Going Out on a Limbo

It's been a strange week.

With the weigh in over and done and the anticipation and uncertainty of knowing my opponent behind me, I have been left with this surreal feeling of being in limbo. The sparring has stopped, the workouts have become lighter, general exercise less frequent - even my diet has changed again, in order to prepare for the fight. And without the intensity it almost feels like everything is over and done, in a strange kind of anti-climax...

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. There are just five days left until I step into that ring. And just because I need to take my foot off the gas physically, to ensure I am rested, I haven't stopped thinking about Saturday night and all the ways it could play out. I have been reading how other boxers - professional and amateur - prepare for fight night: exercises for the final week that keep you tuned up without overdoing it; precisely timetabled diet regimes for the day itself; ways of psyching yourself up before the bout; and so much more. I have been weighing up different strategies used by previous White Collar boxers, in order to maximise my efficiency in the ring. I have also started monitoring my sleep patterns, and realised that a combination of two kids, plus family visiting, plus late nights at work, plus overthinking about the boxing (!) has not been doing me any favours... so perhaps taking a hotel room the night before the fight may bring me some calm and rest?

Or maybe I should just stop thinking about it all so much? Easier said than done, especially with everyone I meet wanting to ask me about it...! I could write a book with all of the advice I have been given just in the last five days alone, although what gets me more are the people who adopt a fighting stance in front of me and ask me to "show them what I've got"! I am now at the stage where I am willing Saturday 23rd to come quickly... not because I am eager to get it over with, I am just frustrated by the repetition of the wait, and the banality of not giving it 100% all of the time.

Like I said, it's been a strange week. And it's only going to get stranger!