Monday, September 27, 2010

Back to Running

Well, I finished the big skydiving competition (Silver medal if you didn't read before) and now I'm back to running, finally. My injury isn't as bad as it was, but there is something still there. The rest for sure helped; however, I am still skydiving.

But Saturday felt like a good day to just start running at the dropzone. My run was not really what I had been doing before I took my break. In fact, it was downright embarrassing. A new girl, Rita wanted to join me on my run after I warned her that I'm out of shape and I run slow. She didn't care. Potter and IT also joined us for only the beginning part, because they run way too fast for me to even think of tagging along. A conversation that took place between myself and IT.
IT: "Yeah, I'm gonna need to slow it down to get ready for this marathon."
ME: "Oh really?"
IT: "Yeah, I need to slow it down to seven minutes to survive it."
ME: "Go F yourself. I hate you."

So, I knew that they would be gone, plus, they were racing eachother. I started off with some serious stretching and a light walk to warm up. I gave Rita a nod to say that I'm ready to start running and already she was faster. Oh, this was going to be a big mistake. I worked on my stride and tried not to focus on what she was doing. Not even halfway through it, I was complaining of running and needed a walk. She said, "Really? Already?" Yeah, that made me feel so bad and I kept going. I then started getting slower and she noticed. I told her to keep going and where to go to get 3 miles (my plan was only the mile). Basically, my run was more walking and alittle bit of running. In fact, one time, I had to actually stop everything to catch my breath. I felt so out of shape and like the first time I went running with Jodi (complaining my way to finish a mile). The other embarrassing part was that Rita met me at the door; she finished 2.2 miles around the dropzone when I finished the 1 mile. Oh that was just terrible, but it was good to get out there and start exercising. No matter what, it's still getting your body to work out. I will just have to start rebuilding back up to 6 miles like I was doing before. Stupid injury.

Also, this weekend, I worked alot on freeflying. In fact, I did this tube jump (picture soon) where I carry this large pylon tube. My arm was burning after a couple of seconds. My legs are sore, too, so I did something this weekend. I'm not sure when I'm running again, hopefully, tomorrow. I need to get back into the swing of things.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

SDH Outlaws Get SILVER!!!

Skydive Houston Outlaws competed in the Freefly Intermediate division at USPA Nationals on Friday, September 17, 2010 at Skydive Chicago. There were a total of 10 teams registered for this artistic event. Last year, there were only 5 teams. Naturally, I was tense going into competition. But, we put our game faces on and prepared for a long battle.

On the first round, our team went into first position with the CK2 team not far behind. Throughout the day, the we were in First, Second, and even at one point tied for first place. We finished Friday evening in Third place due to a really bad fifth round uncharacteristic of our team. I call it, "The we took a dump on Round 5." The judges still had to score the last two rounds and at that point, we were just fighting for silver, with a sliver of hope for the Gold.

In the end, CK2 took Gold (an average of 5.9) and we took Silver medal (an average of 5.7), while the Air Force Instinct team (love those guys) battled for third place on Sunday due to a tie off. Even though we didn’t get the top spot (had it in our greedy hands), we still proved to the skydiving community that we are force to be reckoned with and can only get better (as seen from last year to this year). We even had cheerleaders from Carolina that were rooting for us if none of the Carolina teams (2) didn't win. We made a great deal of friends, especially freeflyers.

We have a couple of weeks to go through and decide on what to do next year. Do we stay in FreeFly Intermediate, venture into the Open Waters to try to really get some prestige, or do we create a Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS) team (something Jon is really interested in doing). I will follow him wherever he wants me. But I sure would like that Gold around my neck. I am not going to sugarcoat it.

Now, I can get back to running, which I have missed to say the least. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I know.

On a side note, I am not doing the Susan G. Komen race next weekend, because I was requested to be on the Women's Texas State Record that same day. I am sad, but there will be a Skydive Houston running team there. I will do my best to raise money for them.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

USPA Nationals

Well, competition finally came and went, but we are still waiting on the judges to score Rounds 6 and 7. Right now, we sit in third, but hopefully, that will stay. I am just not sure.

But, we did 7 jumps total yesterday and I feel it in my legs and arms. So, I did get some training in. I haven't been running, because I was saving my leg for this competition. I will start that back up as soon as I get back.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Sorry for the No Posts

I haven't been running or even really skydiving lately, because I am resting my leg before my last training weekend and Nationals next week. Yes, that's right. We are headed to Skydive Chicago for Nationals. I'm totally pumped and hopefully my leg will be okay. So cheer us on.