Another Inspiring Photo

Don't remember where I got this picture but I want to build up arms and shoulders like that! I really would like to build up more lean muscle mass and get my physique as rock-hard as possible even if *others* have a hard time accepting that I really dislike being soft and squishy and would rather have something to show for my strength training. I'm still trying to figure out what evolutionary advantage there is for females being weaker, smaller, and squishier on average than males. Is there even any!?

I guess that's why I continue to keep pounding the iron, watch my eating habits, and pound more iron (or run and jump in high-intensity intervals). Oh how I'd LOVE to have a warm-up bench-press of 60 kg instead of possibly having that be my maximum!

More Pictures from Five Points of Life 5k

Courtesy of the photographers at the event...

Last few meters to go, make sure to follow through and maintain speed until I pass the finish line...

Crossing the finish line...

Initiate deceleration protocol to avoid crashing...

Masters of the Wind ... or Mastered by the Wind?

Nothing like shooting 70 meters (adult non-compounds) or 50 meters (adult compounds) in winds strong enough to send the scrawny little folks flying!

Compound archers... sure, they shoot the little 80 cm targets with only the inner 5 rings, but I think they should walk the extra 20 meters both ways like those of us in recurve (or as I see it, Not-Compound given that I'm a longbow shooter).

I shared the rightmost target with one of the Olympic Archery Dream Team kids... They are some fun kids to shoot with and I enjoyed chatting with their coach.

Look at the firing line!

My best end by far when I not only made the right adjustments and held my form, but I also made strong, decisive shots at the right time instead of waiting too long or firing too soon.

Thank goodness for tall folks who write legibly AND can add 6 numbers, especially when they're NOT nice and even! And my arrows feel HUGE compared to everyone else's in the Not-Compound division!

The compound shooters made it back to the shooting line after 12+ ends of walking 50 meters back and forth! And is it me, or does someone look like he's got severe indigestion of some sort?

Update on Five Points of Life 5k

Apparently the "official" time-keepers say I finished either in 23:52 (chip) or 24:05 (gun)... giving me a 45th overall, 5th in women's overall, and 1st in my age division.

Five Points of Life 5K

In the corral prior to the race. Gas pressure is building up and I feel squishy and bloated but ready to run and possibly contribute some CH4 and H2S to the atmosphere.

Oh there's the camera-man! Yeah... there's some good intestinal gas in there making me feel even squishier!

And off we go!

Final stretch... gut instincts guide me away from the wet spot, later revealed to be the site of a good puke-fest by some little boy.

Recovery time! Completed the race in 24:15 (by my watch, which was from air-horn to crossing the very end of the finish line and remembering to hit my watch). My first mile was 7:40 and I know I had a pretty fast second mile because of a significant downhill component. All I can say is... personal best for the 5k, still trying to beat that 7:30 single mile, but hey, 24:15 for 5k is awesome for me!

The fastest runner completed in something like 16:10 or so I think and the next one finished something like 17:45 or so. I think I came in somewhere in the top 50 out of 300 or so folks, which I'm pretty happy with. There was a woman I thought about trying to out-do at the end but decided against it and just focused on keeping my own pace without risking any up-chuck episodes.

So next time... let's see if I can go *below* that 24 minute mark for sure, maybe even down to 22-23 minutes!

Ego Inflation

I'm the big arrows with the white nocks. The other archer was shooting the little arrows with the blue nocks. Said other archer is pushing 2 meters in height and is a police officer who inspires me to keep up with my own fitness training as well as continuing to pursue my archery goals. Usually he squishes me in the long-run at 70 meters but every now and then, I'll put some pressure on him. Let's see what I can do at Gator Cup in April!!

Think Happy Thoughts...

Stress levels have hit the fan again and I found these pictures, which cheer me up immensely. These are 70 meters with 700 spine Carbon Express Predator II on the zebra-wood longbow and me using an Olympic anchor (under the chin). This is really good for me because instead of having to line up the arrow up in the trees somewhere, I'm able to line up somewhere between the top of the target butt and the top of the flag, depending on the head- or tail- wind. The Olympic anchor is also a lot more consistent and I can get a much cleaner release and follow-through with it, but it's not very useful for close-distance shots because of the way my gaps get thrown off.

I'm training for the Gator Cup on the far right target. I think compound archers (like the kids on the left target) do 50 meters but get the inner five rings of the 80 cm targets while recurve archers get the full 122 cm targets at 70 meters.

Fun at 25 Meters on a 60 cm Target Face

The guy on the right, Coach J, with the fancy compound was shooting on the same target as I was at indoor league. For some reason, the target on 7B was unoccupied and we ended up with 2 of us on 7A. Then again, it probably worked for the better given that I had something that gave me some pretty spectacular flatulence that probably would've killed anyone too close behind me.

I shot first and somehow, Coach J was able to get 2 of his arrows between my arrows without causing any damage... completely unintentionally, as he had planned to shoot a tad lower.

And who says that you need to be shooting a high-tech setup worthy of Star Trek to shoot well?

I finished the round with 236/300 with my zebrawood longbow, which is pretty darned good considering I've clocked in quite a few push-ups for the week and a few parts of me are pretty talkative. I still have a lot of work on my release and follow-through as well as stabilizing myself throughout the shot cycle. I have an unfortunate habit of torquing and my release isn't quite as consistently powerfully explosive as I need to be, but it's slowly getting better now that Coach R has identified some of my form issues and gave me some ideas to correct them. Having awesome folks at the gym like Slaughter and my former student also help me, not only with endurance, but also with general stabilization in my core and everything else.

Hoggetowne Medieval Faire 2012

As always, click either the title or here for the full suite of pictures.