The struggle is real...

So here were are, just under 12 weeks away from the first show. And I have to be honest, this prep has started off rough. A few weeks ago I ended up with bronchitis. Nothing super detrimental but not being able to train or do cardio for a few days had me feeling like I was going backwards. I know better, but prep does some interesting things to the mind. Then I started having some back pain. It initially felt like a pulled muscle and I had trained back two days before, so nothing too alarming. The morning after the pain started I woke up and could’t move. I also could barely breathe. Long story short I had a shift in my rib cage and it came out of joint with my spine. A relatively easy fix but another few days of being of training. Last year I had a long but event free prep. The past few weeks have been nothing but comparisons between where I am now and where I was then. Of course, the stress of being behind only makes it worse. Last week we made a few tweaks to the plan. Nothing crazy at all. Nothing I really even noticed. I’m back to training and doing cardio with the same intensity as before. And I’m sleeping again. It’s working. There was a noticeable difference between last week’s check-ins and this morning’s. I’m still worried. I’ll be worried for the next 11 weeks and five days. But, that’s how I roll. I know I have a coach who know’s what he’s doing. He says he’s not worried. So I’ll continue to worry but I’ll trust and follow the plan exactly as he lays it out. Minus the minor setbacks I’m still loving the process. I look forward to the gym and doing my cardio (I swapped out the treadmill for a spin bike at home. It’s tough, but it’s actually fun). I’ve grown. So no matter what happens I still have my love of the lifestyle to look forward to.