A Few More Pictures

The end of my first round against M. Gilbert. Talk about one heck of an end for both of us!

This was a not particularly well-executed shot but it was still a very nicely done photograph.  I still have a lot of issues with release and follow-through.  I think this was the shot that I meant to let down and ended up accidentally firing in the middle of the eccentric movement. 

Gator Cup 2012

For the full suite of pictures, click HERE.   

 

 Gator Cup 2012 was a success! I shot a 362/720, which was a really solid score given the unpredictability of the wind and the chaotic nature of shooting at 70 meters.  I got to shoot with some of the most fun, awesome people, including Michelle Gilbert (left) and Miranda Leek (right).  I placed 15/16 in the senior female recurve division, 23/25 in all the 70 meter female recurve division (junior + senior... so basically the 18-20 and the 21+ divisions combined). 

 I'm not exactly known for the most legible of handwriting but I wrote clearly enough for the judges to be ok with it.  I had a few really rough ends but I had some outright solid ends too and I made (and slightly exceeded) my average of 30 points per end of 6! 

 Elimination match against Michelle Gilbert. It was a truly exciting match where I put up one heck of a fight and gave her a run for her money!

This was the end of our 3rd end. I won one end, she won one end, and we tied once. It was a nice, close competition early on but she ultimately finished with a 7-3 win as the winds started to throw me around and she figured out how to handle the wind before I got my correction coefficients in! Nonetheless, it was certainly an exciting match!

 Me and Jennifer Nichols, who took 2nd in the qualification round and 1st in the elimination matches in a close victory against Miranda Leek, who took 1st in the qualification round.

Me and Crispin Duenas of Canada, who took 1st in the qualification round and 2nd in the elimination matches in an exciting battle against the junior Alex Wiffler of the USA. 

Gator Cup was certainly one exciting event and I think I've managed to do a really good job of just amazing myself.  I had lots of fun with the longbow and got to interact with and meet some of the most amazing archers as well as just goof off with my fellow collegiate archers, who had their own share of successes!

Pictures Courtesy of Protege #2

These are all courtesy of one of my fellow compound shooters, namely the guy with the grey shirt. He's nowhere as dedicated of an archer as my traditional protege, who can whoop my butt indoors, but this boy's got a lot of potential if we can get him to actually practice. I think I did have a bit of an unfair advantage on all the boys though with my target setup and manageable poundage combined with tournament experience. Still though it was fun shooting with these guys and reminding them that it's the little chilies that are the hottest!

Odds and Ends in Archery

As always, click on the title for the rest of the pictures!

What's the probability of THIS at 50 meters?

Yes, I shoot compound every now and then!

Heck yeah!!!

Another solid gruop ... and never mind the rear end there!

SE Sectional Indoors 2012 and Better Oatmeal

The picture is self-explanatory, I assume.

I found a recipe for oatmeal that's far better than anything else I've had. Here is the link that got me started. I modified the recipe a bit by omitting the fruit and nuts and using kefir instead of yogurt, mostly because that was what I had available on hand. Basically I've eaten this cold with some raw milk with cinnamon and a small dash of stevia and I think the flavor is perfect. I've also tried a tiny bit of honey before a workout with Slaughter and that's also worked pretty well, but unless I know that I'm going into the Slaughter-House or equivalent, I'll keep the extra carbs down. If I remember, I'll try to get a photograph of the oatmeal. And yes, you DO leave the oat (be sure it's groats or steel-cut) and yogurt (or kefir) mixture out at room temperature overnight. It's perfectly safe. I haven't had any digestive issues from it and it makes for a great breakfast or relief for the ever-annoying sweet-tooth.

Escapist...

... for me, it's an escape to a world where my metabolism was actually properly functioning and I didn't need to monitor everything that goes in, where I didn't have to worry about every single morsel that went in and having to mitigate it properly... a world where I can indeed spend the bulk of my time pounding iron or shooting... a world where my academic conscience would actually leave me alone long enough for me to recuperate enough to be functional again.

I guess that's what fantasy writing is for.

Footage from the FL State Indoor Round (NAA)

This was from the 2012-Mar-10 FAA indoor (NAA round) at Easton-Newberry complex.

More NAA Indoors Pictures

All of these are courtesy of my little protege, who now ranks #1 in the nation in the USCA indoor rounds. I'm so proud of her -- she's come a very long way in the almost 2 years I've known her ... now to just get her to pound some iron with me!

My protege is #242 -- I think she stands a pretty good chance of taking me out in an indoor round at this point... which means I really need to crack down on my own shooting form!

Yes, someone actually shoots faster than I do... a few folks in fact!

Still got some alignment issues to work on but that's why I keep practicing and filming and photographing myself at various stages of the shot sequence! I seem to have some trouble once I reach anchor and I'm not always transferring properly, which leads to a messy release and follow-through. Still though it's a pretty nice picture of me in action!

I'm Not a Body-Builder But...

... I identify very much with this image, except add a substantial gut and butt and two other useless lumps of fat that interfere with a lot of other activities unless I properly keep them contained. And even then, they still annoy the living daylights out of me by being there in the first place. Darned useless extra X chromosome that inhibits proper hypertrophy and maximal strength development without chemical assistance and encourages excess adipose tissue deposition and present extra hazards that the creatures with the XY chromosome don't have to worry about.

Full State Results

The states for the whole state of FL are in...

FITA/NAA Indoor round

NFAA Indoor round

I'm still waiting to hear from the NFAA Sectional but I'm still extremely pleased at how extraordinarily well I shot all my events regardless of how I measured up to fellow archers, even if I do have a playful rivalry with a few folks.

Indoor-Mania 2012

Pictures are a bit out of order ... so I'll just have to caption them as I go. I think you can probably put the pieces together. I shot the FL Archery Association NFAA and NAA indoor rounds along with the NFAA SE Sectional. I did FAA, NFAA, and NAA for longbow and FAA and NAA for compound freestyle.

First the numbers.
Adult female longbow, NAA: 380/600 x2/60, 402/600 x2/60, total 782/1200 x4/120. Not a personal best in the big picture but a very strong score nonetheless given the rounds were late at night and/or after a LONG day of shooting. These were the colorful targets.

Adult female longbow, NFAA: 211/300 x3/60, 195/300 x3/60, total 406/600 x6/120. Again, not a personal best but still pretty darned good, especially considering I had 3 shots where I forgot which target I was supposed to shoot at! These were the blue and white targets.

I noticed I had a tendency to do some vulture-like posturing and my shooting style became a lot more "punchy" (ie, faster than usual but also a lot more decisive when I did "punch" my shots).

And then there was adult female compound freestyle, NFAA: 296/300, 31x with 18 inside-out... and 292/300, 27x with 10 inside-out... for a grand total of 588/1200 with 58x of which 28 were inside-out. THOSE were personal best scores by a long-shot. My last NFAA 300 round personal best was in the low 270s with the same setup and thicker arrows. I was extremely amazed to put it mildly!

Another Fun Workout

This was at the hands of a floor instructor I jokingly (and lovingly) refer to as either Slaughter or Sgt. Cross-Fit. I got 4 complete sets and then stopped on the 5th rep of the Close-Grip DB Presses + Flies on the 5th round. I looked like I had fallen into the swimming pool after completing this drill... but then again, anything with Slaughter will leave me well-soaked!

Buggery at TBoF Spring Championships

And we're talking ... plenty of bugs. Even with bug spray, at least on Saturday. It was buggering buggy and humid. As always, click either the title or here for the full suite of pictures. Saturday was the ultimate buggery -- bowstring broke, had to get a replacement and had to both re-calibrate AND switch to a sub-optimal set of arrows I brought just to be safe, and did I mention bugs and humidity? As well as shots that made me utter the phrase "What the dookie?!" as I did the country capoeira before having to kneel (or lunge or squat) into position to even get a shot. I much preferred the clear, open shots of the Howard Hill range (even if they always were closer than my brain registered them to be) over the short, trashy shots on the Fred Bear range (where I uttered "What the dookie?!" several times).

TBoF Banquet. Where's the food?! I want my protein and I want it now!!

The five intrepid adventurers in the top flight of the women's longbow division. It's so awesome seeing that there's also youngsters (ie, younger than me) in this division!

Took 3rd in my division. Whoa, after what I shot on Saturday, I was surprised that I even made the top flight of my division! I think I went into the championship round in 5th but I guess I made a few lucky shots, including an ugly wart-hog on a master's stake and getting my revenge on a cheetah who kept ducking under my arrow! Now to get my revenge on a little fox who's been ducking from me every shoot...

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?