Summer Chicago Open

A couple of days ago the team and I competed in the IBJJF Summer Chicago Open. It went okay. This was my first tournament with the team (only my fifth overall) and I'm told that we often dominate on the medal stand.
Today we dominated bronze, flirted a bit with silver, but didn't dare to touch gold (unless you count the people in uncontested divisions, of which there were two). The competition was tough and the matches were mostly very close, so everyone seemed to come away with a sense of accomplishment, even if they finished out of the money.
I had a pretty brutal weight cut (Friday night I found myself running five miles in a hoodie and my fall running tights) and stepping on the scale at the venue, I was petrified. It read a full pound under, so I had some of the first water I'd had in about a day and maybe a bite of fruit leather that brought me up to .5 under.
I was in a division of four. I only got to fight once, losing to the eventual champion via triangle. The match went a little something like this: Combate! I went for a grip, she slapped it away, she went for a grip, I slapped it away. We circled, looking for an entry. I gripped first, establishing sleeve and collar and got to work pulling her up and down, trying to see how she would react. I squared up for just a second, I think while switching grips, she must have decided I was after the takedown and she pulled guard.
I was able to keep base for a while, but ultimately she brought me down and I postured. She was really great at snapping up then down from the closed guard to break my base, which she managed twice. Both times I got back up, the second time breaking her guard in the process. Once it was open, I went hard for the Toreando pass. I switched sides a couple of times, hoping to find a hole. I thought I did to her left but as I brought my weight down, I saw her hips swivel back and I was in full guard again. Unfortunately, she was on the leggier side and managed to catch me in the triangle during the transition. First I postured, didn't work, so I went for the last-ditch escape we had worked that week, but I didn't get my remaining arm in in time and tapped to the armbar/triangle combo.

After the match, I watched the video and made a couple of mental notes:

1. I need to keep my base wider. I postured well and didn't do anything stupid, but she was good and my knees needed to be wide enough to keep my butt pretty much on the floor.
2. I need to use an inside cutting pass with quick people, rather than the looping toreando. It's a solid pass, to be sure, but using my body as a wedge to keep the guard open is probably the better tactic against someone weaker (she was, marginally) but faster than I.
3. I have to find takedown entries that don't require much squaring up. I need to spend some time emphasizing takedowns from grip fighting, rather than from established grips, as well as using the push/pull in direct conjunction with the takedown.
4. Still need to work on my posture, though it wasn't so bad here.
5. Arms in. Always in.

In a larger sense, there were a few things I learned about tournament prep:

1. I need to practice cutting weight in between tournament times, just to make myself more efficient at it. This will also give me the opportunity to get used to rolling in a lighter body. Over the 10lbs of this cut, I noticed a huge difference in my speed and pressuring abilities, though very little in my strength, I'm happy to say.
2. I need to roll more with the guys in my class. They are much more capable of pushing me right now.
3. I need to work on tournament routine, especially with a warm-up buddy who knows how to keep me calm and happy, which is when I feel the best.
4. As Val advised, I need a "competition emotion" a go-to feeling that puts me where I feel the absolute best about jiu jitsu. I'm 90% sure it's a happy, lighthearted place, but I'm willing to experiment.
5. I need to allow myself time to nap if I'm to make the open division (I really wanted to this time, but the day and weight cut had taken their toll and by the time 5:30 rolled around, I was looking and feeling pretty pathetic), even if that means missing a few teammates matches. In hindsight, I'd understand if they did the same for me.
6. If I'm having trouble making weight, I need to break down and buy an ultralight gi. I hate them, but I hate being DQed more.

Oh, after I collected my medal, I found out that my opponent had four years more experience than I and owned her own BJJ school. That doesn't automatically make her better than I am, but it really did make me feel happier about that almost guard pass!