Are your kids heading back to school?  Check out these fun printable signs with the cute Sasquatch drawn by Brett C. Nance from the game Camping with Sasquatch.  

​Add #lethalchickengames and #firstdayofschool to show us your adorable kids in their (or your) favorite first day outfit!

Download the pdf and there's a page for every grade from Kindergarten through 12th.  Maybe your high school kids will think they're too old for that, but if you're anything like me...I'm not asking, I'm telling.

​Happy Boohoo, Yahoo day!

Spoiler alert: If you read this Blog from the top, you'll spoil the ending.  Quickly click on January 2016 over there on the right and start reading it from the beginning.  And if you haven't read the book yet, then none of this will make sense anyway.  

This blog picks up where the book leaves off...and finishes the story.

So check out the book at Amazon.


​
Kindle link to Big Fat Diver: ​https://www.amazon.com/Big-Fat-Diver-Unbelievable-Louganis-ebook/dp/B01BQ4OMV6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539656852&sr=8-1&keywords=big+fat+diver









I'm adding spaces so it's not a spoiler.  Click on January 2016 to start from the beginning of the Blog.








Don't scroll too much farther or you'll be at the end of the story...



















Last chance...





























Thanks for reading!

Today was the final day of State.  For men, we were on the 1-meter board today.  Not generally my best and usually more competitive than 3-meter.

I started the day off extremely nervous and still quite shaken from such a terrible showing yesterday.  I got some really nice comments from friends on Facebook, specifically Drew Johansen who is the Diving Coach for the US Olympic Team.  "No such thing as choking...You just need to use that great energy to your advantage!!" Drew posted.  This was in response to my report on the day saying that I'd choked and took 11th.

I drove to East LA College, pulled into the parking lot and made my way to the pool.

So that's how I felt going in.  Not the best way to start.  My competition scores have been better on 3-meter than on 1-meter.  I didn't make "All American" yesterday on 3-meter, so my chances of making it today felt pretty slim.  Competition is much more fierce on 1-meter and my list isn't nearly as difficult as the 3-meter.

I warmed up and did decently.  Not awesome, but okay.  

"What's going on?" Jose asked.

"Nothing," I replied.

"It's not nothing.  I can see it in your face," Jose said.  He was right.  He knows me well enough to know when I'm nervous, or upset.

"I'm just nervous.  I already feel defeated for some reason," I replied.

"Look, you're here at State.  You deserve to be here just as much as everyone else.  Just do what you do.  Be consistent.  You don't have to be awesome.  Just be consistent and you'll do fine," Jose said reassuringly.  "I want you to smile at me before every dive," he said.

I smiled at Jose.  I climbed the two short steps to the board and tried to relax.  I threw my reverse dive, half twist.  I was okay, but I was still jumping it out and not as straight up as I needed to.  A few more practice dives and I finished until the competition started.

The best thing to come out of this was by the end of warm up, I had my confidence back.  And smiling at Jose before every dive had relaxed me and put me in a better mood.

My wife and kids arrived at the meet and just seeing them made me smile and helped me relax.  It was time to impress!

The competition began.  The girls were up first and then the guys went right after that before starting the next round, so it felt like one big competition.  I was the first guy to go.  I have mixed feelings about that.  It's nice to be done early, but I also think that the first dive is scored a little lower than if you go later.  

I nervously approached the board for my back 1-1/2.  I moved the fulcrum to the 5-1/2 spot.  Corey called out, "William Mackey, 203C, back one and one half tuck."

I walked to the end of the board and turned around.  My heels hung off the edge of the board.  I put my arms out and balanced myself.  I took a breath in, then let it all out.  I thought to myself the words of Greg Louganis and Jose Bahena, Be in the moment and jump it up.  I bounced once, arms went up as my weight pressed the board down.  I jumped up, had a really nice hurdle, rotated one and a half times and entered the water.  I was just a bit short and my legs came apart as I entered the water.  It wasn't a great dive, but I didn't crash and burn either.  So I was happy enough.  My scores ranged from 3-1/2 to 4-1/2.

Yeah, the dive wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible.  My scores were 4.0, 4.0 and 4.5.  Not sure I'd done enough to make All American, but now it was just time to wait it out and see how everyone else did.

The meet ended.  I'd done all I could do.  The nice thing about going first, is I'd had time to run back to our tent area and throw on a pair of shorts and a shirt.  Hopefully I'd make top eight and I wouldn't be the fat guy in a Speedo.

"We have the results of the State Championship Men's 1-meter diving competition," Corey called out.  He began at last place and worked his way though the list.  I was in 11th place yesterday and so around 12th place, I started hoping I wouldn't hear my name just yet.

"In 12th place from Las Positas College, Jessie Leonard.  In 11th Place, from Grossmont College, Erich Schmitt.  In 10th place from Grossmont College, Raymond Altmeyer," Corey continued.

I'd made it into the top 10 at the very least!  And I'd beaten both of the Grossmont kids!  That was kind of a big deal to me!  Grossmont has a good team and both of those kids beat me yesterday.

I hoped and prayed the next name would NOT be mine.  It was the last spot that was NOT All American.  Corey continued, "In ninth place from De Anza College, DJ Yvanovich."

I jumped up and down with a big smile on my face!  I had made it into the top eight!!  The only way this could get any better would be if I could finally place ahead of Aaron Garcia from Riverside College on the 1-meter.  He had consistently beat me on the 1-meter board.  So to beat him just once, would be such an awesome way to finish!  (I had beat him every time on 3-meter until yesterday, when he beat me.)

​"And now your All American divers," Corey called out.  "In eighth place from Riverside College, Aaron Garcia."

I did it!  Check and check!

"In seventh place, from El Camino College, William Alex Mackey," Corey announced.

Seventh place!  I couldn't be happier!  I'd made All American!  The guys from Northern California were tough.  There were only two guys from Southern California that placed ahead of me (Jacob Swanson and Jakob Wood).  I came in 5th place at the Southern California regionals, so to end up in 7th place was a pretty big and sort of unexpected accomplishment!

After photos with the family, with Coach Jose and the top eight, I packed up my things one last time and exited the aquatics facility.

I had started this journey with the goal to make it to State.  I made it to State and then even managed to become All American at State.  It was a dream come true, made possible not just through hard work, but with the help of a very dedicated coach at El Camino, Jose Bahena.  And then to have the help and support of both Greg Louganis and Drew Johansen made this journey that much more amazing.

And finally, without the support of Janice, my loving wife, this would not have been possible.  She did so much to keep everything together the past four months, I've very grateful for her!

Pursue your passion.  Live your dreams and remember, it's never too late.

Today was the first day of state.  Up until yesterday I wasn't nervous.  I just figured, whatever happens, happens.  And then I went to my final practice yesterday and I started choking.  I was nervous.  And it was getting the best of me.  By the end of practice I had pretty much pulled myself together and I was ready for the big day.

I got up this morning, went through my morning routine and made my way towards East LA College.  I left a few minutes later that I would've liked and I started getting worried about arriving on time because Hillary Clinton was also going to be there a few hours later.  But that entailed road closures, extra visitors, crazy parking, etc.

I made pretty good timing, pulled into the parking structure and found a parking spot on the first level.  It was already starting out to be an awesome day!

I made my way to the pool after a bit of a long walk from the opposite end of campus.  It was fun to see their campus.  I walked into the pool area and saw some friendly faces on the way in.  I said hi to Shane, the coach from Cerritos, and Alexandra, the diver from ELAC.  I made my way to the back corner of the pool where our tent was.  I spoke with Coach Corey and all three swimmers had already done their race for the day.  KJ and Zach both had personal bests, which was awesome.  But no one had made it into the finals that night.

I started stretching and warming up.  I anxiously waited for the swim events to finish and the boards to be lowered into position so we could begin warming up.  After an hour of waiting, warming up and stretching, the boards were finally open.

I was the first one on the 3-meter.  I climbed the ladder and adjusted the fulcrum to my usual 7.5 spot.  I walked to the end of the board and just jumped up and down a few times.  It was really stiff.  I walked back towards the ladder and positioned myself with my heels on the sixth dot from the back of the board.  I took a deep breath in, let it all out and then began my approach to the end of the board.  I did my hurdle, jumping up and then went feet first into the water.  The board was really stiff.  

I got out of the water.  The edge of the pool is really high so I used my elbow to lift myself out.  A sharp pain went through my arm.  I'd done something to it.  Not sure what, but shortly thereafter a large bump and bruise spot formed on my forearm just below my elbow.  Not the best way to start.

I spoke with Coach Jose about the hurdle.

"The board is really stiff," I said.

"Try adjusting the fulcrum a little to where it feels about the same," Jose replied.

I waited in what was still a short line for my turn again.  I climbed the ladder once again and adjusted the fulcrum to an eight.  That seemed a little better.  I did another jump, followed by a back jump and then I was ready to begin.

I won't bore you with the details of the warm up, but it went okay.  Not awesome, but I nailed each dive at least once.

The meet began.  Women first for the first round, then men for the first round.  Then back to the women.  I was the LAST diver.

After waiting for 33 other divers to go, it was finally my turn.  I climbed the ladder as my name was announced over the PA system.

"William Mackey, 203B, back one and one half in the pike position," Corey Stanbury called out over the intercom.

I set the fulcrum to six.  A half stop above my normal setting.  I walked to the end of the board, turned around and hung my heels over the edge.  As I took a sharp breath in, I raised my arms, jumped up, pulled my legs into a tight pike and spun around one, one and a half, one and three quarters, opened up and I think my hands BARELY hit the water before the rest of my body smacked the surface of the water.

WHAT?!?!  SERIOUSLY?!?!  I was supposed to be able to nail this dive.  I came up to much cheering and applauding which only happens for opposite ends of the scoring spectrum.  This time it was the wrong end of the spectrum.  Would I fail my first dive?  It was definitely possible.  But the score cards went up.  I got scores ranging from 0 to a 2.  Pathetic.

"Shake it off.  We'll make it up," Jose said encouragingly.  I'd gotten 185 on 3m with a failed dive before, so I could certainly do it again.  I wouldn't be top three, but maybe still top 5 or 8.

Next up was my reverse 1-1/2.  I set the fulcrum.  I was really nervous for this dive.  It's my most "hit and miss" dive.  I kept thinking the two things Greg and Jose have repeatedly told me, "Be present, jump it up."  I took my four steps to the end of the board, jumped it up and used my abs to pull my legs towards me.  I squeezed into a pike and rotated backwards one and a half times.  As I stretched my arms towards the water, I hit and entered the water.  I didn't fully extend my arms, but I felt like I went in relatively straight.  I just hoped the judges didn't notice that my arms weren't really extended.

I scored...

It was about as good as I could expect from that dive.  It should be smooth sailing from here!  Too bad I'd botched the first one.  Ugh.

I waited as 33 more divers took their turns.   My third dive was my inward 1-1/2.  I stood backwards on the board, jumped up and tried my best to stay over the board.  I held my pike tightly and fought for a good, solid entry.  I had my good solid entry, but the top didn't jump up that much and I apparently jumped it back quite a bit.  My scores were fair, but not great.

My dives got easier as my list progressed.  Next up was the reverse dive with a half twist.  This is my money dive.  I can nail it relatively well.  I jumped up and I don't know what the heck happened, but it didn't go so well.  I was way short going in and it just looked like garbage.  I think this is the first time I've gotten a 3 on this dive.  Pathetic.  

My fate was pretty much sealed at this point.  I most likely wouldn't get top ten.

I did my last dive and I honestly don't even recall how it went.  My hurdle was a mess which threw me off.  I completed the dive and think I walked away with fours or so out of that dive.  I think the judges were being gracious and glad that the meet had ended with that being the final dive of the meet.

Corey began to announce the scores.  It pains me to even write this entry which is probably why the writing is getting worse and less specific.  I tanked.  I took 11th.  I beat those that had made it from our conference, but that was it.  I lost to most everyone else.  It was a lousy finish for my first day of state.

I felt like a mess on the hour drive home.  I growled, I cried, I pushed the pedal to the metal and then went home and ate cake.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Sorry this is coming in a little late, but here's the recap of the 1-meter board regional meet.

Today was the second day of regionals.  For men, it was the 1-meter competition.  I arrived at the meet rested and relaxed and ready to compete.  I wasn't nervous.  I was super relaxed and honestly, just ready to enjoy the day.  I'd accomplished my goal, and that was to make it to state.  Granted, it would be great to make it to state on both boards.  And I wouldn't realize until later, that there were a number of things still on the line...

First of all, I was undefeated in conference.  While I was competing against all the other divers in southern California, I was still competing against the other divers in conference.  A loss to any of them and I'd lose my "undefeated" title.

Also, there were Conference Championship medals on the line too.  I'd taken first place all year, and it'd be a shame to not medal on both boards just by losing this one meet on the 1-meter.  These results also affect "Athlete of the Year" and even "Coach of the Year".

In retrospect, it was good I didn't realize there were still so many things at stake.  And with that, the meet began.

At yesterday's meet, I was the second diver.  It was nice going second.  Today I was the 13th diver to go.  I waited my turn.  I watched out of the corner of my eye Aaron Garcia take his turn on the board.  He was 11th.  I talked with Jose as Aaron took his turn.  He did great.  I'd beat him yesterday, but I do think he's a better diver than I am.  I listened to Jose give me the last reminders before approaching the board for my first dive.

"Keep your head up.  Ride the board and take it up," Jose said.

Esteban Martinez was next.  As he entered the water, I walked up to the board.  

"Alex Mackey, 203C.  Back one and one-half tuck," Corey called out into the microphone.

I walked to the end of the board.  I wasn't nervous until I got to the edge of the board.  This dive was still a little sketchy.  I took a deep breath in and exhaled as my arms went up, circled around and I jumped the dive up into the air.  I hurled my legs towards my face into a tuck and spun as quickly as I could,  Still unable to spot where to come out, I 'felt' about where it should be, kicked out as strong as I could and entered the water.  The dive was okay, not great, not terrible.  I got a 4 on the low end and a  5.5 on the high side.  I was good with that.  It would've been nice to get 6's, but that would've been lucky.

My next dive is my sketchiest.  I failed this one on 3-meter the week prior.  And I'd had problems getting it consistent over the past week.  But by the end of the week, I was able to hit it about 70% of the time.  It wasn't always pretty, but I could at least put it in.

"Alex Mackey, 303C," Corey called out.  "Reverse one and one-half tuck.  Degree of difficulty, 2.1," he continued.

I set the fulcrum between the seven and the eight.  I positioned my feet about 12 inches from the back of the board.  I took my four steps to arrive at just the right spot on the board.  I threw the dive up and before I even left the board, I hucked myself back as hard as I could.  I grabbed my legs, spun around and entered the water like a scorpion.  It was a crappy dive.  I threw it back, I didn't take it up and my entry was horrible.  My scores ranged between 3 and 4.  Lame.

But the good news...I had made it though my most difficult dives and didn't fail them.  I'd at least gotten SOME points for each of them.  Now it was time to have some fun.

I watched some of the other divers nail dive after dive after dive.  I knew I would not have the same results as yesterday.  Top three was very unlikely.  

My next dive was the inward 1-1/2.  Jose reminded me to stay over the board.  Keep my head neutral.  I'm not sure I really did either of those things.  The dive was short, my hands didn't go in above my head and in reality, it wasn't a great dive.  It wasn't terrible, but I got scores that ranged from 4.0 to 5.0.

The meet was half over.  I wasn't doing so great, but I had also put my hardest dives first.  So things were bound to look up for the back half of the meet.

"Alex Mackey, 103B, forward one and one-half pike," Corey announced.

Earlier in the week, Jose and I decided that we should make a change to my front dive.  I was doing a double somersault and my entry was hit or miss.  Plus entering on your feet sucks.  Aside from all the water going up my nose, it's just not "diving".  It feels more like water gymnastics.  I'd tried to get a 2-1/2 and I was able to land it on my head, but not open up.  I just can't get it around fast enough.  So we dialed it back to a 1-1/2.  The degree of difficulty drops substantially, but I figured my scores should go up substantially to justify the lower DD.

I threw the 1-1/2, rode the board nicely, took it way up, spun in a nice, tight pike, opened up just at the right moment and dove straight in.  I'm still the fattest diver of all the guys in the competition, so I don't really "rip" my dives.  Even the good ones have a splash.  But this one was pretty good.  It was one of the cleanest dives I've done, but still with the fat guy splash.

The crowd cheered as I broke through the surface.  It was a great feeling.  My scores were 6.5, 7.0 and even a 7.5.

I saved my best two dives for the end.  The reverse dive half twist off the 1-meter doesn't have a huge degree of difficulty, but I can nail it pretty consistently.  I scored almost all 7's on that with a couple 6.5s.

One last dive to go.  While I wasn't nervous throughout the meet, I was still relieved to almost be done.  I watched as the other divers finished their dives and then even start to change into regular clothes.  I watched and waited until it was at last my turn to dive one more time.

Four years of diving had led up to this moment.  Don't blow it, and I should make it to state on both boards.

One last time, I set the fulcrum between the seven and the eight.  I exhaled just as Greg Louganis had taught me.  As I took my first step I began to breath in.  One, two, three, four steps and into the hurdle.  I'd filled my lungs with air and as I made my first jump, I exhaled to have max power.  I took a quick breath in as I floated above the board.  I pressed the board down with both feet and once again exhaled sharply and I made my final jump,  I went up in the air and threw myself backwards.  Once horizontal to the board, I flipped over using my hips and shoulders.  As I faced the board and the water, I threw my arms towards my legs to begin rotating 1-1/2 times towards the board.  I spun around in a tight tuck, kicked out just at the right moment, put my arms above my head and entered the water head first.  

I'd done it!  I swam back to the surface and could hear clapping and cheering.  The dive was good.  I got one 5.5 and all the rest 6.0.  It wasn't the best 5331D I'd ever done, but it was good.  And I was done!

The results came quickly and the names were once again read starting with 15th place.  If I placed top 10 I could compete both boards at state because I had already qualified in top 8 yesterday.

I anxiously waited for 11th place to be called in hopes that it wouldn't be me.

"In 11th placee, Timothy Fisher, Grossmont College," Corey called out.  

I did it!  I'd made it to state on both boards.  Now the question was, what place did I get on 1-meter.  I knew it wasn't as good as yesterday.  

9th place, Erich Schmitt, Grossmont College.  Awesome!  That was two of the Grossmont kids that I'd beaten.

8th place, Esteban Martinez, Mt. San Antonio College.

7th place...I waited, hoping to not hear my name just yet... Arthur Lawrence, Cypress College.

6th place, Daniel Miller, Chaffey College.

I'd made it to the top 5!  Yea!!!

I had a feeling that I was next, but was secretly hoping my name wouldn't be the next one called.  

Corey called out through the microphone, "In fifth place from El Camino College, Alex, Big Fat Diver, Mackey."

And there it was.  Fifth place.  I was happy.  I was a little disappointed.  I missed fourth place by 2 points.  But I wasn't even close to 3rd.

And thus concluded the regional meet.  I ended up with some awesome "titles" and accolades under my belt.  I was undefeated in conference and at the same time, I was fifth place on a regional level.  And if I compared myself to all the divers in America, I'd probably be somewhere in the middle.  I'm sure there are hundreds or even thousands of better divers.  But at the same time, I'd accomplished a goal I'd set out to achieve over four years ago.  And that was to make it to state at the college level.  Not bad for a 44 year old.  

I'm proud of my awesome, imperfect results.

Nest stop, STATE.  May 5th and 6th, 2016 at 1pm.  East LA College.  Come on by if you're in the area.

#bigfatdiver

First dive.  I was pretty nervous but had gotten myself to a good, cool, calm and collected place.  My first two dives are the scariest.  I faced backwards with my heels dangling off the edge of the board 10 feet above the water.  I exhaled all my air, took a deep breath in as I raised my arms.  I dropped my arms down as I pressed the board with my feet.  I jumped up as best as I could, and piked my legs towards my head as hard as I could using my stomach muscles.  I grabbed my legs in the pike position and spun around 1-1/2 times.  I opened up, looked back and entered the water.  I was a little short.  My scores where just okay.  3-1/2 on the low side, 4-1/2 on the high side.

My second dive was a reverse 1-1/2.  I was nervous for this one too.  I jumped up and didn't ride the board as well as I should have.  I threw my head back, but then pulled my pike in tightly.  As I jumped forward, I flipped backwards 1-1/2 times.  I opened up and entered the water.  Short, once again.  It wasn't a terrible dive, but not a great one either.  4's across the board (one 3, but low score gets dropped.)

My inward 1-1/2 was better.  I scored almost all 5's or 5.5's on that.

By this time I was feeling better and less nervous.  The meet was half over and I hadn't had any horrible dives that got just 2's or 3's.  So that was good.

I threw my front 2-1/2 and it was probably the best one I've ever done.  I was able to land it straight in, and have my body and legs straight.  Something I struggle with on this dive.  It was awesome!!  I got 6.5's and 7's!!

My last two dives I really like.  A reverse dive with a half twist, straight.  Again, 6's and 7's.  Awesome!!

I was feeling pretty confident as I climbed the ladder for my last dive.  I made my approach.  I jumped it up pretty well and threw myself backwards.  I twisted around and then threw a 1-1/2 inward.  I guess I didn't do a very good job of keeping my abs tight because it was a little floppy going it.  But it was still decent.  I got a myriad of scores ranging from 4 to 5.5.

And that ended the meet for me.  I was second in the line up, so everyone else had to complete their dives.  I didn't know the results.  I had no idea if I was going to go to state based on that performance.  I hadn't really focused on or tracked what the other divers were doing.  I watched some of their dives and some were good and some were not.  The Grossmont divers were awesome.  The Riverside divers were awesome.  The guy from Saddleback College was amazing.  So I wasn't really sure where things would end up.

The  results were announced...Corey Stanbury announced it starting with last place.  Then he worked his way backwards through the list.  I kept hoping my name wouldn't be called yet.  At least not until the 8th spot.  Top 8 go to state.

Tenth place: Esteban Martinez - Second alternate for State
Ninth place: Timothy Fisher - First alternate for State

I'd made it!!

Eighth: Jesse Vandrkolk - San Diego Mesa College
Seventh: Daniel Miller - Chaffey College
Sixth: Erich Schmitt - Grossmont College

In fifth place...I thought for sure I'd hear my name... Aaron Garcia, Riverside College.

I couldn't believe it!  I'd beat Aaron!  He's really good!  I'd only competed against him once at an invitational.  I beat him on the 3m, but he beat me on the 1m.

In fourth place...I waited to hear my name.  I knew this would be me.  The other guys left were all really good and I knew I wasn't going to be top three...

Raymond Altmeyer, Grossmont College.

WHAT?!?!  I had beat ALL the Grossmont divers!  This was amazing!

In third place, Alex Mackey, El Camino College.  I'd done it!  I'd made it to state, and taken 3rd place on 3-meter in all of Southern California.  Not to mention, I was undefeated in the South Coast Conference!

Jakob Wood from Riverside College took second and Jacob Swansen from Saddleback College won the meet.

It was a day I'll never forget.  This goal I've had for the past four years all culminated in today's event.  It was do or die.  And I did.

I have to give thanks to a few people.  First and foremost, God.  I can't tell you how much I prayed that I'd do well.  I feel like my prayers were answered.  Jose Bahena, my dive coach at El Camino.  He's seen me through my good days and bad days of diving and put up with all sides of me--angry me, happy me, late me, nervous me, struggling me, doubting me, and ultimately, successful me.  Jose is always kind, always encouraging and a brilliant coach--even when I couldn't see why he was making me do things that at first didn't feel like it made any sense, he knows what he's doing and was able to fix so many wrong fundamentals to make me a much better diver.

The other two individuals that had a huge impact on my skill level have been Greg Louganis and Drew Johansen.  Greg has brought a level of skill that I never would've had without him--from breathing, to focus, to mindset and visualization.  Drew Johansen was able to correct a dive I'd been trying to fix for 20 years--in about 15 minutes.  He's amazing and helped on that dive along with so many other skills!!

And lastly, thanks to my super supportive wife, Janice.  She has picked up a remarkable amount of slack while I've been off playing in the water for three hours a day, five days a week.  Thank you and I love you!!

One last thing... one thing I love about the sport of diving, is you can cry, have a snotty nose and even pee your pants a little and no one will ever know.  I think all three of those might've happened today.

So today is the day!  It's Friday morning at 8:50 am.  In less than three hours the regional meet will be underway.  I rested for almost 8 hours last night, but didn't sleep very well.  I'm trying to be calm, yet feel so nervous!

I practiced yesterday and a few other teams were there practicing with me as well.  It gave me a chance to see the competition.  There are some really good divers.  I'm not sure that's what makes me nervous though.  I think I just want to do my best.  I want to not fail any dives.  I want to put the dives in like I've practiced and not have any bad anomolies.

I will post an update and videos tonight of how the meet went.  Today I find out if I make it to state.  If I don't, I'll have one more chance tomorrow to make it on the other board.  But if I can just dive well and not do anything stupid, I should be just fine.

​Fingers crossed and prayers said...here goes.

I wanted to write a quick update since it's been so long since the last.  I'll try to get another video out soon.

It's been an interesting few weeks.  I've won every meet, which has been great.  I've had no competition at some of them, which is slightly deflating.  I've done terrible and a  meet or two and I've hit my personal best of 217 at one of them.

Tomorrow I have my last meet of the season before we go to Regionals next Friday and Saturday.  I'm looking forward to this meet...a lot!  Coach Jose will be there.  That's always super helpful.  I go blank at meets and do terrible about warm ups, etc.  So having him there will be awesome.

Secondly, I feel more prepared for this meet than for any other.  There's only one dive that's kind of sketchy.  Hopefully I'll get lucky and nail it.

Lastly, we're competing both boards.  It's just been one board in the past few weeks.

So it should be fun.  I've heard there's a guy that's REALLY good that is going to be there.  So I don't expect to win, but I do expect to get a personal record--hopefully on both boards.  If I do that, I'll be happy about the meet regardless of place.

I have to be up in five hours.  The meet is super early.  So I'll keep this short, but that's the update.

Oh...one more thing...the diet.  I've been terrible.  Not sure how to fix that one.  I try and then just cave so often.  There's just too much good candy out there.  sigh.

But tomorrow is another day, and another try.  I will fail my way to success if that's what it takes.  So here we go.
;-)

This week's dive meet was at Chaffey college again.  This time, it was just a meet against a couple of other schools--not an invitational.

We only competed one board and we could decide.  I opted for the 1m this time.  I have such a new list, that I just wanted the chance to compete that list again and get some more experience under my belt in that area.

Last week, my 1m score was 153.25.  I had a couple of dives that I didn't do very well on at all.  This week, I got a 205.35!!  I'd set a goal previously to break 200 and this week I did it.  This was my personal best by A LOT!!  My highest score on 1m before this was 180.50.  I was so excited.  I also got first place, which was great, but the journey has really become more about my personal growth rather than winning or not winning.  A couple of weeks ago was a good example of that when I won first place, but my personal score went down.  I was disappointed in how I did at that meet, in spite of the fact that I'd won.

That said, it was still awesome to come in first place!

On the diet front, it's still a constant battle.  I've been relatively good throughout the week, but EVERY weekend is a disaster.  Today I went to Universal Studios with the wife and kids and I think I tried ALL the desserts there.  It tasted so good and seemed like a fine thing to do at the time.  Now I have a horrible stomach ache, on top of feeling guilty about eating such garbage when I should be focusing on being the best I can be during dive season.

Part of the journey, I suppose.

Part of my weight loss journey has been what I call the Ellen Diet...watch Ellen, work out, lose weight.  Here's a quick video about it.