Sadly, no gym time yesterday, some important executive from another important bank, wanted a report "talking points" about nothing in particular from an important executive from the bank I work for, and the subject matter was my area of expertise in the bank. Gym was scarificed to create chit-chat from one know-it-all to another know-it-all for mutual tedium. My area of expertise, Mechanical Engineering, in this case water conservation projects the bank has undertaken, is never the most scintillating conversation between two non-engineers (it's like watching Y14 lefties feach other).

Fencing practice was good, or at least good enough. Any fencing practice is a world better than no fencing practice. I had gotten there late because the rehearsals for Oklahoma had gotten the better of my daughter and my wife wanted to go out for coffee before I disappeared.

I got to warm up with some of the High School girl foilists. I worked with one of them filling the empty tempos she would leave lying around in the middle of the phrase. Another girl was doing her middle school science project on heart rate changes in fencing. So was taking heart rate readings from another of the girls while I was fencing her some 10 Touch bouts. Got to fence a couple touches with the other vet fencer there, he is always entertaining to fence with, even though he is obsessed with perfecting his flick at the expense of a straight attack. He has really springy legs and moves well, so it keeps me thinking.

My lesson was cut short when I started developing some pain in my back knee, which prevented me from launching properly for the lunge drills (double disengage body, double disengage to the arm on recovery). The rest of the lesson was good drilling for countertime actions with an opposition fleche (someday I will get countertime right).

My practice bout with the coach was pretty disasterous, I was looking at the wrong solution to not having my knee firing correctly. We called it quits after a 10-6 defeat. I was trying to compensate with shorter attacks to the wrist which still required me to hit coming forward, or at least recovering. In retrospect, I should have been working on countertime stop-hits going backwards (taking the loads off my knee).

The vet event at BCAF was up to 10 fencers when I last checked, so it is a ridiculously contested E1 event. If you want to mix it up with some really competitive vet epee fencers prior to the Vet NAC, eat the late fee and sign up.

Taking note of the knee issues, I have to examime my biomechanics in my footwork. I think I have some technique problems that are exacerbating my knee (time to get the video camera out). I suspect the actual culprit is my cubicle of torture at work, my legs are folded under my chair most the day, and that is putting a side load on my knees, potentially stretching the ligaments (? Have to look that up). This had been the cause of ankle problems I had some time ago, it's time to adjust my work-space again (would the bank tolerate me sitting on one of those dang ball things?)

The knee is being shored up with an ACE elastic knee brace, an Alleve and my wife's spectacular fencers balm (Attack in Prep - warming formula, available on the internet near you: Fencers Balm). Not be an unreasonable shil, but a little more on the balm, the emu oil and arnica combination really work for me, another fencing vet friend of mine swears by the cooling formula for his aches (we think he might be eating it).

Diet:
5:00 AM Breakfast 3 eggs and Spinach
9:00 AM Snack: Almonds (about 10)
Somewhere in there a really big Black Coffee
12:30 PM Lunch, Omelete (Turkey, Spinach, Salsa)
SNACKS Almonds (about 10) x 4
SNACKS Mixed nuts (15-20, they're mixed, I don't know) x 4
Consumed 1.5 l of water in the meantime.
7:20 PM Dinner: Chicken Tenders, Salad Greens

I should probably be eating more, and eating more fiber (the popular thinking recommends more beans) I was really hungry on the train ride home.