Just a little bit

Okay, so now I have not one, but two longer almost completed posts in need of editing, but no time to finish them, so just a brief recap on the APA Singles Regionals a couple weeks ago: I lost.

I made it to the finals in 8-ball and semi-finals in 9-ball undefeated, and then just ran out of gas. Most people compete in either one or the other but not both. My plan, as I had written about, was to just drop 9-ball, but the week before a friend added me to his roster without asking, so I could compete if I wanted to. (At the end of the day, I think that playing 9-ball probably hurt my chances of going all the way in 8-ball, but I have no regrets. I thought I was going to be crushed in my 9-ball bracket, and in the first few matches played so well, that I really surprised myself.)

Last October, I did about the same, but felt great--It was such a tremendous improvement over previous regional tournaments. This time I was really disappointed that I had stagnated, and that I was undone by fatigue for a second year in a row.

So, the next week, I started working a little bit of exercise into my daily schedule. And then a couple things became apparent to me:

1) I am in TERRIBLE shape! Oh my god. I had no idea I had let my general conditioning slip this much. Just a quick 20 minutes was challenging. This is bad news, except that I know last year at this same time, I was in relatively good condition. SO that means, that maybe I had progressed, and if I only could get in better shape, I might see a big difference in my ability to go the distance.

2) A little goes a long way. It really doesn't take much exercise to boost up my energy level and mood. (I'm writing this to remind myself when I'm feeling lazy and having a hard time remembering whether its worth it).

And, then I remembered that although it felt like deja vu, I have gone up a skill level since last year in both games, so all my matches were longer and more competitive, so in many ways, doing about the same probably is progress, even if its just a little bit, I'll take it.