NFAA SE Indoor Sectional and FAA Indoors 2013

Here's the full suite of pictures...
http://s1281.photobucket.com/user/GuenhwyvarAnCrosaire/library/FAA%20Indoors%20and%20NFAA%20SE%20Sectional%202013

Apparently I got to be a trail-blazer in setting the SE Sectional record for women's longbow even though I didn't shoot particularly well when I hit the wall. This was in the beginning of March, by the way. It's just been a while since I've last gotten around to do any blogging.

I've also been training for Gator Cup as well as the slim possibility of shooting the USIAC Outdoors in Utah next month. I was a bit disappointed to find out that USIAC puts barebow at only 50 meters instead of 70 meters, but Gator Cup this year will be a 4-distance FITA round with eliminations at 70 meters. Yes!!! Granted... I'll also be doing the equivalent of showing up to a gun fight with a pair of scimitars, but the real fun is seeing friends and just seeing how much damage *I* can do!

 This was at 50 meters during rather chaotic wind conditions, although the pre-dominant wind was from the west. Every now and then though the wind would swirl randomly, typically AFTER I release. If I can do this (or better) consistently, I'm in great shape for USIAC and the 50 meter portion of the FITA round, although the FITA round will involve an 80 cm target face and probably the little 6-ringer.

 

 Preparing to shoot at 70 meters. I'm still lugging around about 23% body fat (trying for the 13-16% range, definitely no more than 18% but unfortunately will have to keep it above 12% to avoid risking Nasty Things (tm)... female biology can suck so badly especially when it comes to metabolic function and wasting resources on building up useless stuff instead of muscles) and nowhere near enough muscle, but at least I can run again even if I still can't quite keep up with the ROTC Marines or Army or Navy kids yet. I have yet to see any of the Air Force kids but if I can keep up with the Marines and/or pass them up on sprints, I'll be extremely happy! I should also be looking a lot better once I can fully implement a better optimized hypertrophy training program!

 Zoom-in of the 70 and 90 meter targets. And yes, I actually had some fun at 90 meters just because I could and wanted to see what would happen... besides, I think two of my favorite Olympic archers planted the little bug in my mind after watching them make it look like THIS should be a standard distance for everyone, including barebows with wooden arrows!

 

The un-zoomed out view of 70 and 90 meter targets. It's kinda tiny. It actually doesn't look THAT bad but my camera does distort some imagery!

 The second (and final) round at 90 meters. My first round had my arrows landing in a nice pile about 10-12 meters short of the target. This round, I was able to get 7/9 actually on the target somewhere. I broke one and another came a little bit short because I was still in the process of guessing. It's NOT a linear function by the way.

I also trained at my favorite (and most commonly used) distance -- 70 meters. If I can do this consistently in competition, I'd be in GREAT shape. Granted, I won't be keeping up with the likes of Khatuna Lorig or Crispin Duenas or Lee Ford-Faherty but it'll be fun just letting folks know that a longbow can do some serious damage to inner target rings at long distances! And who says barebows have to be relegated to 3D or maybe the occasional field round?

I'm still surprised at how few barebow archers participate in target events and how there's almost this strong discouragement from doing so or trying to rise above the mediocrity that seems to prevail in a lot of the barebow, particularly the traditional, circles.

TBoF Charity 2013

Full suite of pictures from the Charity shoot.

 There's Robert waiting for his turn to shoot. I forgot how much waiting there was involved in 3D compared to FITA and field!

 That high anchor drives me completely up the wall but it worked for this shoot and the indoors in Inglis! I'd love to have my anchor back under my chin because it feels the most natural to me!

 What on earth am I supposed to be shooting at again? A lot of targets were pretty hard for me to see and identify!

One of the few times Robert is actually at full draw ... kinda. I forgot how difficult most traditional archers can be to photograph well!

 Group picture! I think Robert was hiding somewhere... Nothing like having Protege #1 there to help me shoot better! She definitely showed us that in the right hands, a little kiddie bow at kiddie poundages can do some serious damage!

Took a huge surprise 1st -- wasn't expecting to place particularly well given the large number of 5's I shot until I realized I only missed 1/40 of the shots. I finished with a 290/400, no idea where my fellow female longbow people finished but I think there were at least 10 of us in the division. I think Protege #1 finished 4th in the recurve division, which is pretty darned good for someone who usually shoots targets and probably shoots just about anything and everything like I do!

Hogs!

 Piglets in a nest. They're incredibly soft and fuzzy and this is by far the cutest stage of their lives.

 The piglets are certainly curious about the funny-looking blob with a flash camera!

 Second of two hogs I took with my .243. I thought it was on the order of 45-50 kgs. It was actually about 87 kg. Yikes! It didn't look THAT big when I shot it!

The first of the two hogs I took. I was expecting it to be on the order of 35 kgs. It was more 45 kgs. It looked pretty small but I guess they are indeed larger than they appear!

R had taken me out to Tiger Island Outfitters to do some hog-hunting as a belated birthday present. It's not too far from Cedar Key and it was a very pleasant morning aside from some of these itty-bitty biting bugs that weren't exactly visible. They call those little buggers no-see-'ums. I can see why. Let's just say I now have a nice freezer full of good wild pork!

First Day Back on My Feet...

 

18 meters at Gander Mountain. I guess I got the precision down. Then again, a 3-arrow end of 21/30 points isn't too shabby for a longbow with skinny arrows!

 

18 meters at Gander Mountain. I made a small adjustment in my anchor to see if I could optimize things better for 18 meter, 40 cm target face to see if I could get it to the point where I could even reliably shoot a Vegas Face. The first shot was in the blue (couldn't see what I was doing) so I lined up in the same place again and did the same thing. Apparently I was extremely consistent for this to happen.

I emulated an individual elimination event at 70 meters, where I allocated 20 seconds per shot with a 20 second gap between them to simulate a second archer shooting against me. This would not win me any set points or help me in a cumulative scoring round against the likes of Khatuna Lorig or Ki Bo Bae but shift things over to the left and maybe a tiny touch down and I could probably give them a little pressure for an end. Now if I can keep up this kind of precision on a much more consistent basis!

Belated Wolf Pictures and Awesome Karst Geology

I had a lot of belated pictures from a combination of disposable cameras that needed some extra time to develop and some beautiful pictures e-mailed to me by the photographers over at Seacrest Wolf Preserve. This was truly worth the long drive and I want to go back to see the wolves and the Arctic foxes with their different seasonal coats as well as watching the Panhandle vegetation phenology.

  

  

The first pack of wolves I got to visit at Seacrest.  They were a little more shy and reserved compared to the other timber wolves I'd get to see later although the alpha female, Greycloud, did come up to us for a bit. Anything we did in their enclosures was on the wolves' terms, not ours, and that day, they seemed to be a little more reserved than usual. Then again, early afternoon is usually their naptime (and mine!)

 Nothing like a very, very curious and friendly wolf taking a close look at me. I think this was Sage, the alpha female of her pack. These timber wolves were a lot more friendly than the first group we met. Her mate, Minquah, though, would be the one I'd get to do some serious interaction with later on. The beta male of this particular pack, Earthman, generally lurked in the background very quietly, but he did make a showing just to say "hi" and watch us curiously. We didn't get to see the rest of this pack, but it was amazing spending some quality time with Minquah and Sage.

Minquah the alpha male of the more out-going timber wolf pack was getting extremely affectionate with me (and in front of his mate Sage who also got pretty affectionate with me). He's about 59-60 kg of cuteness and very strong personality. Thank you to the amazing Seacrest photographers for capturing this magical moment!

Thank goodness he can't give me a nasal inspection unlike a certain little tribble. Then again, among wolves, it's pretty standard to give a little oral inspection to say "hi" because as puppies, the muzzle licking and oral inspection is how they get fed regurgitated food by the adult wolves and they continue that behavior as adults as well.

The following weekend I was at a NASM-CPT workshop to help me improve my abilities to do an accurate overhead squat assessment, develop stabilization-endurance and strength-endurance workouts, and basically tactfully handle what would be my more likely clients instead of the outright masochistic. Afterwards, I got to enjoy a little bit of karst geology nearby, having found the place after the Seacrest Wolf Preserve tour the weekend before but timing didn't quite mesh right. My intense, passionate hatred for the idiocy that is very strongly correlated to football games (especially home games) and the mound of pure, un-adulterated stupidity and cluster-fowl (that's the ultra-mild word, by the way) known as homecoming (why, oh why, do they bother with this nonsense) did give me some nice opportunities to do some serious exploration. One of the sites I got to check out was Falling Waters State Park, not at all far from Seacrest Wolf Preserve. What can I say? I love BIG holes in the ground and seeing the *real* Florida without all the crazy glitz and tourist traps.

Wolves and Foxes!

 Two amazing wolves (Canis lupis) who were nice enough to let me get a picture with them. Later on they'd also try to get to know me. Minquah (the larger one in the front) and Sage (the female in the back) were definitely super-friendly wolves once the crowds calmed down! There's many more pictures that the tour guides took of these two interacting with me that should be coming in any time.

 Nothing like a cute Arctic fox to pet! I still have a hard time that some of our smaller dogs are descendants of wolves and not foxes.

It's really neat getting to see a grey fox (Urocyon cineroargentis) up close and in person as well as petting one. There were two others in this enclosure but the other two were darting about and chasing each other. I was a bit surprised at how little they really are but then again, after seeing the Arctic fox and the wolves and even the red foxes (Vulpes vulpes)

Stool Fun

For the full suite of pictures, go here: http://s1281.beta.photobucket.com/user/GuenhwyvarAnCrosaire/library/

I had two very successful shoots this weekend -- a FITA at Newberry and a Classic 600 at the Villages. It certainly beat just sitting around my butt when I'm on doctor's orders to NOT go to the gym or do anything else worthwhile. I had to shoot seated and limited my walking around to going to/from the car to transport stuff and to the bathroom... which used all of my allowed steps for the day on the doctor's orders. Gack... but I was still able to shoot reasonably well at both events even if my butt is hurting like a real pain in the rear. I'm so tired of sitting on my ever-growing squishy butt! 

694/1440 FITA and 309/600 Classic 600 -- neither was too shabby given I hadn't trained on a stool and didn't train at all this past week. The 600 was especially impressive because I'm not used to American units and it was 40, 50, and 60 yards on a 92 cm target face. I had a single known calibration point -- 50 meters, which is approximately 55 yards. I also chose to shoot single-anchor, partially because I have some trouble with that high anchor with getting a clean release, partially because 40 yards is really awkward for me in terms of gaps no matter where I anchor. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to zero in and my only low/non-scoring shots were from poor releases (it's hard to fully engage my upper back while seated I found).

I wound up with the second highest barebow score at the Villages -- my arch-rival got me by about 80 points but I was the only other barebow who broke 300 today. No idea how I did on the FITA compared to everyone else but I do know I got my tush handed to me on a plate because I was the only barebow around and I needed 2 ends at least to figure out how much of a correction to apply to my gaps. All in all, a very successful weekend with desperately needed physical activity, even if I was stuck seated through most of it except to visit Urinetown (and we're not talking about the musical)!

 

FAA FITA 2012

Shot a personal best FITA this past weekend. My 70 and 60 meters were somewhat anemic with 166 and 196 respectively, especially after what I shot at Sunshine State Games. My 50 and 30 meters though were extremely strong with a 238 (personal best EVER!) and a 278 respectively. This gave me a composite score of 878, which beats my previous best of 853, where I also had a very strong 30 and 50 meter round. It was a really fun shoot with great weather!

Final end at 30 meters with a total of 28 for the end.  Yeah!!!

 The three of us who represented Orange and Blue Archery at the FAA FITA this year. I was in the adult female barebow category while the two guys were in the adult male Olympic recurve category.

Me and my fellow barebow archer. I think we raised a lot of eyebrows this weekend as we slaughtered the target without the aid of sights! He may've beaten me by about 30 points yesterday at the longer distances, but I came back at 50 meters and kept up at 30 meters. So far I think it's been about 50/50 with who wins the FITA and 900 rounds even if he's slaughtered me in field just about every time for as long as either of us remembers!

A Little Blogging Hiatus

I've had a hiatus on both of my blogs, partially due to a camera that I was finally able to resurrect after a few months of dead-ness, partially due to a flatulent brain, partially just because contrary to popular belief, I actually do something besides pound iron and slaughter targets!

I decided to do a little bit of photography while waiting for my computers to finish processing a mega buttload of data as well as sparing various entities from my rage and wrath. And no, they didn't really do anything wrong aside from being exposed to a poorly functioning endocrine system! I definitely need to ramp up my training again -- still feeling very bloated and lugging around a lot more adipose tissue than necessary even if the doctors and others that have poked and prodded at my gut have told me that there's some pretty solid muscle in there too. That being said, it wasn't as bad as back in April!

What I'd Like to Build Into ... Eventually.

I'd love to get that type of strength and power from this fellow below. I also wouldn't mind having more of that type of physique. Heck, I'd love to be THAT kind of 69 kg instead of squishy mini-Blobulous (tm) without nearly enough muscle mass and far too many curves and a metabolism about par with that of a tortoise during a cold winter.  Just gotta keep training and staying as strict as possible with my eating habits and not let other people derail or undermine my efforts.



I don't understand why so many people seem to frown upon females wanting to have a strong, healthy muscular physique instead of being disturbingly weak and squishy.  I also really don't understand what evolutionary advantage there is to females having LESS upper body strength and overall musculature than males... or why being weak, squishy, and delicate is so attractive to so many males, mine included.  Wouldn't it be a lot healthier in the long-run to be strong, powerful, and muscular?