New Day, New Cleats

So, given my long week and little slump I have hit, I decided to reward myself for keeping up a high level of effort by buying a new pair of soccer cleats.  Now, I am like a little kid on Christmas morning when I get new cleats.  I went a little extreme on these cleats (picture below), but I think a little spice in my life right now might be good for me.  Please, do not ask the cost though.  Today still will be a long day.  Worked out this morning, ate lunch with some of the team, ran back into work at the Rec Center, a lab for class then I have to rush to practice.  Tonight, hopefully, I get my studying for my Marketing exam done early enough that I can just relax a bit and mentally recover.  Hope for the best.  Let me know what you do to reward yourself!

A Little Motivation

Sometimes you just need a little bit of motivation to get through a tough day of class and soccer.  This is a cool video from the team Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  I trained in Argentina for a summer when I was 15 and played against their youth programs.  Crazy to know I have stepped on that field!

Tough Week

So, I have been a little out of touch this past week.  To give a quick update... we have suffered two tough losses in the past week.  First, to UW-Whitewater last Wednesday 2-0, then to Wheaton (Ill.) on Saturday 1-0.  This puts a lot of strain on all of us.  In school, it is about that time for the first big exams and projects to be due.  From an athletic standpoint, now we are at a do-or-die point in our season.  It is far too early to worry about not making the NCAA tournament, with only 3 losses.  I am going to be bogged down this week with classes, projects, an exam, and training.  Two tough games coming up this weekend, one being a conference opponent.  We need to turn this around and get back on the right track!  This is definitely a stressful time, but it is important to stay focused and get through it.

Game Day - Home vs Whitewater

Here it is… Whitewater at home tonight!  In my mind, our biggest home game of the season.  To continue from yesterday’s theme, focus is key today.  Luckily, I planned my schedule that I only have one class on Wednesdays, which is when most of our mid-week games are but I still have to run into work for a little while.  Even so, all morning I will be hacking away at schoolwork that I will not have time to get to tonight.  I have a Human Resources exam tomorrow, and that is that last thing I want to be worrying about with such a big game right at my doorstep.  Most people might say, “Yeah, you only have one class… what’s the big deal?”  So many things go through my mind the day of a game.  I need to eat properly and at the right times, hydrate well, get as much as I can done for school before the game, then mentally prepare myself for the actual game itself.  Again, focus is key.  Being able to block out everything that is going on outside of soccer takes extreme of mental toughness.  So here I am, trying to get my studying taken care of so I can begin the mental preparation for the game.  I want to give a special shout-out to my best friend, Ses.  I love you like a brother but tonight I am going to score on you and it is going to be that much sweeter since you are the goalie.  Here goes nothing!

The Day Before Whitewater

*Note... this was written last night**  We have had a good, but not great, start to our season so far.  Being 5-1-2 and ranked 8^th in the nation is never a bad thing.  The next two weeks can make or break our season, with four extremely tough games.  We play UW-Whitewater tomorrow, our toughest rival.  This is the game I always look forward to most during the regular season.  Focus is key, but it is extremely difficult with such a packed schedule.  Wake up at 6:30am, 8:00class, work, two more classes, rush to at least get a salad and fruit snacks in before practice, a two hour training session, a good meal followed quickly by study tables and homework at the library.  Now, I don’t want to sound over dramatic but it is all extremely draining.  Even by training, my brain is fried.  Then at training, we have to go over some key aspects of what to try to exploit from Whitewater and afterwards… MORE schoolwork for a couple of hours.  If there is one thing to take from days like today, it is the importance of focus.  With what feels like a thousand things to do and non-stop commotion, it is important to lock in and focus on one thing at a time, so to not get overwhelmed.  Off to wind down now and attempt to get a good nights rest.