Sunday: Gold Coast Open

Sunday morning come all to quick as we arrived at Carrara stadium at 8am. The bad performance from the night before weighed heavy on my thoughts. As I prepared for my first fight, the voices in my head were telling me if I repeated last night I was likely to get knocked out today.  I was looking for any excuse, any reason I could find to pull out today. I'm not feeling well, I'm sick, I haven't had enough sleep, I'm exhausted from the night before.  I didn't voice my negative thoughts because I knew they were just that and my mind was trying to make excuses.  Once again anxious and nervous I just wanted the day to end quickly. We were on the mats and about to begin as Carlo showed why he was a superb athlete and now a fantastic coach.  He told me "look at me. Focus. Be in the moment, be present, be aware of my surroundings.  Feel the foot protectors on my feet, feel the surface of the mats under my feet. Take a deep breathe in through my nose, feel the breathe flow through my lungs and throat".  All this calmed me and all the previous doubt in mind had vanished.
"This is the game plan.  Short and sharp, lead leg probe, push and control the fight and use my ring craft".  
The referee began the fight and today for a change I could clearly hear Carlo coaching me. I followed his instructions as best I could, taking control of the fight, motioning and creating pressure. My attacks were sharp and I had an early lead at the end of the first.
Cut to axe and I think I score a head kick.  I do a running double to the face and I think it also scores.  For the first time in my fighting career do I see panic in my opponents face which only increases my confidence.  I win and last nights doubt is almost forgotten.
The day is long and slow and not till after an impressive sword demonstration am I ready to fight again. The rollercoastering of positive and negative thoughts continues as we are on the mat, waiting. Carlo repeats exactly what he said earlier which settles and focuses me. "Same game plan". The rounds go by quickly and again with some great coaching I win a hard fight against a tough competitor.  The win comes down to creating pressure and ring craft until my opponent makes a mistake.
It's three in the afternoon, it's been a hot long day, I'm dehydrated, hungry and feeling fatigued. Thinking that our division would be either finished or I'd be knocked out by now, I have made a terrible error in not bringing enough food and drink with me. My team mates come to my aid, (thank you George, Pete and Dimi, lifesavers)
It's 6pm, the crowd is leaving as I watch the semi finalists in my division. Michael from Hills Taekwondo goes through. By this stage I'm over it. My entire body aches, I'm bruised and sore and exhaustion has completely set in. I want to hurry up and finish this. I almost don't care about the result and am 4.5 minutes away from finding out (they reduce the round times of the finals because the competition is an hour late) We are the last fight of the night. 
No nerves, no anxiety just finish it.
The first round takes forever as both coaches protest and lose there cards. I'm lucky as my opponent does a crescent head kick which catches me as I'm ducking under it. The referees deem it not hard enough and the video replay doesn't show it connecting (luck is on my side). The second round Michael comes hard and I do my best to avoid his attacks while sneaking in the occasional point myself. 
We finish the round and we are both completely exhausted.  The match is not pretty and a bit of a brawl. I lead by one point.
Now Carlo works his coaching brilliance. What he says next was exactly what I needed to hear and how I needed to hear it. Stern, almost aggressive he tells me to stop talking myself out of this win. The very thoughts going through my mind were "second is ok, I fought well today. It's ok to loose now".  He says keep working the front leg, cutting and slide out counter.
The third round begins and Michael clearly has more stamina than me as he continues to attack. I'm lucky again as a head kick by him only just touches and does not get scored.
Unfortunately for him I can read his attacks easily so continue to slide out or jam up as he tries hard for the point.
I grab a look at the clock as we clinch. 20 seconds.  I tell myself to just hang on. Again I jam up as he attacks, the clock is counting down 4, 3, 2, 1.
I have somehow pulled off the impossible.  I'm so completely delirious with exhaustion I collapse to my knees.  I don't even have the energy to celebrate yet.
I'm declared the winner!
Respectfully I shake Michael and his coaches hand before being congratulated by my fantastic support group, Carlo, Caroline, George, Tom, Will, Katrina and Murray.
Today was unique and special. The gods were smiling down on me and all the planets had aligned correctly.  Everything that occurred almost uncannily went in my favor. From the best players withdrawing from this division after Saturday night, to how the scoring unfolded.  
Now I have completed another of my goals, to win a gold medal at an open!
Thanks to all of you who have helped me achieve this, with special thanks to Carlo.