Author: fencingmarie

I didn’t work out today. I took a nap after work, and when Nik came home and woke me, I was disoriented and sluggish. Apparently I’d slept on my back with my arms above my head, so my shoulders were toast. He was tired too, so we declared it rest day.

The last few days leading up to MCA were brutal. It seemed like there was a ton of stuff to do and not a lot of time to do it, and then there were days when we couldn’t work ahead, so we had all this idle time. It’s hard to explain.

Anyway, I left off on Wednesday. Let’s get caught up.

Thursday: I didn’t have much time, so I did 15 minutes of cardio (elliptical with the mask on) and then met up with a handful of people for extra fencing practice. We all kind of phoned it in, but I fought a few passes with everyone.

Friday: We had regular club practice and then did a few hours of setup. We didn’t have time to go to the gym, but I definitely got my steps in (and then some).

Saturday: THE BIG DAY. I fenced every tournament that I was eligible for (minus the sword and dagger tourney). I did good fencing but didn’t advance very far. I did have some issues with fighting my gear, but I mostly stayed in my headspace. I had taken off and packed up most of my gear when the King and Queen came to me and asked me to participate in the championship tournament at the end of the event. I was honored and gladly obliged. Again, I didn’t advance, but I did good fencing.

That’s me on the right.

I took it easy yesterday. Today I’m headed back to the gym. Everyone in the club is pretty spent, so I think we’re going to check in with the club fencers and then go lift instead of fencing. My legs are really sore, so I feel like a day off won’t kill me.

In other news, I compiled a bunch of superhero-inspired workouts to share with my friends, and I took photos of some sample workouts from a book I got from the library. I’ve deleted BodySpace since it wasn’t really meeting my needs. We’ll see if compiling workouts helps or if it’s just another form of research rabbit hole that I can fall down without doing any actual work.

I ended up not stopping cardio yet. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical with the mask on and had an average heart rate of 144

After a short rest, I went to club practice. I got to fence with Nik’s mentor Mikolaj. He’s an extremely skilled fencer, so I felt like I was doing good fencing when I gave him a good fight, even though I didn’t make a lot of touches.

I got a lot of stuff done today (you know, like my real job and sewing projects and whatnot).

I went to the gym and did my 30 minutes of cardio with the mask on. I clicked up a level on one side. I don’t remember my average heart rate, but I am maintaining rigor.

Tonight I got tipsy and did some timing, judgment, and balance drills. It was not as much of a disaster than one would think.

I have two more real practice nights and one more extra fencing night until MCA.

Today, once again, I skipped cardio. I’ll do my 30 min tomorrow, and that will be my last with the mask until after MCA.

I finished a sewing project and did some mending. I’m trying to squeeze out one more shirt to sell at the event. We’ll see.

Tonight I went to UWF fencing. I didn’t fence a lot of people, but I did move around a lot. I feel pretty good about that.

I sewed fencing clothes all day. Nik kindly did some timing and judgment drills with me tonight.

We’re in the final stretch. I’m ready for the event to be over, but I’m not ready for the event to begin, if that makes sense.

Once again, I skipped dedicated cardio time because I was doing projects. However, I fenced hard for half an hour, so I think I killed two birds with one stone.

I worked on taking my sword and buckler against a long sword. It’s a challenge, and I really have to be aggressive to make it work. If I can gain the blade and keep it, once I’m in distance, the fight is over. It was a lot of fun too.

I was just telling Nik that I don’t feel like I’m fencing when I do rapier. I move around and sweat and get tired, but it isn’t the same as when I use my arming sword. When I do sword and buckler, I feel like I’m really fighting. I don’t know if that means I need to change my rapier game or if it just means the two are different beasts. I’m not stressing over it – just curious.

Today Nik and I were on a roll with projects, so we ended up skipping the gym. We did have fencing practice, but since we couldn’t get to the equipment, we did some conditioning at the beginning of practice. I got to fence a bunch of people, and I showed folks some basic buckler concepts.

After that, we ate cheeseburgers and went to the movies. I’ll call it a good night.

Today I got too busy (and too tired – I didn’t sleep well) to do my cardio, so I skipped it.

I met up with my Krav guys and showed them my fencing games. They were pretty stoked about the potential to turn them into warm-ups for Krav. I’m also totally counting it as a two-for (fencing and Krav practice at the same time).

After that we planned some seminars, and after THAT, we practiced combinations of rolls. It was a little shaky at first, but I feel pretty good about my command of that skill.

I want to get back into the gym for cardio before fencing tomorrow.