It was all going just fine.....

.....until I met my husband in the round of 16. :(

I went to VA Tech for a tournament this weekend. I wasn't feeling real confident (I'm not even sure why) on Saturday, but I suited up to fence some saber, and had a great time. Everything was going just fine until I met my husband in the round of 16. I'm so grumpy about it, because I would rather lose to anyone in the entire world (even someone who picked up a saber last week) than my husband. The bright spot? I managed to get ten points on him. Unfortunately, ten does not equal 15, and that meant I was done for the day.

Sunday was epee. The day started off poorly, being that I forgot to change my clock, and got to the meeting point at 5AM instead of 6. Now, I was working with about three hours of sleep already, and that extra hour would have been quite helpful.

My epee was crappier than I think it ever has been. I didn't win a bout all day. My goal, even if I'm not winning, is to score some points in each bout. I couldn't even do that! I met some really great people though, and had a wonderful time with my teammates.

There was a guy in my pool (C rated I believe) who insisted on giving me a whole pile of advice, most of which was way over my head. It's not that I don't appreciate his advice, but I tried to explain that I'm a saber fencer, and only really dabble in epee. His answer? He tells me that I have the potential to be very competative in epee, but I need to give up saber altogether. What?!?!?!?!?! I tried to explain further that really love saber, and don't care if I'm an awesome epee fencer, blah, blah, blah..... but he seemed not even to hear me. Anyway, it just cracked me up, because as much as I appreciated his advice and yearning to help me improve, he was obsessed with making me something that I'm not. Oh well.

I'm lazy....I know.

Ok ok I know......I haven't recapped my weekend, nor have I talked about the up and coming one, but I'll consider myself scolded. (Only by me, since no one seems to care if I blog or not.)

Last weekend: Atlanta. Got my butt kicked in epee, as usual. I'm consistantly inconsistant. I had some super nice touches in my pool though. I was happy about that. In the saber I dropped a couple of bouts in my pool that I shouldn't have, but I just couldn't get my head out of epee mode! It was really weird, fencing two different weapons in one day. I just kept counter attacking. Ugh. Anyway, I was seeded 7th (out of ten!) going into DE's. Had to fence the #10 seed first. She was a super nice girl, and felt kinda bad for beating her as badly as I did. After that, it was on to the #2 seed. The had already beaten me 5-1 in the pool, but I was determined to at least hold my own in the DE bout. I ended up beating him 15-12! Yay! I think that's one of 2 bouts in my entire fencing history that I won when technically I wasn't supposed to. It was pretty exciting. After that, i had to fence a big and scary epee fencer guy. Although I gave that guy a run for his money, I lost 15-12. His distance and timing were unbelievably good, so I now know what I need to work more on. He ended up winning the tournament, and I tied for third with one of my teammates. It was a nice weekend. There are always some really great people in Atlanta.

This weekend, I have VA Tech, which judging by the pre registration list, might be quite a large tournament. Should be fun. I'm fencing saber on Saturday, and epee on Sunday.

Next weekend, my club is having an E & under tournament, so I'll actually be trying my hand at foil! If I score a few point throughout the day, I'll consider it victorious. :)

The scare of the century

Tuesday afternoon, all was fine. I picked up my little boy from school and took him home for some dinner and playtime before bed. At 8 o'clock, everything was fine. I brushed his teeth, read a story, and tucked him snugly into bed for what I thought would be another peaceful evening. At about 10:45 PM, everything became less than peaceful. He came running out of his room crying and gasping for air. Not good.

My husband and I throw on some clothes and go straight to the ER for a very long night. After they put him on a nebulizer and he blows chunks a couple of times, he strats to calm down. Great, but they decide they want to admit him to the hospital. Yay. He's still wheezing and coughing, so we figure that we're better safe than sorry.

They put him in a funky tent thing for him to breathe "good air." The diagnosis? Severe croup with respiratory distress. Now, I remember getting croup as a kid, but it never put me in the hospital!!!!! Nor, did it come on in a matter of hours! The kid was fine when I put him down for bed.

Anyway, he was released from the hospital around 9 this morning, and is doing much better. A few days of recovery at home, and I'm sure he'll be himself again.

I however, haven't slept in 2 days, and would love to crawl under a rock for hibernation right now. Ahhhh....the joys of parenthood.

Consistency ramblings.....

So I figured I'd had enough time to reflect about my weekend, so it's time to journal now that my thoughts are a bit more in order.


I decided to fence some epee on Saturday. Boy am I inconsistant! My saber is fairly consistant, but definitely not my epee. I realize I've only been fencing epee since January, but still. It's been 2 months in a row that I've missed earning my rating by 2 or 3 points. Ugh. In our August home tournament, I couldn't hit anyone if my epee were 9 feet long. Oh well, I had a great time. Went to Atlanta a week or two after that, and things were even worse. Next home tournament (September) I somehow found my mojo. I beat a guy that I totally expected to crush me. (It was 15-14, so it may have been an accident, but he didn't crush me at all.) Then I had to fence one of my teammates that I train with often. I expected him to crush me. I lost to him 15-13. I figured out way too late in the game what worked, but I made a great comeback. Had I won, I would have earned my D. :( Fine. I still fenced well, and was proud of my (almost) accomplishments. Next came the Tiger Open. Had a great time, but again I couldn't hit anyone with a 9 foot epee. Next came the Miami NAC. Again, couldn't hit anyone with a 9 foot epee. Then comes the home tournament this past weekend. Started off a little rough, but once I found my "epee legs" I started fencing faily well. Won my first DE. Had to fence another guy that I thought would crush me. Lost 15-12. That one would have been my E. I gave him a real run for his money, except I choked at the end when it really mattered. He actually told me that my point control was "amazing". Why can't I be consistantly amazing? How come I fence really well at home tournaments, but when I travel I SUCK!!!


The moral of the ramblings: It's a darn good thing that I'm having a great time, because if I weren't this would be incredibly frustrating!!!!


Oh well. Atlanta this weekend. Va Tech next weekend. E & under home tourney the weekend after that. (I can only fence epee and foil. Foil? Did I just say I was going to fence foil? Everyone should be very afraid.)

Miami in October...

No one told me it was going to be so freaking hot!!!! Anyway....

I have returned from what could possibly be one of the biggest disappointments of my life. Let's start at the beginning:

Thursday- I had to fly down there in the middle of Tropical Storm Tammy. Yay. The turbulence was horrendous, and the flight was delayed about 45 minutes. I finally got into bed at my hotel around 1:30 AM, with a 7AM check-in looming around the corner.

Friday- I fenced about as well as expected in Div. III epee. I won 1 bout in my pool and lost anoth 5-4. Ok. No big deal. Lost my first DE 15-13. Bummer, but still not really worried about it. I had never fenced a NAC in epee before, so I had no expectations. I had a good time, and got to fence some new people. (And the girl who won it was from NC, so yay!)

Saturday- Div. III women's saber. I was pumped. I was ready. I had a great attitude going into it. Didn't care if I brought home a medal or not, but I was fencing well, and was hoping to make the top 16. I made plans to meet with another fencer for some warm-ups, and found out once I got there that she was the #1 seed. No worries. She was a really great girl and paid me a huge compliment when she said something about being "glad to have someone at her tempo to warm up with." That made me feel really good, and I couldn't wait to get started with the day.

The pool- In the first bout of my saber pool, the other girl was chasing me down, and all of a sudden, I was flat on my back. Somehow, I got tripped up and the next thing I knew, I was looking up at about 4 people standing over me. They kept asking if I was ok, and all I could think was, "You're a saber fencer, shake it off and finish this!" So I tried. I went 2-3 in the pool. I was so dazed and out of it, that I was on my last bout before I really felt anything. My hip (which apparently I had landed on when I fell), was starting to throb, and my back didn't feel great either. I couldn't change direction quickly without serious pain. Not good. I went to the trainer, iced it down, and just kept thinking, "It's alright, you'll just have to take the back door in."

When it was time for the DE I could barely move. I just kept telling myself that I could get past it, that it would go away.......until I tried to change direction and fell again, crashing the very same hip into the strip again. Again, everyone was around me asking if I was alright, and if I needed my ten minute injury time out. It was so surreal. It was almost like I was floating above the room, watching the unbelievable scene below me. I finished the bout right away, but only scored a couple more points. I think I lost it 15-8.

Today- I'm pretty beat up. My hip and one side of my butt are a really nasty purple color, and I'm incredibly sore. Will I survive? Of course, but I haven't been this dissappointed about a fencing tournament in a long time. I hate blaming the whole thing on injury. I watch my teammates bounce back from stuff like that every day. Then, someone reminded me....I'm not 16 anymore. >:(

My warm-up partner, on the other hand, made the top 8. I was so excited for her, and maybe next time I can be on that podium with her.
Other than the dissappointment, it was a great trip. I met a ton of new people, had some great touches, and got to see the screwless epee tips close up......among other things.

I've got to take a few days off, but I'm going to make up for this whole experience in Atlanta.

Here kitty kitty...

Ahhhhh....the Tiger Open 2005. What a great weekend. The review:

Saturday I went down for saber. The tournament had a decent tournout, with 36 people (I think). Unfortunately, 20 of them were from my club, so I had to fence a lot of teammates. Oh well. I fenced ok in the pools (4-2), and was seeded 13th going into DE's. I beat one of my teammates in the first round of DE's, and had to fence the #4 seed in the next round. I had a heartbreaking 15-12 loss to him, so I was finished. But he wasn't THAT good, and I know what I should have done differently to beat him. I did end up being the highest finishing woman though. I felt pretty bad with the headcold I've been dealing with, but it really helped clear my head and chest out once I started fencing. Not bad. I finished 12th.

Sunday: I got up at the crack of dawn and drove back down to Clemson to fence epee. I only won one bout in my pool, but I fenced well for my ability, and had a really great time. Two of my teammates made the top 8, and we were really proud of them!


Now it's on to Miami. I fly out on Thursday night after work, and have to check in for epee at 7 AM Friday morning. It's going to be a rough day, but I'm really excited about fencing my first epee NAC. If I can just get rid of the jitters.....