#PastebinMonday 05/09/2022 I'm Not Sure My Hands Can Take It Edition

'Sup, doods!

I think I went back to the textbook when I practiced on Friday for my next tournament match. I started the night with four races where my slowest V-Hard was 8:19 (7:38, 8:08, 8:07, 8:19). This, it turns out, is extremely competitive with my next opponent, Yoschi. There's just one problem:

I'm not sure my hands can take it.

I went into my match with Tayman with one hour of advance practice. I was getting mostly high 8:xx times. I was feeling pretty good about my chances. I was feeling really good after getting off to a 3-0 start in the match itself. Then my hands started to get weak. I should have paced myself after game 4, but the adrenaline was not allowing me to feel the pain. The adrenaline started to wear off after game 5 and I was in visible agony. How stubborn of me to speed forward after that. I was beyond the point of reasonable rest to get my hands right so I didn't want to delay the broadcast any further. The only reason I won game 7 was because I got a second wind and adrenaline took back over.

This is not healthy. Even as I type this from last night about four hours after the match, my left forearm still feels really weak. I've been focusing on my physical fitness to withstand these grinds better in recent weeks and it has shed a few pounds, but I need to do more to strengthen my arms in addition to my entire core so I don't have this feeling as much. I need to remember where my dumbbells went.

In any case, I think the best way for me to prepare for my toughest match yet is to not play the game as much. It's my own Kawhi Leonard-inspired brand of load management. I will pick up the controller again on Friday.

That’s my life story for the week. Later, doods!

--Cards