(Not) Running On Thin Ice

Well, there go the Christmas plans, along with the feeling in my hands, after scraping a half-inch thick layer of ice from the driveway :(

Today was my last chance to get out for a run over Christmas. It just didn't happen with the ice, getting out of the estate would possibly have been the end of me, or, at the very least, a bone or two. For reference, the reflection and glare in the pic is just from the ice; no lens glare came into that one, it was taken as seen.

Also, because I couldn't get out yesterday with the same ice, I missed the Aldi bargains on merino base layers, meaning I'll have to fork out more monies for them at some point. Damn weather.

I also learned today that the UCC student gym was ruined in the floods, which pushes the city running plans back a while. I'll eventually run out of excuses I'm sure...

No Training :(

You know about my good intentions for running at home? You know how I got some Winter gear lately? Yeah... I didn't quite get enough...

So yes, I need to HTFU, but I really don't want to damage my knees, and I really don't want cold shock again. I'll start after Christmas...

Mental Training

I've discovered how useful a tool mental training can be over the past while. Since the rifles have been handed back, and, in at least one case, redistributed, this is the only way I can get anything done. I mean, I don't want to get rusty before Germany, like.

I haven't yet set aside any specific times or plans for it, but that's owing a lot to the whole moving thing. However, at various points during the day it just strikes me that I'm not balanced correctly, that my leg muscles are tensing to keep me upright. This can happen anywhere: standing around the house; at a bus stop; and so on. I have even started to notice it while walking. Changing my centre of gravity to be over between my feet relaxes my back totally, something I wasn't even aware of tensing before.

The relaxing is a very simple thing too; I close my eyes and feel whether I'm pulling myself in one direction or another. In most cases I'm falling forwards, and in almost all these cases it's because my head isn't sitting upright; it's tilted forwards, or slumped down. Simply righting my head makes a lot of difference. This all starts to feed into my mental training again. Some balance work, which is then followed by shifting into a standing position, followed by relaxation.

The second part of this is the shot routine. I have usually done this on a bus or train. Closing my eyes while I sit there I try to imagine myself in the situation, mostly in UCDRC as it's where I do most competitions. I run through the entire shot routine from charging to checking the shot, paying particular attention to the final sight picture and shot release and making sure I'm relaxed all over. The next step is to do this standing up and see how it goes.

I'll move on a little more with doing this for prone and kneeling as well. I mean, I have to keep myself in shape. Speaking of which, I've brought my running kit all the way from Dublin to Cork and now to Roscommon, so I've never had a better incentive to do some than now. I've also got some new kit coming in the post this week, which will leave me with no excuse, funny looks be damned :D

Moving

Who the hell needs cycling or running to keep fit? I've just discovered my new sport and calling in life; extreme moving.

Extreme moving involves taking the life and possessions of two grown people and packing it all into as many lift-able bags, boxes, and whatever else will pass for a container, as possible. Believe me, it is a sight to behold.

See, we made the mistake of thinking that we were there to stay. Which meant that we moved everything that was of any importance or use into our little flat in Dublin. It was lovely: cosy and secure; contained all of what we needed for comfort. However, this became problematic. You never really realise how much stuff you have until it comes time to pack it all up and move to the other end of the country.

I mean, it's not like we had all that much around the place; some clothes, a pile of books (hey, who doesn't!!), little bits and pieces, bags. Lots of bags actually, they are so nice and useful :D. However, it all adds up at the end of the day. I should have taken a pic of the whole thing, before and after, but I was in no form for it at the time. I'll see what I can do once it arrives in Cork.

So, after the stress of the packing thing came the extreme part of extreme packing; carrying it down the stairs and out the door to a waiting van. This was one of the toughest moves I've done, it took ages and involved more speedy stair climbs than I've done in my life to date, some of them with things that weighed in at a good proportion of what I do...

But it's now all done. All gone. Life moved. I have my kit bag and peli cases left in DURC, I'll grab them at a later date; the bag when I'm going to Germany, the peli when I need it. Oh, and in case I dropped in the Germany thing too subtly, you guessed it, I have to do it all over again then :( This time it'll be a different kind of moving, much more...selective. One bag. Including shooting jacket and other kit. That will be fun though :D

EDIT------------

A pic of most of our stuff...

Who Needs the Alps?

My first proper time spent in UCC was over the past two days. It's a lovely college and the writing course that I was at proved to be excellent: well taught; interesting content; and demonstrating the use of use : and ;.

What I had noticed before was the amount of hills around the city. However, walking around these isn't so bad, you only really notice them on a bike. And boy are they noticeable. Cycling along, nice and easy (well, giving it loads to prove to the drivers beside you that cycling is clearly a superior form of transportation), then bam, you're at the bottom of a cliff.

Now I know that I'm not the best cyclist, indeed, far from it. I also know that I'm not the best hill climber for my performance bracket. However, the severity of the climbs inside the city (!!) are something else. I wasn't used to that kind of thing at all in Dublin.

However, it does lend itself to some interesting speculation on training. Getting myself on a nice fixie, such as the Felt Dispatch which I have my eye on, would really push me to build a lot of fitness in this area.

This will of course not be happening until I get back from Germany. Word on the street is that I'll be leaving before two weeks in January are up, and gone for a good eight or nine months. That said, some alpine training, in an area like Schloss Ringberg below, wouldn't go amiss :D

Unfortunately, I'll probably be taking the Christmas and a lot of time in January off due to either having my bike in Cork, or, much more drastically, having given my rifles back to the club :( One of the really annoying things about this is that there are InterShoot qualifications going on as well. Based on how things were going up until last week I may actually have had some sort of a chance to at least get within spitting distance of the 573 required, which would be the main thing.

So, the plan has not been forgotten, merely delayed. Keep reading for more concrete plans, though I wouldn't expect them to materialise for some time yet. I'll keep having a look around for some decent training plans online and see what I can find. I'll share too, don't worry!

Bad Times

Well, the past while has been somewhat of a disaster. Between the hastle of trying to find a place to live in Cork and failing, going to Cork periodically, moving stuff from Dublin and a host of other things, including not having enough half decent gear to cycle in, I've done exactly nothing since cleaning my rifles last week.

I can feel all my hard work slipping away, hard work which I know isn't going to be easy to build back up again after Christmas. I'm thinking that going to Germany is going to be filled with plenty of running and cycling, if for no other reason than I've done so little here over the last while.

I'm tempted to brave the looks I'll get from my parents and bring the bike home over Christmas for some flatish spins in Roscommon, just to ease me back into it again. Since my leggings and UnderArmour top aren't going to be used for shooting for a while I may as well give them some use... I shall has to see about that. Either way, I'm not sure what I'll do with the bike when I'm in Germany, and I don't want to lose it after all this time either.

So, I'l try to get some training in, if only basic stuff. But don't judge me if I don't. It is Christmas, after all. Or at least it is according to the shops...

Rifle Cleaning, And Kit Return

Finally, the time has come to relinquish my use of DURC's rifles and kit. I spent around two hours today going through my kit bag, peli case and rifles to return all various bits and pieces to both myself and the club, which turned out to be no mean feat!

End result; the club now has an extra pair of pants and boots for use, as well as two extra rifles. It killed me to stick a Contact II onto M though, I really don't like those buttplates :D I spent the rest of the time running some oil through M and one, ONLY one, round of blue pasting 1. While I would of course love to have cleaned it more thoroughly, I just don't have the time.

The only regret I have is not having the time to shoot the rifles back in again. I had been meaning to clean 1 for a while to see if it brought the groups back in, but how and ever. That'll be the job of some lucky new DURC shooter. Well wear to them :)

Rathdrum Turkey Shoot, 6-12-2009

No, not shooting at turkeys, shooting for them! The turkey shoot is traditionally the last match of the calendar year and usually a bit of fun.

The scoring is based on the Macrae handicap system, which benefits those who shoot above their average, and drops points for shooting below it, thus making it in a competition where you really are shooting against yourself :)

Having sorted out one or two little things, notably weight distribution on my lower body and especially the left elbow position, just to the left of the pistol grip, I was looking good for the match. The sighters and first string were good, but then it started to get a little fuzzy with my right shoulder tensing and throwing shots left. I was having a lot of problems getting my right elbow consistent, which wasn't helping, and tensing in the cold. Things I need to work on obviously, but at least I know now. A 386 overall wasn't too bad, and the best raw score of the day.

Afterwards RRPC usually have a benchrest pistol match, but since we were the only ones there we decided to take part in that as well :D For my first time shooting .22 pistol the groups were really good, I just couldn't figure out how to sight the damn thing so they were all over the place. Seemed a bit of shame to launch Centre-X down a pistol, but what the hell :D

For the prizes I walked away with a turkey and a bottle of red wine, which isn't so bad at all! A glass or two with the RRPC lads afterwards made it a very sociable day all round :)

The day reminded me a lot of how shooting is there to be enjoyed, like all sport. Taking it with me to different levels and different places won't diminish that. People move on, but the memories remain, as do the bonds, the friendships and the rivalries.

This weekend capped off a four year career in DURC, which has had it's ups and downs, good times and bad. I've learned a lot, taught some, I hope, and will be continuing on with target shooting. So watch out, I'm on the other side now ;)

Squad Training, UCD, 5-12-2009

For the first of it's kind in some time, this ended up going incredibly well. The attendance was a bit poor, but that could have as much to do with the RO dinner being on the night before as anything else :P

The day was split into two parts, lectures in the morning and practical in the afternoon. It was coordinated by Ray Kane, of the Defense Forces Shooting Team, who is currently probably the best male air rifle shooter in the country, and focussed a lot on balance and relaxation. These are two things that I have been working on quite a bit lately, so it tied in well, and gave a bit more structure to the whole thing than I would have been able to on my own.

One of the most interesting things on the subject of balance was canting the head. This has always been a subject of much debate with myself, as I prefer a bit of a cant on my head and less on the rifle. Due to having a long neck and high cheekbones (exquisite, I know...) I have trouble getting down to the sights without tilting my head and being told, and shown, that this is OK, in moderation at least, was nice.

What I have found out in my own experimentation was that the major problem with canting the head is the manner in which it is done by many people. The instinct is just to shove the head forward and to the side in one movement, which pushes the rifle away and so changes the zero point and balance, resulting in an 8. My preference at the moment is to tilt the rifle and head together and then carefully drop the head forward. I find it gives a very relaxed head position, which doesn't strain my neck and is very stable.

So, for the results; not amazing, due to a lightened trigger (it got messed up during the week somehow and I've been trying to fix it since) so I kept snapping off 6s and 7s. Once it was fixed, towards the end, I stepped away and reset my zero twice, took one shot of each zero. 10.7 and 10.2. That's about all I need to know :)

Soup, Steak and Chocolate

Nom, nom, nom.

Tonight is DURC's annual RO dinner, with my plans being firmly on the above, plus some wine, possibly some beer etc. afterwards. It's going to be good. You know how I know? Because it always is. 'Cos it was good when I was at the same place for dinner two weeks ago :)

It's going to be a long weekend though, not-national-squad-but-kinda-is-training tomorrow at some unspecified time, possibly for a large amount of the day, followed by the Turkey shoot on Sunday in RRPC. Mmmmm, turkey.

Nom, nom, nom.

Air Rifle Training, DURC

Nope, yesterday was not enough for me, I had to come back for some more today. I decided to act on a few of the problems from yesterday, mostly my holding and balance issues.

To get better contact with the cheekpiece I dropped the buttplate another little bit, to the bottom of the carrier. I need to check that it's still within the rules, but I think it is. This lowered the rifle a little more to the target, which is another good thing, and also artificially raised the sightline.

I've all but given up on getting my head level, it's just not comfortable with the drop I have to the sights. It's much easier to cant it a little and deal with balance by making sure I sort that out with the the centre of gravity of the total system (me plus rifle) over the middle of my feat. Good practice on that one if nothing else. Or that's what I'm going with anyway :P

The end result of this is a more stable position that isn't quite killing my neck. Drilling out the 10 ring (more or less, there's always a 9) with a lovely steady hold is always a plus :)

On another note, here are some pics of my new jacket in the standing position courtesy of Sparks which show possibly a little too much material in the sides and on the left hip. Out with the knife and a needle and thread methinks <:o

DURC Airgun Open, 29-11-2009

Yesterday was possibly the best air rifle shooting I have ever done in a match. Ever, like.

When it went right, it went very right, dropping perfectly down onto the target so all I had to do was pull the trigger. Beautiful stuff, which is all falling into place after I really started trying to not push my head, and hence the rifle, out to the side. Straight forward drop, 45 degree cant on the rifle. It's a little awkward and painful as I have quite a way to drop with only 4mm of raiser blocks and a long neck and high cheekbones, but it's getting there.

The score, may as well say it, was 545. Now, that came after two nasty final strings where I was tired, and my feet were falling off me with the cold. Before that, I had 370/400, which is pretty good going; good enough to put me third in the newly invented "Overall" class, which I'm happy with. Dropping in a 90 and 85 after that wasn't so good though.

But let's focus on the good things. While it took me 30 mins to get settled and sight, including dropping my buttplate for those lower targets, I started in well, the shots just falling in, apart from the 8s... I was comfortable and relaxed and things were going well. It wasn't until I passed the hour and fifteen minute mark that I started to tire out somewhat. And I mean really tire out. Things looked darker, I found it hard to focus on the foresight, my legs started to stress out a little... It's something I need to work on basically, which means match practice! From looking at a certain shooters notes from a certain training camp doing 70-80 shot matches seems to be a good way to go with that.

Pics will follow in another post, hopefully with some analysis, if they were taken of me in position. I haven't seen a photo of my standing position in years, so it should be interesting. Laters!

Various airgun shooting, this week..

Well. I have a small bit of a confession to make. When I say small, I mean large. This is the cardinal ***king sin of target shooting, and I've been making it for a while now. You know that whole zero point thing? You know how you were always told that you should be "a bit above the target"? Well maybe you should. Not as much as I have been though.

All the way through I've been pointing, shall we say, a bit on the high side. But sure what matter says you, it'll drop down anyway. Well it will, says I, but it'll take a while. And it won't stop on target either. Meaning that I've been misdiagnosing my over-dropping with not getting enough height. While leads to a cacophony of problems, let me tell you.

How did I make this wondrous discovery? While reading The Ways Of The Rifle it reminded me that the best support for the rifle with your left arm is when you can feel it running down through your leg and into the floor. So I tried this, and it made me place my elbow right on my pointy hip bone, at which point I could really feel it in my leg. As the rifle now had huge support and wasn't going anywhere it became immediately obvious that dropping from a foot above the target down wasn't going to work. Cue moving in right foot. Cue tiny wobble around 10 ring. Cue 10s. Balls.

So yes, I was zeroed waaaaay to high, for several years. It really should be made clearer that the target should always be inside the foresight. It makes things so much easier. More fool me for not sorting it earlier I guess though. I'm putting this down to a long experiment on my part, a costly one, maybe, but worth knowing. If I can stop one person from making the same mistake it'll be well worth it.

On the topic of ariguns, I shot my first pistol match yesterday, courtesy of UCDRC. It was an entry to the DURC open, the main body of which will be run this weekend. It's a bit of a laugh. I didn't change the sights and so was aiming around the bottom of the metal target plate (those of you who have shot on MegaLinks will know what I'm talking about) which does not lead to good shooting. A final score of 303, which, I don't think is that bad! Changing the sights to something more comfortable might work though :D Maybe next time.

I hope to get a bit of training in today maybe, and hopefully Sunday shall be a good day. Well, it'll be a good day anyway, but a well scoring one :)

Match, DURC open, Rathdrum, 22-11-09

I take back what I said - this was not going to be a good day. I woke up sneezing all morning and very cold. Getting set up was awful, the place was freezing, as usual. Having to get up at 7 to gready and into the range didn't help, but it could have been worse.

What annoys me most about my 576 overall, aside from the fact that my score is dropping, is that it was good shooting. It felt alright, everything was centered, recoil was nice, but it kept throwing 9s. And 9.9s in particular... Three in one string at one stage!

But anyway, enough of the ranting, it's not my style ;) Aisling was kind enough to take several pics of me in position later in the match, when things were getting very hairy so I can compare my position to the one I had in Fermoy. Looking below you can see that my left leg is very straight, compared to the kicked out one from Fermoy on it's right.

I did some experimentation when I got home last night on comparing the two leg positions and found some interesting results; kicking my leg out gives me a nice higher upper body position, which my set up is tweaked for, and throws the weight more evenly across my body, including onto my right arm, thereby leaving my left less painful. Also, while it lowers my left hand a little, it rotates my left elbow onto the comfy part, and drops my right shoulder so that the target height can be reached. Who knew!?

So, terrible score, but something valuable learned. Which is what it's all about, right? Journey being the goal and all that. There's still the Turkey shoot to go (not really shooting at turkeys, though there are a good few as prizes!), so I can still pull out a good performance. Oh, and remind me to eat a lot more in the days coming up to a match so I have some fuel to keep me warm/get through it. 45 mins of the shivers afterwards is like, soo not cool. Not when you're wearing thermals, certainly.

More training...

OK, so I said I wasn't going to train until next week. I didn't lie as such, just fell through on it.

Running this morning was the first time I've gone in a week. I'm very poorly disciplined at the moment for physical training, but I'm mostly blaming that on not having anything warm to run or cycle in and my bike does need a new bottom bracket...

Going for a run was not fun. At all. Wind is horrendous. I was in bits after the first 500m, never mind the other 3.5km that I scraped though. It was one of the toughest things I've done so far. Now, it might also be due to not getting enough exercise at the moment, but it was still pretty rough. Stupid wind...

Then, Dave said he'd open the range if I wanted to train with him, and I was covering for Aisling later on... So I went and did a bit. Not as nice as the day before, but I think if I hadn't played with my sight when switching from practice to shooting a 10 group then it would have been a hell of a lot nicer and without those nasty 9.9s slightly out. Again, roll on Sunday :)

Training, UCD/DURC

Well, despite the training last week the weekend didn't go so well so it's clearly time to ramp it up a little. Went to UCD on Tuesday evening for an hour or two there, followed up by a 40 shot match yesterday in DURC with Iain. Both left a bit to be desired, though when I felt right in DURC it went well. Also, I think that what I was doing when it felt right was pretty decent. Also, remembering what I did is a big step up...

Followed that up with some prone then yesterday afternoon. Shot two ten shot groups and one ten bull card. The first group was almost certainly 100/100, but a bit hairy at points, which won't do. The 10 bull followed and was a very disappointing 97/98 with a terrible 9 in there. The final group was shot over two targets with a gap in the middle and came to probably a 99 with some nice tight shots. Hopefully the higher targets in Rathdrum will leave me a little less pained at the end...

I'll crack into some more for today and call it a week at that, what with my trip down South for Friday and Saturday. Back late that night for the DURC open on Sunday morning. Fun times :)

UCD Air Open, 15-11-09

The UCD open i generally the first match that DURC sends novices to, and today was no exception. Also, it tends to be a match that sees most of the senior air rifles squad back in action. Though it wasn't my first of the season it was the first I had put some training into so I was looking forward to it.

During the week I spent a lot of time relearning how to shoot, which ended up going quite well, getting in some mid 90s strings, which was nice. I still haven't quite gotten back to my former comfort and consistency, but I feel more comfortable and stable than ever at the moment. Which, as usual, still isn't translating into a better match performance for me :(

My performance in DURC is going well, but, as I have discovered in the past, the targets in DURC are on the, shall we say, higher end of the requirements, not to mention the lighting... Anyway, UCDs targets are lower, which has zero problems that I wouldn't really notice as I tend to fall quite high in general. I'm heading out there on Tuesday to go for a training session then so we'll see how it goes then with a slightly lower position.

For a gratuitous photo of me on the line we have the one below;

If nothing else, the new jacket looks damn amazing :D We'll have a quick review of everything on Tuesday out in UCD and go from there.

Oh, and on the score side of things, I shot 540, which is getting better, but more importantly it was one of the best 540s I've ever shot. It did contain an 87 to start and an 84 to finish (crazy 5 out to the side...) but we shall ignore that for the moment. Yeah. I'm actually really happy with today, the groups were good, just in the wrong place. Until later!

Leinster Indoor Open 2009, Rathdrum.

I was feeling good about this match. So good in fact that something was bound to go wrong. Aside from having to turn up several hours too early to bring another shooter down it seemed like a good day. Oh, and forgetting about my cold which was killing me and leaving me incredibly dehydrated.

Whatever happened, it wan't good. Lying down in position was grand, it felt OK, no pain, nothing awkward. The result was different though. I couldn't keep the group tight enough. I don't know how many points I lost to 9.9s and 9.8s all throughout the match. I wasn't the only one either, both Kealan and Conor also dropped a lot of 9.9s, three in a row each at one point!

Keeping with my current tempo I rattled through sighters and the first 20 match shots in about 15 minutes. Rested and trying to get my head settled and back on the game I got back down again and started with 3 9s! With the inevitability that this was not going to be a good day settling in I just went for it and put in the rest of that block of 20 before getting up again.

The fifth card was a bit of a disaster, though I don't remember it being much different from the other ones. Finishing that one on a 94 was particularly poor, I had thought I was well beyond that. The last card being a 98 was decent enough however. It may signal that I need to take a little more time on each shot as I did rattle through them quite quickly overall, only slowing down a little on the last string.

Owing to two absences I also made it into the final where I was given a chance to redeem myself. I had done it before and with only 3 points between me and Conor with Mark and Kealan in between I knew there was some serious ground I could make up. So the pressure was on a little to prove myself and show what I could really do. Keeping my cool as much as possible I took my time a little more, checking my focus on the foresight for each shot, gently applying pressure to the trigger. It paid off, finally I was grouping well in the 10 ring, most of the shots being 10.5 or 10.5 and all right on the same spot. If I had a more accurate rearsight one or two clicks would have seen me putting in consistent 10.9s, which would have been very sweet. The end result was putting in a total of 103.6 and jumping from 7th to 4th in the final, almost overcoming a 5 point gap to take third but falling short by 0.9.

To make sure I got my €15 euro worth of shooting there was also a tie announced for 4th place with another DURC shooter, Mark who had a great final. I'd never seen, let alone taken part in a shoot off before so this was quite exciting, but a lot of a pain and very nerve wracking. Fortunately I had stayed in position for this exact reason, knowing it was always a possibility. A the order to load came my heart was thumping. I didn't think there was any way I could get this shot in with my heart rate about the same as it is climbing up a mountain. I heard Mark's shot go off and all the crap that I've ever heard about how much pressure there is when the other person has taken the shot and how difficult it is to overcome that hurdle flashed through my mind until I decided to Hell with it all and took the shot; 10.7, exact same spot as the last few shots :) Mark put in a great 10.3, just to make it more exciting for everybody else.

As it turned out, there was no need for the shoot off as the system had just not added up the decimal scores, meaning that I actually had 1.6 points over Mark anyway, but it was still a great experience. Learning that I can put in a 10.7 under pressure was well worth it.

Next time I shall try paying more attention to the lighting conditions on the day. I think it was a bit dark where I shot the match compared to the final, and the difference between the two could not be more marked. Good end to a bad day though :)

Fermoy Open, 25-10-09

First thing to say, while it might be far away (at the moment), it's a fabulous range.

Lovely lawns, proper brick clubhouse with ladies and gents toilets, hot and cold running water and a lot of different ranges for several different disciplines.

We had to leave here early to get down there for a reasonable hour, so it was on the road around 8 or so and down there for 11, after getting some epic breakfast rolls in the town. And yes, they do deserve a special mention :D

We got started with the shooting on our own little private range around 12 or so, with Pete, Aisling and Dave taking the first slots. Myself and Conor took the second lot.

Myself and Conor in position for our first detail.

My full position, complete with new jacket. Perfect fit :)

While we were beginning our details, on the other range, people started to finish up... The phrase, "bloody students" may have been uttered once or twice, but all in good fun :D

There were no wind flags put out, which is probably just as well as I may have been tempted to look at them once or twice. Ignoring the wind seemed to work very well, any shots out I can put down to myself. The first card was pretty spot on, a few points off but nothing huge. The second one was where problems arose. I got down slightly wrong which caused a lot of pain in my left arm which I stupidly chose to ignore. That probably cost me a good ten points. The end of that card after a reset and the third one were pretty good as well though, leaving a final score of 579. So, room for improvement, but it's more of a consistency thing which is easy to work on. Roll on 590!

Photos courtesy of Aisling Miller, DURC's current smallbore photographer :)

Training, DRC 18-10-09

So DURC finally sorted some outdoor training sessions and the venue is DRC in Wicklow. It's something that we've been talking about for some time and really needed to get going. Very few of us have ever had the opportunity to train outdoors and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

We arrived around half ten or so, after a very amusing conversation at the top of Dave's road about how he wasn't allowed in to grab the targets due to some race thing... The day for once up there was nice and calm with overcast skies so there were no light changes. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, training is probably the better place to experience these things.

I wasn't sure until I was shooting whether or not to do some 3p practice. I decided in the end, once I was banging in the inner tens in prone, to move on and do standing and kneeling. Despite being my first time hefting the .22 into a standing position for the first time in over a year, it went OK. a score of 80 and 81, without sighting in wasn't too bad. The group mostly held the 8 ring, which is awful, but better than I have ever done. My progress in air rifle is standing to me now :)

As for the kneeling I seem to have hit upon an excellent position by chance! After an initial set up few shots the rest were grouped very tightly! The only thing I have to say about it is that the kneeling button hole in the jacket doesn't seem to work... It kept popping open, to the point where I just left it for the last five shots. Interestingly, the group shifted down and to the right when this happened.

All in all, it was a good day, followed up by some clay shooting for kicks in Courtlough. All signs are pointing to me having a good day tomorrow in Fermoy Rifle and Pistol Club in the People's Republic :)

BTW, I was going to put up pictures, but the card isn't that impressive at all. I'll try to get some from tomorrow and put them up instead. Laters!

Training

Well it's about time that the new jacket got a proper running in - and it will tomorrow. DURC is travelling to DRC for some smallbore training. I'll be bringing up the full 3p kit as well so we'll see how that's gonna pan out.

I've some plans made for the coming year, which are starting to fall a little more into place. This weekend will tell a lot about how likely these plans are to come to fruition.

It's not all work tomorrow though, we're also taking a trip to Courtlough for some clay shooting as a wind down. I should get some pictures up of the day, all going well. I'll also have some more information on how the jacket and position is going.

Roll on Munich!

Flats

No, not of the singing type, though that's not so cool either. More of the bicycle tire type which has been keeping me off the road for some time now while I try to get spares.

I first thought that it was just crap tires (well, the back one is worn almost thin and they were 35mm wide) but even with nice new Gatorskins and tubes (28mm, huge difference!) I still lost out and had two new flat tubes :(

As a final solution before sending it to the LBS I've got some new rim tape to try now, so we'll see how I get on with that. The cycling I did on the Gators before the tubes popped was excellent, changed the bike from a slow sluggish creature to a fast responsive one that I'm aching to try up in Wicklow again.

Check your rim tape and tire pressure!

DURC training, 12-10-2009

Training in prone is something that I've never really gotten the hang of. I tend to just get down and bang down some shots and see if I can spot anything that's going wrong. Today was no different :D

I took out the new jacket to give it a proper go in the prone position after I made some adjustments last week to my overall position and how things felt. It had already helped to sort out a few problems of my pulse bouncing the rifle and pain in my wrist.

Due to a fortunate position coming up for PhD funding, it's looking like I will be able to finance buying a rifle, not to mention training at the Munich international range in Garching. Nothing totally confirmed as of yet, but it's on the cards.

So, I have been looking at different rifles, number one of which is the Feinwerkbau 2700, or the light version of it. I'm also looking at the new Anschutz Precise, which is an excellent looking stock. Anyway, I took the chance to use a club-mates FWB today and see what it felt like. Aside from a terrible buttplate it feels really nice. The balance is amazing and the stock is so nicely rounded and thin that it sits in the hand very comfortably.

After a quick set up, the following group of, I think, 12 shots was produced;

Aside from the barrel warming shot on the left and the two nines, I'm very happy with this group, especially for a very brief set up with a dodgy buttplate.

On the other hand, my trusty Anschutz 1600 series didn't fail to respond to that with this 10 shot group;

Again, the low shot was the barrel warmer, the 9 shots above are grouped nicely though, especially for a 30 year old barrel and action. Increasing my cant has also helped quite a bit, so Anschutz are coming back up the list...

End result; the new jacket is amazing, well worth the money. Now I just need to translate that into scores and medals in matches and we're well sorted. Selection matches are welcome...

WTSC Airgun open, 11-10-2009

The WTSC open saw my competitive return to air rifle shooting. It was my first match in seven months, with just a small bit of training. With my new custom jacket I was feeling good about it though.

Despite being out on my own there I made the most of getting there and getting set up. Wilkinstown has always been my best range, my P.B. is held there. Today however was not to be a good one. A bit of a shaky start on the sighters and getting into the match I couldn't get comfortable in the position at all; it just didn't feel right and was far more wobbly than I've been used to since donning the new jacket.

So the first 30 shots were a write off, I dropped around 45 points in those, which is horrendous, considering I don't like dropping that in a match full stop.

Taking a quick break I went into the second half determined to pull something out. I stood up straight, and that was it. One of the most basic and silly mistakes that I've been making for years and I made it again. I'd been pushing my hips out in front of me which sinks my lower back and makes everything wobble with lack of support.

Finally, salvation was at hand for the match, as shot 31 of the match will show

It did pick up from there, which was very good. Final three strings came in at a 94, 93 and 89. The 89 is off form, but I was wrecked and couldn't see very well as due to standing up for longer than I had in the previous seven months...

Anyway, poor start to my comeback, but it's all uphill from here on out. In the positive sense, not the cycling sense. If I can keep the points dropped in my last half to 20, plus or minus a flier or two, then the first half should be no problem. 560 here we come!

Edmonstown Road, 3/10/09

Cycling up Edmonsntown road is the challenge I've set myself. The first time I tried it I had just built up some leg strength from cycling to work so I said I'd give it a lash.

Getting out there in July was tough. I was barely able to make it to the M50, never mind up the hill after it. 20 grueling minutes later after spinning in my bottom gear and panting I lost too much speed and the front wheel just turned. End of climb.

However, the way back down was the most fun I'd ever had on a bike. So much fun in fact that I turned around at the bottom and attempted the climb again, getting almost as far this time. Unfortunately, work kept me away from this one for a while so I settled for Howth and getting to Glencree.

Last weekend I tried again. Equipped with a clean drivechain, well indexed gears and, most importantly, correct tire pressure I gave it another go. This time was different. Getting there was easy, starting off was no problem. Standing every few minutes to keep up the speed to 15 km/hr, which is my target on long (for me) climb I was making good progress. Passing my finish point from the last time I though I was sorted, but alas not. I got dizzy and felt a bit too sick to carry on so I bonked and left it. Again, heading down was so much fun. I don't think I pedaled between there and Rathmines.

So, I still have no managed this climb, but I will be getting a nice new road bike in the near future and some proper pedals so we'll give that a go. Descending in the drops as opposed to the flat of a hybrid is gonna be fun :)

Autumn Open 2009, Rathdrum

This match, as was hoped, was slightly better than last weekend. With a final score of 577 and a disappointing final of 99.4, it wasn't my best match ever, but it's getting back there. This week will see the arrival of a much anticipated and needed new jacket. One that will actually fit, as opposed to being more similar to a bin liner with some suede attached...

The prep before the match was grand as always, all it set up and good to go with no hastle. Getting down into position took a while, I couldn't get comfortable at all. There are some issues with my left elbow which need to be resolved and also some hand comfort issues. This is something that is difficult to resolve and there seems to be little information available on how to go about it. The general attitude seems to be HTFU and ignore it.

The final was possibly the most painful 10 shots I've ever taken, my hand was in bits, everything was tender, my thumb lost feeling... I struggled through it, pushing for good shots, which somehow came through. Until the last shot, which wound up as an 8.2, my only 8 of the day, it was going well. It looked good as well, which left me more confused. But how and ever.

The next step is training. I haven't worked out the specifics of what I'm doing as regards a PhD next year, but as soon as that comes in, sessions for prone, standing and kneeling will be penciled in, as well as the cycle, run and swim sessions for fitness. They'll probably be in the morning before work, and the shooting in the evenings. I'm thinking 5 a week for shooting, 2 each prone and standing, 1 kneeling. Session one of the grand plan will kick off this Thursday with the new jacket :) More on that later in the week!

Wicklow Championships 2009, DRC

Well, today saw my first prone match in a long time, and boy did it show. It took place in Dublin Rifle Club in Wicklow, on their 50m outdoor range. This range is notorious for its terrible rolling wind and tricky conditions, not to mention somewhat ballistic scoring to compensate...

Having the DURC range in the state that it is at the moment has been a major incentive not to train over the Summer. That and getting fed up of my current jacket after losing quite a large amount of weight over the past 12 months and waiting for a new one has led to poor attendance on my part. Oh, and the lack of ammo. Yeah.

So, the day started at 0830 with Dave picking Conor and I up to grab the kit from the range. Greeted with that lovely damp smell after a Summer of no use is never fun, and having your personal kit smell similar even less. How and ever, off up the mountains we went, arriving at the range for 0945. Deciding that the first detail at 1000 was cutting it a bit fine I opted for the second at 1130. After getting all the kit set up (comments on all of it to follow, hopefully this week) it was on to the range, where all the fun started.

Having not shot in a while I couldn't quite remember how to fit a blind over my left eye, so that caused a lot of irritation til I figured that out. As well as that, I just couldn't get comfortable. My left elbow was way too far in under the rifle and I was leaning to one side on it as well as forward to compensate for the down slope of the range. All this meant that my elbow was in bits for the remainder of the match, and not too much better now.

As for the shooting itself, it wasn't great. It took me the better part of 40 shots to get into the flow of things, which wasn't helped by either the pain in my elbow or the forced breaks on the 6 bull cards. On the last 20 I finally got things right, finishing on a 98, by best string of the day, almost certainly shot the fastest.

Finishing up on 569 overall, which was a bit of a disappointmeny really, with 384 as my best four cards put me in 8th place overall and earned me first in class B. A below par match, with possibly my worst placing in over a year, but hopefully enough to shake out the cobwebs so i can get started on proper training and focus on upcoming matches, such as the 25yd indoor in Rathdrum next weekend.

Roll on Winter :D

First Light

Welcome to a blog intended to record progress and training for my various sports; target shooting and multi-sports, specifically triathlon.

In target shooting I compete in standing air rifle, prone smallbore rifle and 3p smallbore rifle and have been doing so for almost four years now. I'll try to upload a graph of some of my scores from the last while so show a (hopefully increasing) trend over the years and months.

My foray into multi-sports is a more recent development. It started with cycling last Summer and has progressed to longer and longer cycles. This summer saw the addition of running to the list with short training runs of around 5km beginning. The swimming is next, which shouldn't be too bad with my history of it and current fitness level. Famous last words...

I take part in sports to various levels. Target shooting is my main focus, in which I compete at a national level with aspirations to international. I have shot abroad in British smallbore and Welsh arigun national finals and hope to become a member of Team Ireland in the near future.

Cycling and triathlon are somewhat different. I take part in these at a recreational level with a view to becoming more involved in training at least and possibly some beginner competitions. It is the endurance aspect of these competitions that attracted me to them initially for improving fitness which is beneficial for target shooting, but I enjoy them so much that they are featuring more and more prominently in my training programme.

Stay tuned for more information on my training and equipment reviews.