Bugger shooting Murphy...we should just shoot me.

It's a weird situation when you are exercising up to 6 hours a day and feel that you really could be doing more. I walk about 2 hours minimum a day. I go to gym for an hour of cardio most days and I shoot 3 hours or more a day. And yet I feel lazy and unfit. So I went to the gym to chat with a personal trainer and he recommended TRX bands. They suspend from the air and you use them to destabilise core strength exercises and hence make them really hard to do and therefore a solid core workout. So at my personal trainer's advice I went to the next available class... there may have been whimpering and unattractive face pulling. Instead of a fairly low cardio, but solid core workout I found myself in a class worthy of Cross Fit and at one point lying flat on the floor ordering my body to do what it's told and not getting much more than panting and twitching. After the 5 hours I had already put into walking and shooting that day...it wasn't quite how I was expecting to finish my day. The 30min walk home from the gym may have looked more like shuffling and getting up the next morning involved a lot more whimpering. And after that genuinely horrible experience... I'm of course signed up for next weeks class. No one ever said I was smart :)

And on the topic of fitness and walking it is rather amusing to realise that Danes are allergic to walking. If you tell them you walked somewhere they all immediately ask why you didn't ride a bike. They can all understand an hour ride on the bike...none seem to comprehend one might choose to spend that hour walking instead. And failing that they wonder why you don't catch the bus. Relaying the latest discussions on this with Martin, who was in Colombia on his way to practice, he added his agreement that it's crazy to walk when you can ride or bus. Only a few minutes prior he had been complaining of the waft of pee on the bus heading to practice (a common problem with shared transport) so I ask the question...which is crazier? Walking in the sun and fresh air or sitting in an enclosed space with persons of suspect hygiene and the stench of pee? I think I rest my case :D
I like walking and I hate waiting at bus stops and I fall off bikes great...so I guess learning to not fall off is in my not too distant future :)

In the midst of all this exercise I have started my Danish classes. Only two so far. So not expecting miracles, but I think I have it easier than many in the class as they are conducted in English and Danish. No one else in the class has English as a first language so I'm thinking the challenge is far greater for the Romanian who only speaks Italian and Romanian... although he very bravely asked me my name and nationality in Danish last class so he's doing great :)

Archery is cruising along. It occurred to me that I'm not shooting enough arrows so I'm pushing it out to shoot 200 a day. Still not strong enough to do that easily, but I think it's achievable in the next week. Until now the focus was more on technique and stability and as we had decided I'm strong enough with what I'm doing to put another turn on the limbs and up the poundage, so it's probably time to think about arrow fitness and scoring.

I have been swapping back and forth with the Carter Honey 2 and the Carter Target 3 releases. I shoot about 50/50 and am scoring a round with each. Shot a 1374 and a 1384 in practice with the Honey 2......

And then the flu struck! Shot a lousy 1333 in competition. Could not hit the proverbial. It was like the archery gods decided to swoop in and smack me silly for thinking maybe my shooting was finally improving. Finally halfway through 30m and way too late to save the day, Martin noticed my timing was out. Popped a twist in a cable between ends and I dropped 2 points in the rest of the round. Excuse me while I go bang my head on a brick wall! So it was awesome timing for Mor Damsbo to swing by and buy the kids ice-cream :)

Went to bed feeling really crappy and woke up feeling like I died a week ago and no one told me yet. Stupid flu.

Celebrated Martin's birthday with a most excellent lagkage... third time is the charm.. we need another birthday just to perfect it :D And my own birthday was awesome with a homemade strawberry tart (jordbærkage), BBQ with friends and a new phone and a bike :)
Shot a 50m comp and ranked 3 in women's with a 665. It's nothing to write home about, but I was blowing my nose constantly, coughing up attractive green stuff, my right eye was weeping and every shot was like running a marathon... so I'm calling it a win. I made it through the day and Martin only beat me by 10 points in the matchplay... then went on to shoot rubbish in a later match. I'm thinking we need to discuss when it's appropriate to shoot rubbish...like in a match against your sick girlfriend, the day after her birthday, is a pretty good time to shoot an epic miss... just saying :P

And you might not know it, but flu is especially hard for the pancreatically retarded. You need stupid amounts of insulin just to stay alive so I've been mainlining it like it's saline all week...then suddenly the flu starts getting better and suddenly I'm taking enough insulin to kill an elephant...except now it decides to work. I spent a whole day sleeping on the grass at the range while Martin shot. And finally I think we are on the home stretch. Some time in the next week I might start feeling less like a mucus ridden, swamp monster, and more like an archery bum :P

If the dog can do it....