Day 62 - Adversity

The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster.  First, I depleted myself, dropping below minimum weight and getting dangerously low in body fat.  I knew that I would have to scale if I wanted to run though and not crawl to the finish line.  Not working out was not an option.  But I had to boost my morale quickly.  So I did one thing that I love to do.  I ate.  And I ate.  For the most part, I stuck to healthy food.  However, I stopped counting calories and just had at it.  Unfortunately, I caught a stomach virus that has limited my strength but not my will to fight through.

 The real struggle has come on a separate front.  A week ago it seemed I would be going it alone - fighting "unattached" as they say in boxing circles - without a coach of my own to man my corner.  The coaches at my gym ran the numbers and found that it would cost over $500 to register the gym and its three coaches (Ray, Cornelius, and Muse).  For two days they wavered, telling me we should focus on next year.  No way, Jose.  I called the organizer for the tournament.  No coach, no problem he said.  Someone would wrap my hands and man my corner, even if I had never met him or her before.  I would be going it alone, I decided, relying only on my training and instincts.  Given the importance of a good corner, this would be far less than ideal.  But I had not come this hard to give up.

Furious, I stopped talking to the coaches, and decided to take my anger out on their mitts and the bags.  I might not be the most technical fighter at the tournament, but I was going to make someone pay for my disappointment.  Then, the other day, Mister Muse came to me at the end of the workout and told me to talk to Bill Jones, owner of the local car wash.  He will be sponsoring the gym at the tournament I was told.  This seemed too good to be true - like mana from heaven.

So now, nine days from the sound of that magic bell which draws fighting men together like a sonic magnet, all there is left to do is abstain, correct, stay loose, and, most of all, envision the victory.  Also, we have to pick out a uniform.  There is talk of a sleeveless shirt with the words BOOM BOOM on the back.  Whatever.  What matters is that we are here, we are ready, and the time is come.  Protect yourselves at all time.  At the sound of the bell, come out swinging.