Fight Day

Didn't really get off to the best start. My stomach has been giving me loads of hassle for the last 3 days and it seemed to want to kick it up a bit the night before. Unfortunately I was up till 3am.

However it did give me chance to try some of my friend guy's pre-fight prep rituals. One of which I want to talk about because its brutal.

Essentially the night before you eat a healthy but large meal so you fill the fuel tank. Then before bed you take a shower which you make progressively colder and colder until its just pure cold water and you're freezing. Hop out of the shower and apply tiger balm (all over if you can, to problem areas otherwise) and then wrap yourself up in a tracksuit and hood and get into bed and try to sleep/relax.

The idea being, the cold freaks out your body and your blood is sent to your internal organs to maintain body temp. The subsequent heat from the tiger balm and clothing then sends fresh new blood back out to the muscles in an attempt to cool you down and regulate temperature. The combination of both acts gives your metabolism a massive kick in the pants and you process the food you ate very quickly and your body gets started on repairing itself ready for the next day.

I can't speak for the science, but this definitely gave my body an adrenalin shot and gave me temporary relief from my dodgy stomach. It was brutal because the tiger balm gives the sensation of extreme cold and so your sat in bed with freezing cold skin, sweating... and there is no way to stop it except wait it out. Plus I applied tiger balm to my groin so it felt like I had an ice box sat on my nuts that I couldn't shift. Unpleasant.

Fight day itself I spent in my hostel room watching movies on my laptop. I stepped out a couple times to buy water and get some sushi but I had stocked up on almonds and dried fruit so I was pretty well self contained. I just shut out the world and tried not to watch the clock. Which was easier said than done.

Eventually 7pm rolled around and my alarm went off. I had another cold shower and applied tiger balm to my hamstrings, groin and lower back before getting dressed into my fight gear underneath my tracksuit.

Headphones in I hopped in a tuc-tuc and mad my way to the stadium.