Inglis Barge Canal and Crystal River Archaeological Preserve

Today was an active recovery day after noticing that my upper body is still a little unhappy with me for sleeping in an awkward position.  I only got about 4-5 miles in today before being summoned home, but it's better than nothing. I'm hoping I'll be able to get closer to 9-10 miles next opportunity I get!

And then there was the Crystal River Archaeological Preserve, which included a small climb to what was probably a temple where the priests did their rituals while the others watched from the ground.

Firearm Fun

I got to have a bit of fun with a Sig Sauer semi-automatic 9mm, courtesy of an old archer mentor of mine.

 And then there's my shooting buddy for today... the same one who first taught me how to shoot a compound bow without getting myself maimed or killed.  

Form Work: Up Close and Personal

Most of my work today was at 9m so I could put most of my focus on my form, particularly at anchor and aiming.

 Below is the end of the first 30 arrows of a 60 arrow indoor round, but at 9 meters. If I could pull this off at 18 meters consistently with a longbow, I would be in archer's heaven. I finished with 257/300, which isn't too bad!

 Below: 10-10-10. I scored a 30/30, even if they were rather close, especially that top one. It just barely squeaked onto the line to give me the higher score!

 This was my second 30 arrows, where I finished with a 260/300, again at 9 meters instead of the standard 18.  My 9 meter composite was 517/600, which would have been the ultimate score for a longbow archer if I had pulled it off at 18 meters instead of 9!

 Compare and contrast - left is first 30, right is second 30.  I did this to examine temporal trends to see if my early game and late game were significantly different. Analysis is still pending...

 And I attempted a 30 arrow round at 18 meters just to see how things translated.  That was pretty darned good for moderately fatigued! I did shoot the equivalent of a full FITA round today, but I had many unscored shots for form work and/or sighting in.  I'd say it was a darned good day with Xibalba! A 209/300 on a 3 spot target with a longbow that could've been 219/300 if I had all the rings is something I'd be very proud of! Now to clean up my form to see if I can bring my average into the 230-240 range and keep it there... or even in the 250-260 range! Then again, I think the 270s was an extreme good day for the Olympic recurve...

The Form-Master is Back

I had some trouble with my shooting form today, so I worked with the Form-Master to reinforce better habits on back tension.  Basically if I maintain back tension, the string and my hand don't go anywhere upon release, or if I'm exceptionally good, it actually goes back a bit. If I don't maintain back tension, I collapse miserably and risk a good mark on my face from my Black Mamba Venom tab.  I maintained back tension but I am going to see if I can increase it and be more consistent about how much I apply before release.

Avengers Assemble!

I didn't shoot particularly well at the Villages 900 round - 531/900, about 70-80 points less than average, but not too bad for someone significantly out of practice.  I also got to meet several other young barebow archers, including two other females! It gets a bit lonely being alone in my division so company was welcome!

There's a Reason Why My Longbow is Named "Xibalba"...

As cool as they are, they also get a little old when they happen... Robin Hoods get a little pricey after a while, but it did tell me that I do have precision! This wasn't a particularly good group at the start, but the last two were spot-on.

This was more typical of how I shot today: great groups, wrong place. I eventually did get my groups into the right place after getting my head position a little more consistently in the right place.  I'm surprised I didn't break anything this particular round!