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anotheranonWent about as smoothly as it could have, barring my own stupidity. Let me explain:
The first and more difficult competition (Division II) started at 8 am. These are difficult for me because I have to get up around 5 in order to find something to eat, get to the venue, and warm up, Unusually, I was able to get to sleep by 10 the night before and used my little blue light to get up with, so I was starting good.
Except I had an un-allergic reaction to... something in the venue that made me congested and triggered an asthma attack(? gulping for air) as soon as I started fencing. The air was also drier than Death Valley. Foolishly, I didn't want to admit I needed to use my inhaler, and drank a ton of water to try and relieve my dry throat. So, I spent much of pools wheezing and needing to use the bathroom and therefore tanked :(
Somehow I found a tiny reserve of awesome and managed to win my last pool bout (first time I've ever won a pool bout in DII!), only to face someone as defensive/tentative as I was in direct elimination. I lost 14-7 after using up all of the time and most of my air.
Next day I resolved not to be as dim: used my inhaler, drank less water, and felt MUCH better. Good preparation + later start time = I was able to do better overall. Though I won only one pool bout I came close on another and got more total touches than the day before. So yay for me.
Then I got direct elimination against someone who had one good move, one EXCEPTIONALLY good move, plus youth, speed and height, and I only got two touches on her (I think one was a good lunge, but even so...)
L. and D. got some film of that last bout. I dread seeing it because despite the same thing happening over and over I still couldn't do anything about it.
End results: incremental improvements, but my mind is still ahead of my body.
The first and more difficult competition (Division II) started at 8 am. These are difficult for me because I have to get up around 5 in order to find something to eat, get to the venue, and warm up, Unusually, I was able to get to sleep by 10 the night before and used my little blue light to get up with, so I was starting good.
Except I had an un-allergic reaction to... something in the venue that made me congested and triggered an asthma attack(? gulping for air) as soon as I started fencing. The air was also drier than Death Valley. Foolishly, I didn't want to admit I needed to use my inhaler, and drank a ton of water to try and relieve my dry throat. So, I spent much of pools wheezing and needing to use the bathroom and therefore tanked :(
Somehow I found a tiny reserve of awesome and managed to win my last pool bout (first time I've ever won a pool bout in DII!), only to face someone as defensive/tentative as I was in direct elimination. I lost 14-7 after using up all of the time and most of my air.
Next day I resolved not to be as dim: used my inhaler, drank less water, and felt MUCH better. Good preparation + later start time = I was able to do better overall. Though I won only one pool bout I came close on another and got more total touches than the day before. So yay for me.
Then I got direct elimination against someone who had one good move, one EXCEPTIONALLY good move, plus youth, speed and height, and I only got two touches on her (I think one was a good lunge, but even so...)
L. and D. got some film of that last bout. I dread seeing it because despite the same thing happening over and over I still couldn't do anything about it.
End results: incremental improvements, but my mind is still ahead of my body.
