A huge eye opener

I am writing this blog in a state of aggravation and disappointment that I feel towards myself.

I opened up Sail For Gold with a bang and positioned myself to make an attack in the Gold Fleet. All was going great until the third day into the event. I managed to get a stomach bug that made me extremely ill. I was up all night sick and was worried that I wasn't going to make it out for the fourth day of racing. I had my mom, dad, and brother up at 3 am trying to help me. We were worried that if I went to the ER that they wouldn't release me. So, I just toughed it out and forced myself to go sailing the next day. I had terrible results, but that was expected.

Luther helped me out a lot by rigging my boat and helping me take it to and from the ramp. I was so weak and tired. So a big thanks goes out to him. He went above and beyond for me at this event.

My goal for the last two days was strictly damage control. I wanted to do as best as I could to keep points on the talented Erika Reineke. This was the first part of my trials and knowing how good of a sailor Erika is I knew I had to keep going. I finished the event in 14 (30 positions ahead of Erika) thus giving me a comfortable lead on hopefully winning these trials.

I have achieved my goal at starting trials off good, but I am upset with my position. Luther and I saw huge improvements in my sailing, but the result doesn't show it. This regatta has been a huge awakening for me because this is the second event in a row that I have gotten a stomach bug. First it was the regatta in France and now in England. It has made me take a look at the things I am doing and reconsider. I am going to make some drastic changes because what I am doing now is not working. There is no point to do all of this training to then go get sick during the events.

Since I have a very sensitive stomach, I need to become more strict with what I eat along with many other things. Maybe this is what I needed...a little bit of shock to show me that I need to change. But, it's always disappointing when you have two events in a row go bad.

Okay, onto a more positive note. Tomorrow, I leave for Germany to sail the Kieler Woche. I want this to be my turn around event. I am going to try very hard to rest for now, get all my energy back (because I still feel very weak) and get ready to sail the event. I want this one to go well and I will do all I can to make it happen.

The regatta starts Saturday, I will write with more later on in the week.