I left about 0630 hours for Columbus, OH, to fence at the Fattened Pilgrim Open. Unfortunately, there were only 13 participants so it was an E1 rather than a C1 competition.

I lost to Mironova 5-4 (he's a C fencer) and to Ferrara, 5-2, a D fencer. I won the remaining 4 bouts, including one against Lillard, a D fencer, who had the disadvantage of directing the pool and I think this threw off his timing as I've fenced him before and he was definitely not fencing as usual today.

I think my other fencers were Burns (U), Early (U), and Hessler (U) but it was a long drive home and I don't remember.

I was seeded 5th after the pool and won my first bout fairly easily against #12. My second DE was against #4, Silwani who was an E2008. He had a two point lead at the half but quickly took over in the second half and I never came close again.

Added Sunday: The results are up and I finished 6th. That's pretty solidly in the middle and I'm content with that.

The good stuff:
Silwani tried a PIL once and I do badly on these when I pause to think about how I should response. This time, I just did it without thinking and nailed it perfectly. Coach would have approved of that one.

I did manage to adjust most of the time in the pool and I did try to use more of the strip and not just the opponent's half. I'm still primarily an aggressive fencer but I did set up a few parry-ripostes.

The bad stuff:
I'm still falling into old patterns when I get caught up in the moment and lose focus. I'm too predictable when this happens and I am not finishing the attacks as I should with a one-two rather than a one-and-a-two. [About as slow as Lawrence Welk, too.]

Heading home, I discovered my son was heading back to TN but pausing on the South side of Indy for all of us to gather for dinner.

Is anyone here a police officer? I would never, ever speed on I-70 on the way home. Never. Ever. Honest.

I iced my knee thoroughly before leaving and stopped at every rest stop to walk around a bit and then re-ice the knee. I even wore my cyro-cuff at the restaurant and on the way home again and I'll find out tomorrow if it swells or not.

Next weekend is Indiana's JO qualifier and I'm going to be assisting in laying out the strips, etc. I've playing with Fencing Time and trying to insure I understand it well enough to do anything I need to do to assist. The following day, Sunday, is another event in Columbus and if all goes well, I'll head out there again.

I need all the practice I can get before Colorado Springs. I feel so incredibly unready for this.