Chez Salle Auriol

Back to Salle Auriol after watching the Winter Open fencing events. Boy do I have a long way to go. I missed the footwork portion of the night, but had the chance to fence a few more epeeists. I learned a few things from watching others at the winter open, and did a little better against some people that I had fenced before, but I still seem to be having the same weaknesses that I had before. As always, George gave me some pointers, and fencing with Anne Telles is always a pleasure - both are left handed by the way. George and I actually did some pentathlon bouts to try out the one touch thing. For a old guy, he sure has a lot of tricks...he ended up winning again. But at least I know where my opportunities are.

What a week!

Wow...I've had quite a busy week. So busy I didn't even have time to make any entries into this journal! I was housesitting for the Robbins through Thursday, so it took a little more planning to get everything done. Had the usual schedule, fencing at Salle Ariol on Monday, riding on Wednesday and Wallingford Fencing on Thursday. I took Tuesday and Friday off, just to catch up with myself a little. Tuesday was especially nice as I was able to enjoy the Robbins' house which is situated along Lake Washington. Nothing spectacularly different about my training during the week. I had some fun doing obstacles with Pet on Wednesday...he got a little excited several times and was ready to go up to gallop rather than a mere canter after going over the obstacles.

I did attend the Western Washington Division Winter Open fencing tournament here in Seattle. I got close to competing, but since this was my first time attending a fencing tournament of any kind, I decided not to compete so that I could learn about how the whole thing proceeds, watch how others warm up, learn about scoring...just soak it all in basically so that next time I can focus on my fencing. I scored for the mixed epee event, which was a great opportunity to watch others fence, including my coach, Greg. On Sunday, I scored a little for the women's epee event and also learned a lot.

No Yoga, but other good stuff

I wasn't able to go to yoga this morning as I had a retreat with the YMCA Earth Service Corps Community Advisory Council group to prepare for the big Partner with Youth fundraising campaign coming up. I always look forward to this retreat as I get a chance to really catch up with some good friends, get a little sole food and lay out plans for another successful fundraiser to help YMCA programs. Outside of it being a major success for our group in planning and strategy, I also took away some things that will help in my pentathlon training. Particularly, it was the ropes activity that was really valuable for my. The activity was a low ropes activity, but still the teamwork, the ups and downs of trying to complete a difficult task and the ultimate success at the end really bumped up my confidence a lot and helped me to appreciate the challenges that face me ahead. The road to the 2004 Olympics will definitely reflect what I experienced on the ropes and I realize it will only be with the support of many people - coaches, family, friends, supporters and sponsors - that I will be able to succeed.

Here comes the run again

Didn't do any training today as Fridays are scheduled to be a running day and I'm still waiting to get some orthotics. But...I did see doctor today for a physical and got the referral to see the podiatrist that Wendy suggested. Soon, I'll be back in those running shoes.

A bit of biathlon

Started the night by stopping by Greg's to learn how to put my epee together. I'm still at the apprentice level for a while, but with some tools and a little workshop at my place, soon I'll be putting together and tweaking my own weapons with the best of them. The bell on my epee is just way to shiny, so I look forward to breaking it in. I'm going to have to start thinking of some good names for my weapons. After Greg's I headed out to Issaquah to start my shooting adventure. Wendy invited me to tag along to a shooting range to meet her shooting coach, Jim, who helps here train for her biathlon events (both winter and summer). Its been quite a long time since I've picked up a gun of any sort (I used to shoot when I was younger back in Nebraska and New Mexico), so it was great to start looking into options for my shooting training. We went to a shooting range in Issaquah. I watched the biathletes do their thing with rifles and talk to Jim a little about getting some coaching in the pistol portion of the pentathlon. As soon as I get a pistol I'm all set to go. The biathlon looked pretty interesting too, particularly the summer version, but I need to stick to my guns (pardon the pun) if I'm going to get my pentathlon events up to a competitive level quickly.

To run or to ride...that is the question

Tonight I went to watch some competitive runners, including some Olympic contenders, train at Greenlake with Wendy. I did get some pointers on form from Wendy on a few of the runners, but most of the group had decided to run around the lake rather than the track so I didn't get to see a whole lot of styles. BUT...I did run into Mike Jones, a fellow that Allen at Salle Auriol had suggested I get in contact with regarding pentathlon since Mike had competed in the event in the past, is in the area and might be willing to be a resource/mentor. What a great surprise to run into Mike here. I plan on getting together with him to get some his wisdom about the event and hopefully a little coaching here and there. Since the runners meet on Wednesday, I may look into changing my riding schedule around a bit to accommodate doing some training with the group...and Mike.

Have epee, will fence

Went to Wallingford fencing tonight since I plan on starting some shooting on Thursday, my usual night at Wallingford. The usual agenda, and I'm glad to say that my basketball is getting a little better. Greg didn't arrive until the end of the night, so I spent a lot of time fencing Sam, one of the club juniors, since she is the only other epeeist at the club right now. Sam just came back from a juniors event in which she won a bronze metal. She was pretty tired, so we didn't do any intense fencing, but we figure out how she could overcome my long arms and got some great wisdom from Steve about strategy in epee. My lesson with Garik went well, but I still need to do better in my footwork and concentrate on the present more than strategizing too far into the future. Greg arrived with a few things he purchased for me from the vendors at the competition (glove, electric cord, bib, etc.) and we made plans to put my epee together on Thursday...my first electric weapon. Soon I'll be ripping up and down the fencing strip.