This post was meant to be posted about a week ago but I never finished it since it was negative and just random thoughts. But I decided to post it anyways.
I don't even know where to start this post at. I will just ramble on. It'll be a stream of consciousness post.
Why did I even come to Mexico? I chose between the BNP WTA pre-qualifier and three tournaments in Mexico. What was I thinking? I could have stayed close to home because the pre-qualifier for a WTA tournament was only 2 hours from my house. My family could have been there. But I chose Mexico and I was confident in it.
I have been re-thinking my decision since the first week of Mexico I got sick and had to retire out of my singles match. Luckily I recovered pretty quickly and was able to play doubles. My partner and I made it to the finals which is great, but I always want to do well in singles too. The second week of Mexico (Toluca, the title of this post) was even worse. I just didn't care about anything. I was struggling with thoughts, with my desire, with my attitude. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to play tennis that day. So I didn't. I struggled mentally and it showed on the court. I ended up winning the first set somehow and then really went south the next two sets. I honestly didn't care if I won or lost that day. I ended up losing of course. My attitude was poor because of the housing, the city, the culture, the language, the courts, the facility, the food. Everything was getting to me. I got a little sick again during the tournament but instead of things coming up like the first week, things were going out the bottom the second week.
I couldn't hold myself together. I succumbed to the obstacles and let them win. I didn't put them aside for the match and just play tennis. I put them in front of me and that's all I could see.
I was frustrated I was sick again. I was frustrated the housing wasn't what I expected. I stayed with this family last year and they were great. This time around it was like they never knew me. They barely spoke English, they were always late, they always fed us late, it took around 30 minutes to get to the club, and it was just plane awkward staying at their house.
I had a conversation with my coach that really helped put things in perspective. The main thing he said was each match is an opportunity not an obstacle. Look for ways to be successful, not excuses to fail. With everything he said including the above quote, I really learned something. I realized I shouldn't regret coming to Mexico. I shouldn't regret not playing the BNP. I should believe I made the right chose. I wouldn't have learned more mental toughness without going through these experiences. I could look at the situation and think I wasted 2 weeks. But I don't think I did. I may not have the results I want but going through what I did has made me stronger and more aware of what I can do if I ever feel or go through something like this again. And I'm sure I will feel like this again.
My roommate, travel buddy, and doubles partner is from Austria. In German there's a saying she introduced me to.
zwick die oaschbocken zamm
This means "Put your butt together"!!!
It's similar to come on, let's go and fight!
So, I will do that.
I will put my butt together and fight on!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
More from Irapuato
I wanted to post some more pictures since I figured out I can use the wifi on my phone to upload them. Hopefully not all of them will be sideways like the last one.
Irapuato is known for it's strawberries. My housing family was telling me it was the city where most of the strawberries get distributed out from. We were able to visit a "strawberry house" . They had everything you could imagine. They had strawberry jam, strawberries covered in chocolate, crystallized strawberries, and strawberries with whipped cream. I bought some jam and had to get chocolate covered strawberries...which only cost about $1.50 for a small. It was delicious!
And of course here are the puppies! Aren't they cute?
Irapuato is known for it's strawberries. My housing family was telling me it was the city where most of the strawberries get distributed out from. We were able to visit a "strawberry house" . They had everything you could imagine. They had strawberry jam, strawberries covered in chocolate, crystallized strawberries, and strawberries with whipped cream. I bought some jam and had to get chocolate covered strawberries...which only cost about $1.50 for a small. It was delicious!
And of course here are the puppies! Aren't they cute?
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| la casa de las fresas "strawberry house" |
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| There were strawberries everywhere! |
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| jam jam jam |
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| they bit everything and every one! |
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| adorable but upside down |
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| :) |
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
End of Irapuato
After a disastrous start to the tournament, things
turned around and I was able to play doubles. Nicole and I made it to the finals but were unable to stop our partners. It was a close match. One break of serve in each set. Here's a picture of the runner up's.
turned around and I was able to play doubles. Nicole and I made it to the finals but were unable to stop our partners. It was a close match. One break of serve in each set. Here's a picture of the runner up's.
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| Sorry, I don't know how to rotate the picture. I uploaded it from my phone using wifi here in Mexico and can't seem to find the rotate button. Just turn your head and you'll see the picture :) |
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Annoying + Wonderful things
Here are a few annoying things that happen while I have visited Mexico.
1. Everything is run so much slower here than in the states. They are in no rush at all.
2. The first day we practiced the tournament had no new balls for us to use.
3. The next day we practiced the tournament tells us they don't know what the official ball is. It could be pressurized or non-pressurized. Those are two different things!
4. They finally decide to use pressurized balls at over 6,000 feet. Weird. And I had one day to practice with these balls at this altitude.
5. The schedule for each day doesn't come out of until late at night. Sometimes it's posted at a hotel, sometimes it's posted at the club. You never know what you're going to get!
Here are a few wonderful things:
1. The housing family has taken great care of me especially while I was sick.
2. I found a website that I can watch all my shows on! Hulu and Netflix don't work outside the US.
3. I get to play with puppies everyday :)
4. Skype is just plain wonderful.
5. I have friends to travel with.
That's all for now ;)
1. Everything is run so much slower here than in the states. They are in no rush at all.
2. The first day we practiced the tournament had no new balls for us to use.
3. The next day we practiced the tournament tells us they don't know what the official ball is. It could be pressurized or non-pressurized. Those are two different things!
4. They finally decide to use pressurized balls at over 6,000 feet. Weird. And I had one day to practice with these balls at this altitude.
5. The schedule for each day doesn't come out of until late at night. Sometimes it's posted at a hotel, sometimes it's posted at the club. You never know what you're going to get!
Here are a few wonderful things:
1. The housing family has taken great care of me especially while I was sick.
2. I found a website that I can watch all my shows on! Hulu and Netflix don't work outside the US.
3. I get to play with puppies everyday :)
4. Skype is just plain wonderful.
5. I have friends to travel with.
That's all for now ;)
Monday, March 7, 2011
Disappointment
So far Mexico has not gone the way I planned it. I plan a lot of things. I like to plan. I was planning positively. I wanted to win the whole tournament here in Irapuato. But my life had other plans.
The night before my match I felt fine. Everything was just like normal. I ate what the other players ate. I made my phone calls and then went off to bed ready for my match in the morning. Next thing I know I'm woken up around 3am to major stomach pains. I rolled around and tried to get comfortable. I didn't think much of it so I tried to sleep through it.
I couldn't really do that because my stomach was very unhappy. As the night progressed I threw up 6 times. Each time I was finished I thought I was done for the night. It's that feeling of relief. But each time I thought that about 15-20 minutes later I wake up and have to run to the bathroom again. Finally around 6am I finish my last bathroom run and fall asleep until 8:30. I'm supposed to eat breakfast and get ready to warm up at 10. This isn't looking good.
All I could summon down in the morning was a little bit of water and gatorade. I get to the courts and do some minor stretches and then I'm on the court trying to warm up my friend. I actually don't feel to bad but by then end I could barely serve. Afterwards, I went to find a lounge chair by the pool to try and rest before my match. I couldn't get comfortable because the pain so bad and I kept getting the shivers.
I went to see the doctor/trainer they have on staff here at the tournament. She doesn't speak much English but I could communicate that my stomach was hurting and I threw up last night. She gave me some medicine and I took what was similar to EmergenC.
I laid down on the grass near my court so I could hear the score. I wanted to move as little as possible so I didn't have to get up every 30 minutes to check on how my court was progressing. There was no improvement in the pain or the wooziness that I felt while running around. I knew it was going to be difficult to play but I wanted to see if I could muster enough energy to get through it.
Not to be overly cocky, but I could have won handily if I was anywhere near feeling decent. After each point we played I had to bend over and try not to fall over. Everything was hurting. At 3-2 I stopped. I had nothing in me.
Once I had the doctor fill out my medical form, I went back home and slept. I woke up around 5 and ate some more toast, started feeling crummy and ended up getting a 100 degree fever. I slept again until about 10pm. Woke up and ate some crackers and then went to bed until 10:30am. Tired much! :)
I feel a whole lot better today but still weak. I really wish this didn't happen. I knew I could have done well in this tournament. I know it's a disappointment but sometimes you just get sick and you can't do anything about it. I'm going to try and play doubles. Hopefully my partner and I have a Wednesday start but there is a chance we play tomorrow.
Hopefully I keep feeling better and better!
The night before my match I felt fine. Everything was just like normal. I ate what the other players ate. I made my phone calls and then went off to bed ready for my match in the morning. Next thing I know I'm woken up around 3am to major stomach pains. I rolled around and tried to get comfortable. I didn't think much of it so I tried to sleep through it.
I couldn't really do that because my stomach was very unhappy. As the night progressed I threw up 6 times. Each time I was finished I thought I was done for the night. It's that feeling of relief. But each time I thought that about 15-20 minutes later I wake up and have to run to the bathroom again. Finally around 6am I finish my last bathroom run and fall asleep until 8:30. I'm supposed to eat breakfast and get ready to warm up at 10. This isn't looking good.
All I could summon down in the morning was a little bit of water and gatorade. I get to the courts and do some minor stretches and then I'm on the court trying to warm up my friend. I actually don't feel to bad but by then end I could barely serve. Afterwards, I went to find a lounge chair by the pool to try and rest before my match. I couldn't get comfortable because the pain so bad and I kept getting the shivers.
I went to see the doctor/trainer they have on staff here at the tournament. She doesn't speak much English but I could communicate that my stomach was hurting and I threw up last night. She gave me some medicine and I took what was similar to EmergenC.
I laid down on the grass near my court so I could hear the score. I wanted to move as little as possible so I didn't have to get up every 30 minutes to check on how my court was progressing. There was no improvement in the pain or the wooziness that I felt while running around. I knew it was going to be difficult to play but I wanted to see if I could muster enough energy to get through it.
Not to be overly cocky, but I could have won handily if I was anywhere near feeling decent. After each point we played I had to bend over and try not to fall over. Everything was hurting. At 3-2 I stopped. I had nothing in me.
Once I had the doctor fill out my medical form, I went back home and slept. I woke up around 5 and ate some more toast, started feeling crummy and ended up getting a 100 degree fever. I slept again until about 10pm. Woke up and ate some crackers and then went to bed until 10:30am. Tired much! :)
I feel a whole lot better today but still weak. I really wish this didn't happen. I knew I could have done well in this tournament. I know it's a disappointment but sometimes you just get sick and you can't do anything about it. I'm going to try and play doubles. Hopefully my partner and I have a Wednesday start but there is a chance we play tomorrow.
Hopefully I keep feeling better and better!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Mexico bound
And here I am in Mexico...again!
I wasn't looking forward to this trip. I know I do well here and have won 3 tournaments in this country, but I'm never excited to come here. I'm not to fond of the food. They have more cheese and more grease here than anywhere else I've been. The cities aren't amazing to look at. It's usually hot and dry wherever I go so it's another element to deal with. I don't mind a language barrier but just another element to deal with and sometimes makes things stressful.
I took a flight yesterday to get here. I took off from LAX at 7:30am and then had a layover in Dallas for 5 hours. I met some fellow players there and we took off around 6pm to Leon airport getting us in around 8pm. The entire trip my friends and I were discussing what was going to happen once we landed in Mexico. The three of us had been emailing the housing coordinator several questions, but none of us ever got a straight answer. Personally, I didn't know who my family was, how far they were from the site, how I would get a hold of them, where I was even staying the night. The answer in the emails was "Don't worry about it. It's taken care of." For me I wanted a little more information. I figured I would just stay in the hotel for the first night and then go to the club the next day and try and get a hold of the housing coordinator.
Apparently we had a nice surprise waiting for us. The holiday day inn shuttle we were taking made a sign with all of our names on it, which made it easy to spot them. There was 5 girls in all getting into this mini van. We were pretty squished with all of our luggage cramped in the back and on top of us. As we were driving one girl asked if they would be able to drop her off at her housing. (She knew the family perviously from the tournament last year.) Ends up they had all the addresses for each player and took us to each house! What a nice surprise! I guess everything was taken care of and I shouldn't worry about anything ;)
But of course flying into a different country I wanted a little more info than I had! Good thing it worked out!
The family is wonderful. They have two kids, a boy and a girl. The house is open..meaning they don't have any doors to the rooms. The layout of the house is pretty cool but hard to sleep if people are up late or up early because you can hear everything. The most amazing part of the house is the animals! :) They have two labs. One black and one yellow. And two puppies!! A black and yellow as well.
I wish I brought my camera cord so I could upload pictures of them but I forgot it! I'll have to post some when I get back home. They are still drinking from the mom's belly so you can imagine how small they are! Their eyes are open and they can walk around but still small enough to be the cutest little things!
Practiced this morning with my doubles partner Nicole. I had a hard time getting a rhythm with the altitude but I know I'll get used to it. I always do. We have another practice this afternoon.
I'll try and remember to write about the wonderful things that happen in Mexico, by wonderful I mean annoying :p
M
I wasn't looking forward to this trip. I know I do well here and have won 3 tournaments in this country, but I'm never excited to come here. I'm not to fond of the food. They have more cheese and more grease here than anywhere else I've been. The cities aren't amazing to look at. It's usually hot and dry wherever I go so it's another element to deal with. I don't mind a language barrier but just another element to deal with and sometimes makes things stressful.
I took a flight yesterday to get here. I took off from LAX at 7:30am and then had a layover in Dallas for 5 hours. I met some fellow players there and we took off around 6pm to Leon airport getting us in around 8pm. The entire trip my friends and I were discussing what was going to happen once we landed in Mexico. The three of us had been emailing the housing coordinator several questions, but none of us ever got a straight answer. Personally, I didn't know who my family was, how far they were from the site, how I would get a hold of them, where I was even staying the night. The answer in the emails was "Don't worry about it. It's taken care of." For me I wanted a little more information. I figured I would just stay in the hotel for the first night and then go to the club the next day and try and get a hold of the housing coordinator.
Apparently we had a nice surprise waiting for us. The holiday day inn shuttle we were taking made a sign with all of our names on it, which made it easy to spot them. There was 5 girls in all getting into this mini van. We were pretty squished with all of our luggage cramped in the back and on top of us. As we were driving one girl asked if they would be able to drop her off at her housing. (She knew the family perviously from the tournament last year.) Ends up they had all the addresses for each player and took us to each house! What a nice surprise! I guess everything was taken care of and I shouldn't worry about anything ;)
But of course flying into a different country I wanted a little more info than I had! Good thing it worked out!
The family is wonderful. They have two kids, a boy and a girl. The house is open..meaning they don't have any doors to the rooms. The layout of the house is pretty cool but hard to sleep if people are up late or up early because you can hear everything. The most amazing part of the house is the animals! :) They have two labs. One black and one yellow. And two puppies!! A black and yellow as well.
I wish I brought my camera cord so I could upload pictures of them but I forgot it! I'll have to post some when I get back home. They are still drinking from the mom's belly so you can imagine how small they are! Their eyes are open and they can walk around but still small enough to be the cutest little things!
Practiced this morning with my doubles partner Nicole. I had a hard time getting a rhythm with the altitude but I know I'll get used to it. I always do. We have another practice this afternoon.
I'll try and remember to write about the wonderful things that happen in Mexico, by wonderful I mean annoying :p
M
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