Although my month off doesn't end until early November, I competed in a tournament at Temple today and I'm signed up for a tournament at Medeo next week. I always enjoy the Temple one, which is a nice sharpener for the Temple team, and the tournament at Medeo also offers a veteran mixed tournament as well as a women's, so I couldn't resist signing up.

And the Temple tournament was just as nice as I hoped and nicer, with a good representation of strong fencers from elsewhere, but there was really one problem:

I didn't care. I really didn't care. At all.

I have good reason. I have just come off peaking for a serious event, after a year of struggling to make the time to train and trying to keep myself motivated, and right now, just at the moment, I am not particularly interested in making myself work. I had a good time at the tournament, don't get me wrong. My pool was a lot of fun, and I really geared myself up to fence Audrey Barroso, who is a left-hander with considerable experience (I asked her and she has been fencing for eleven years!), but I was just going through the motions for the most part.

After the pool I sat around a bit, refereed a DE, and then lay down on the floor and took a nap. A nap! I was tired, and I was sleepy, and I wanted to be finished so I could go take a shower and get ready to watch the next World Series game, and I was relaxed enough that I could just drift off. That never happens to me at tournaments .

My DE was with a perfectly competent girl, and I could have beaten her--and was in fact ahead much of the way--but she ramped it up and worked hard, and I just didn't care. She beat me by one touch. Good for her, she deserved to win, and honest to god I. do. not. care.

And it doesn't bother me. There have been times I have been disturbed by my inability to step up the intensity for tournaments that don't matter, but this isn't one of those times.

I wouldn't go to the Medeo tournament except I need to replace the fencing bag wheel Air France ate, and it's an Absolute bag.

I'm not going into fencing next week. And maybe the week after--I'll see how I feel. I do have to sharpen for the December NAC, but if I keep exercising the way I have been I will be in good shape and should be able to get my distance and timing back.

Update: Jessi1 finished third! And earned her C! Good for her. And Audrey won. Nice all around.