tonight. I don't know if I will spar or not. I got a mouthguard but I don't like the way it fits. It doesn't do much at all in the area of shock absorption which is the big issue with being hit and not getting a concussion. So now I am going to search the internet to see if I can find a good mouthguard for braces that I like.
Wish me luck.
