A three month
break in blogging for me but I’m back and what a couple of months it’s been.
It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for me the last couple of months, I’ve been
motivated and unmotivated, determined to succeed and broken to the point of
giving up but something happened last month that changed all that, I don’t know
what – just an epiphany. I haven’t
really wanted to write a blog, I was disappointed with myself for not being
able to train as much. I lost my focus after the British back in July last year, I can tell from
reading my blogs back, yes, I was always keen to get back into it but the
reality is that I haven’t been quite right since. I still get pain in my chest
if I sit in an upright position, it’s brutal.
I’ve been
incredibly busy over the last few months, with work and all the things that I
do out of work – I currently chair ClubSportEdinburgh
(Local Sports Council) and as a result sit of the Edinburgh Leisure board of
directors. Having started my Masters, something has to give. I’ve been saying
yes to a lot of things over the last year really to get out there and do
something to make a difference but that has all had a toll on my personal life
and when your 3 year old son comes up and asks to play or comes up and says
“Daddy, can I have a cuddle or are you too busy” that’s the moment where you
say of course not and you stand back and evaluate what you are actually doing.
I’ve re-evaluated my priorities and am going to drop a few things and am not
taking on nearly as much as I have been. Wrestling, made the grade and is
staying up there as something I’m continuing with…unsurprisingly.
The 23rd
February heralded the final qualification event of the Scottish Wrestling
programme and it was a must to get on the podium. There was something very
different about my mind set in the run up to this one. With about 2/3 weeks I
suddenly became almost carefree about the result and more confident in my
ability to wrestle. I kept a close eye on my weight and dropped from 123kg to
119.6kg to ensure that I didn’t have any issues at weigh in the night before. I was brimming with confidence all week and it
showed in the competition.
My wrestling
session the Wednesday before competition was good, very physical but I found
the zone and stayed in it and worked myself hard. Steve noticed and was pretty
happy with the training performance. I got home and had a massage off Ross, my
physio and he did a great job, the niggles in my back subsided and I felt in
good shape.You would be
surprised about the number of people who told me or text me “you better
qualify, I’ve already got tickets.” – Nothing like a bit of added pressure when
you’re preparing for competition.
The English
Open Championships were in Birmingham, another long journey into the depths of
England. It was the first British Wrestling event of 2014 and there was no
weight allowance, hence the cut. I was chatting to Michael about cutting on the
way down and he laughed and said “don’t talk to me about cutting 3kg!” back in
the day I think Michael had to cut significantly more and didn’t want to hear
me chirp on about being hungry for not eating carbs most the week.
I’m a much
better wrestler than I was 7 months ago, feeling strong and my technical
ability continues to increase which is something that you would expect. The
English started with 5 wrestlers. First up I got to wrestle Mark Cocker. Mark is weighing in at about 106kg and
possibly looking to drop down a weight class in the run up to the games, our
bout was fine. The focus was just to hold out as long as possible and for me my
personal goal was to not get pinned. I was taught a lesson in technical
wrestling. Mark shot for my legs got a take down and tried a leg lace. I conceded
a few points but we were brought back up and with not much time on the clock
and being down by 8 points I thought I had nothing to lose, went for the shot
was blocked and that was it. Technical fall – but not a pin.
The next
bout for me was against Chinu Chinu, again I like Chinu, he keeps himself to
himself but we get on alright. I have a great deal of respect for both Chinu and
Cocker so it’s always good having the opportunity to wrestle them. Last time I wrestled Chinu was
at the same competition last year. My first ever match as a competitive
wrestler and it was over so quickly it was ridiculous. This time was a bit of a
different story. I felt like I was matching Chinu for strength standing up, I
was feeling good and he was just a bit too technical for me again, got the take
down but I managed to defend well on the floor and there wasn’t much he could
do which was a huge improvement for me. I spoke to Chinu briefly after and said
“better than last year” his response “keep it up” which was nice of him to say.
That meant
there were two bouts left and they were both must wins for me. The first was
against a guy called Rodney from Fearless wrestling club. I’m not sure why he
wasn’t there but he withdrew from the competition in the morning which put me
down as a win. That was a lucky lucky break but also left me in the position of
wrestling against Marek from Birmingham for the bronze, assuming he didn't beat Chinu or Cocker.
This was the
one, the must win and coach Michael, took me aside and told me the game plan,
stick to our strengths and do what we do but most importantly he told me to
focus and I had a real chance to meet the qualification standards for the
commonwealth games. This was for Bronze and that podium finish. In a sense it was what the last 18 months has been all about.
I felt great
going out there, there were small butterflies but nothing major and it was out
onto the mat a quick hand shake and into the match. I was focussed and
confident, I circled well. Marek tried for a single, I blocked and went for my
single which I got and pushed him out for a point. The match continued in that
vain for the next minute, I got a couple of points here and there before going
for another single leg that saw me score 4 points and take a healthy 8 – 0 lead.
My final points came from Marek going for a throw which he did well, but I
managed to step out and get behind him to get the tech fall and win the match.
I was pretty
elated. The pressure was off, I shook hands with Marek and the referee and
there is something great about the feeling of having your hand raised in the
middle of the mat. I shook the hand of the opposing coach and then back to my corner
and gave Michael a hug.
It’s been 18
months since I got into in to wrestling - 12 months competitively and 9 without
injury. To me that is a good achievement and something I’m incredibly proud of.
I would love to take my wrestling further. Yes, I’ve met the qualification
standards for Glasgow 2014 but I will need to wait and see, that may well be
the biggest hurdle but it’s certainly not the last. Scotland had 9 men meet the
qualification standards for only 7 places available, which is awesome for the
sport. So.. it does still mean that I’m still fighting for that place in the final team, and even then it
has to be approved by Commonwealth Games Scotland. There are things that will
go in my favour in selection and those that won’t. So it really is a wait and
see situation. The team announcement is in May, so we will need to see what
happens. But I’ve got my fingers crossed.
In amongst
all that, there was a competition to organise the following week and wow, that
was stressful. The club managed to pull it off and the event was fantastic. I
also decided to compete. I really didn’t want to but if I hadn’t there would
have been no bout for the other 100+ lad. I’m not making excuses for losing
this one, he wanted it more than me at the end of the day, it was a close contest
and he won it with a last second flurry. Fair play – I was exhausted and just
happy to have that out the way but I don’t think it would have done me any
favours with commonwealth games selection but you can’t do everything!
So what now,
I start training again like I’ve not qualified except with qualification out
the way, there is no pressure on me and I can enjoy it again. I’ve been
watching a bit of heavyweight wrestling on you tube, whilst not the most
exciting it is teaching me quite a bit. Then it’s a wait and see what happens
with the selection process. It would be the cherry on the cake of what has
already been a remarkable journey and I hope that I will have some good news to
report in the not too distant future.
Thanks for
taking time out and as always, thanks to everyone who has helped me out along
the way. You don’t know how appreciative I am!.
Cheers,
Mike
