Whew, Hello

Hi. I was going to write a post about how motivated I feel to exercise and practice fencing, but now that it's so late I just feel drained and dreading tomorrow's early work-day. I believe i'm 217-218 right now.

I said about a year and half ago or more that when I hit 210 I was going to do fencing and badminton. I got a little antsy and couldnt' wait anymore for the fencing. So I decided to order about $200 worth of gear. One of the things they say that locks you into a program is making an investment in it!

So, even though I'll be dog tired tomorrow and the snow is really coming down out there, I've made a monetary investment in the sport of fencing that I hope will take me far. I've begun stretching like Cara's mom showed me, though it will help when Anna is here because many of them are facilitated (partner) stretches. I've just been trying to work the ol' legs out in the meantime, doing splits and lunges and stuff--god it's amazing what hurts me. It's not just getting old, I have a problem, which is very bothersome.

I think I found out how to stretch before a fencing tournament, and I think I will be a little nicer to myself when I lunge--I used to go all out and bang my foot against the ground and really stretch my groin/hip when I threw myself at an opponent. That could be why I'm having problems now? lol.

Anyway, It's 2009. 10 years ago I won the State High School Championship. That's a long time ago. But for 1/3 of my life I've been wondering how far I can go in this sport. Fencing is nice because even though joints and flexibility matter, you're not out once you're older. I'm not THAT old yet, but given the amount of practice hours it takes to become 'elite...' well, let's just say I may be by the time I get there.

No one becomes great over night, but I want to see how far I can go. Who knows what rating or awards are in my future? I'm confident that I can get my E, probably my D, by November of 2010. I think there's some timing and technique I have to get back, but I think I can pull it off. After the D, pursuit of the C... and I'll be a contender at Nats again.

It's been 9 or 10 years since I've been on the scene seriously. I have no idea what advances in the game have been made, except the thorny issue of changing the timing. For all I know foils aren't made the same way anymore (though I'm sure they are).

218 lbs. Overweight now. Fencing is a chance to continue that drop, but it's not the only one. There's badminton, walking, running and of course nutrition. These are all doing good things for me. Here's to keeping them coming.

Expect this blog to take on more of a chronicle of training as that goes. I'm going to try to use this blog to keep myself accountable. It's nice because if it's missing entries, I know that I haven't been thinking about it, and if I write the same excuses or any excuses, I'll know to make myself accountable.

Speaking of responsibility, if I dont sleep now I'll be utterly worthless tomorrow. God it's white out!

nite!
mcsm