A Fun 10k and Still Sore

So I ran the 10k that I linked last time, and am still sore. It was quite a race and a nice day to boot.

Jessie and I headed out of Hilo about 5:30 and went across saddle road. Noticed a bit of traffic then but they all passed us, might have been racers but not completely sure. Turned off saddle and went down 190 toward Kona and turned at the ranch with Pu'u Wa'awa'a on it.

I got ready and the time finally came, people wandered over to the start. It was the most relaxed starting line I have seen so far. Only one person was right up to the start, all the rest hung back so I was close to the front but tried to get a bit further back before the start.

They did the ready-set-go, and we were off. Of course I was passed by a ton of people who hadn't lined up in the 5 feet of clear space before the line, so I really couldn't help it. The first short leg was around the reservoir that had Nene actually swimming around in it... so odd to see them swim. It was a bit over a quarter mile and looped back near the start to a road that started the climb. Did I mention the climb? All 1200 feet of elevation gain? Well, now I will.

This is the craziest 10k I have run, this one being my 4th, but the elevation gain around the Pu'u (cinder cone) will probably keep this among my craziest races for a while, outdoing the 5k with 600 feet by a long shot. Outdoing it for one because it was twice the gain and twice the distance, but also on a four-wheel drive trail that had loose A'a balls (cinder) that ranged in sized from thumb to head, though mostly fist-sized. Big enough to break an ankle. Of course everyone had slowed down as we started going up the ascent. It wasn't too bad, for the first few hundred meters. It was up, but not UP, but then it started to be UP and I found that walking with big strides was getting me further than maintaining a cadence of small running steps. Also the lungs and heart were not really happy with the GO UP NOW mentality.

I probably walked most of the three miles, interspersed with running to pass one or tow other people. Leap-frogged a bit with one person. They had names of trees for the Dry Forest posted as we went up the hill, I don't remember too many of them, maybe I was focusing on other things?

As we went up there started to be dirt in between the rolly-stones. Finally cresting at 3260 feet felt great, except for the rest of me which was in agony. And then I started the descent. In general I hate going down, I didn't hate this one, but it sure was a lot of down.

At one point I was essentially sprinting down the side of the pu'u and trying not to die. I was running out of breath even going down, just from moving my legs fast enough not to wipe out and die. Lots of potential to die. Fortunately most of the surface was well packed dirt rather than the rolly stuff we had ascended.

I slowed down quite a bit and mostly finished at that pace. Came back into near the starting area where Jessie got a few pictures of me looking tired. The glasses help hide the wonderful state of mind I was in. I didn't even have enough to sprint to the finish. Came in at 1:10:27, not bad considering the course, but no where near my 57:13 PR.

To do better at this race I will have to do way more hill training and not just sprints but finding and doing long hills, which is not hard to do in Hilo. But this was a crazy race. Most others around here are flat or rolling, a few have some fun hills, but I think this one takes the cake for Hawaii Races.

Added Running, but Still Mostly Fencing

Wow, it has certainly been a long time. Who knew back then that I would start running? Not me certainly. I do enjoy it though and it helps strengthen the old legs, okay not that old, for fencing.

Fencing has had its ups and downs this last year and I am surely feeling an itch to not quite strike out on my own but to certainly teach people what to do. First we lost the gym at UH Hilo, but that might have been a blessing in disguise, it certainly got a few people riled up and we have a new place to fence at Mauna Loa School Gym on Tuesday evenings.

We have had a huge influx of people this year due to the drastic cut in cost and good recruiting by one or two of our fencers. But unfortunately it is not a class so the people that are new are mostly getting a trial-by-fire and there have been a few injuries due to that set-up. I am a bit concerned but it is hard to know what to do. I have been shot down for formalizing the club to provide a cover for our fencers and a bit of organization so that if someone is sick/injured/busy we would be able to carry on with all of our equipment as a "club."

As an individual I have taken the action to become a professional member so that I can be covered. I would love for the rest of the group to be covered as well but that is a personal choice at the moment that none others have gone for.

Now on to a lighter topic: Running. Tomorrow is an awesome 10k race at Pu'u Wa'awa'a just northeast of Kailua Kona. The course is pretty rugged "featuring 1200 feet of elevation gain in the first 3 miles," which, needless to say is a whole lot of feet. Jessie and I will be heading out bright and early tomorrow morning to get there for the 7:45 AM start. The weather should be mostly clear for this Dry Forest 10k. Now I just need to keep hydrated and eat a good supper. I will write about it Sunday, well at least I hope so. Here is the link: http://www.pathhawaii.org/2011/08/puuwaawaa-2/

Hawaii Open February 27th and 28th

Here is a list of the events for the Hawaii Open as I got them from Colin yesterday. The event is to take place in the Neal Blaisdell Center on Oahu. To preregister go to: http://askfred.net/Events/moreInfo.php?tournament_id=9231 and sign up!

Event	Date	Registration Closes
Senior Women's Epee	Sat 2/27	8:00 AM
Senior Women's Foil	Sun 2/28	8:00 AM
Senior Women's Saber	Sun 2/28	1:00 PM
Senior Mixed Epee	Sun 2/28	10:00 AM
Senior Mixed Foil	Sat 2/27	10:30 AM
Senior Mixed Saber	Sun 2/28	2:00 PM
Vet Combined Mixed Epee	Sat 2/27	3:00 PM

Finally Fixing Foils

Our fencing club is primarily a foil club. We often experience weapons failures if the body-cord or the floor-cord doesn't fail first.

The most common failure by far is in the tip. One touch is fine but a minute later a white light comes on when parrying before I have a chance to riposte. This is not completely diagnostic or limited to a tip problem but it often can be. After checking the connection between the body-cord and the weapon, mostly wiggling or un-plugging and plugging back in, I then check the bolts that hold the body-cord to see if they are loose. Then I check the length of wire that runs behind the pad to see if is crushed, and then inspect the length of the blade for "inch-worms." If there is nothing obvious then it is probably time to take off the tip and clean out the corrosion as Hawaii is a great place for things to rust quickly.

But if we weren't primarily a foil club we could do sabre where the most complex pieces of equipment carried around are the lame, which is only complex due to delicate strands of wire, and the body-cord. The sabre itself is either broken or the plug is bad if everything else checks out. I read somewhere of a procedure that would be able to isolate the malfunctioning piece of equipment, I forget where and how, but then after that the malfunctioning piece must be fixed and sometimes it is a struggle to know what to fix.

As I learn more I will share, hopefully our fixed weapons will work!

Tired Fencing is Erratic

Yesterday I was fencing with our club and by the end of the night I was noticing just how large and grotesque my parries were. I was mentally tired but not particularly physically tired but it effected my game quite a bit. But it is exciting enough to stay awake.

Need to really write more.

Long Time

Just busy, take a look at the new post about legs, please feel free to comment!

Bryan

Legs and Locomotion

Feet are important, but they don't go anywhere without the legs, so let's talk drumsticks. People I have observed are often not aware where their feet are, and they don't know where their legs are. No matter how strong your legs are, they are among the most often hurt. So, as feet are important, so are legs. Knowing about your legs could save you trouble down the strip.

Your feet move along the strip, your legs move your feet, your legs carry your body on top of your feet. Often when an action happens in the legs and feet the body telegraphs it for the whole world to see, or at least the opponent. One of the forms is bobbing: both knees straighten to some extant. The feet may also be a bit closer than they were, helping the fencer to stand up. From this position the fencer needs to drop down again to effectively take advantage of an en-guarde position. When repeated quickly down the strip it seems as if the person is galloping down the strip.

Rocking is also a major problem. This is caused by one or the other of the knees straightening, causing a shift in weight. This is particularly disastrous because it can bring the target area much closer to the tip of the opponent's blade. It can also bring the front knee too far over the foot, causing strain over the long term.

Bouncing, it may feel as though you are ready, but I have a story from another martial art, Tae Kwon Do. One of my friends told me about a tournament where he faced an opponent who was bouncing in readiness, he circled once, got the rythm down and caught his opponent just at the top of the bounce. Even though it wasn't a big movement the feet needed to be on the ground to initiate an effective reaction. Along with setting up a predictable pattern it is tiring and can lead to long term damage, or short term strain.

In warm-up getting the blood flowing in the legs is a good thing, and bouncing might be an ideal warm-up. However, out on the strip it shows an over-eagerness and an easy way to tire and defeat the bouncer. The feet should be lightly on the strip but leave excessive, repetitive bouncing out of it.

An exercise: The escalator, some old comedian or another used a waist high curtain and made it look like there was an escalator behind it. The smoothness of his descent was quite a treat and feat. Do something similar, and see how low you can go with smooth steps, no "elevator."

The importance of knees is to bend, right, but knees need to bend correctly. Most knee injuries come from lunges. A competitor lunges at an opponent and has to keep going to get the point. The front knee is bent well beyond the foot. This in itself is okay, only if you don't need to retreat, but slowly come out of it and celebrate a good touch or wonder how the opponent got that riposte. However, it is more likely that you will try to spring back to avoid the riposte. The pressure on the knee to come out of this very low lunge can damage it and possibly bring your bout to a close. The rule is to not let your knee go less than 90 degrees with the foot or the leg. That way the sudden reversal will not put quite so much pressure on the knee, but spread it to the foot as well. Make sure to practice lunges slowly to get the feel of a good lunge, make it muscle memory.

The hips are just as important as the knees. In combination with the knees the hips provide the other side of the shock absorbers. You should feel as though you are sitting on a somewhat high stool, but definitely sitting. This allows for the movement of the knees to be compensated for by the hips. This compensation deadens most of the movement of the legs, making smooth steps seem even smoother. There should be no galloping or rocking with the knees and the hips working in concert.

Strong legs are good for fencing. That statement is obvious, being able to move in fencing is the best defense and offense. I have seen people win bouts without moving more than their wrist, but they were 90 years old and had very good form, also they couldn't keep up if they were to try to move. Anybody below 70 who doesn't have an injury or chronic pain should move. So what do you need to do to get those legs into tip-top condition?

- Squats, calf-raises, standing leg lifts, side-lifts toes forward, one-legged, with weights.
-Sit-ups and reverse sit-ups or supermans, are actually important to the strength of the legs. These exercise the core of the body which sits directly on top of the legs and there are muscles that run between.

Knowing what your body is doing is important for all physical motion, most people just go about their daily lives without thinking about it. In fencing this is another idea which needs to be ingrained so that it can be done without thinking. You may try using any of the bad things as lures for those who might react to them, however, it can get your feet bound up in a knot if you are not careful. The legs are the movers and shock-absorbers built into one. Learn, strengthen, take care of and you will move opponents to the brink of collapse.