On July 8th I found myself on a plane to Dallas, Texas all by myself. This was the first vacation I had taken alone since getting married thirteen years earlier. It was very strange and I was a bit uncom- fortable. It was very strange only being accountable for myself. I stayed at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center. The event was actually being held at the venue so I did not have to find transpor- ation and could sleep in until the last possible moment. I sat alone at dinner that night and tried to look like it was a natural thing for me to do. To pull that off, I called almost everyone I knew and chatted on my cell phone until they had to go.

I found the convention hall where the nationals were going on. They last about a week and a half and I was there for the last three days. I wandered around watching various fencing events and checking out the vendors. The room was about the size of four or five gymnasiums put together. There had to be about eighty fencing strips set up. Not all of them were busy that evening. People in all white uniforms carrying weapons were everywhere. The noise from the fencing, the loud speakers, conversations, clapping, cheering and beeping from the electrical equipment was almost deafening. Around the room were banners from various fencing clubs, announcing their attendance and offering a centralized location for club or team members to gather. In contrast to the white fencing uniforms, the event officials all wore dark suits, complete with ties. The women directors wore dark jackets and skirts or jackets. It was certainly easy to tell the fencers from the directors.

Thursday July 9th - A Day of Waiting

Friday morning, my first full day, I got up early. Mostly because I was worrying about everything. I was worried about doing badly, by that I mean not fencing to at least my normal standards. I was worried my equipment would fail. I was worried I would miss my event, or starting time or go to the wrong strip, or any number of other things. So, I got up, got dressed and headed out to the convention hall. If I get the feel of things maybe I would be less nervous. I just wandered around stopping to watch various bouts and then move on. There were people of all ages, sizes, shapes, skills and I began to feel better. As I wandered around I began to get the desire to be one of the fencers instead of just watching. The hours slipped away as I watched people win and lose.

Late afternoon, my fellow Red Rock Club member, Scott showed up. It felt like a relief to have someone familiar to hang around with. Scott is also newly returned to fencing and has been doing really well. He drove from Vegas to Dallas, quite a trip. He got settled in and we went in search of food and fencing. Scott would be fencing two days, Saturday and Sunday, while I was fencing Friday, Saturday and Sunday. After food and watching fencing we headed up to the room to get a good nights sleep.

Friday July 10 - First Blood

And a good nights sleep would have been a wonderful thing. I kept waking up worrying about what could go wrong. I didn't need to be at the fencing hall until noon so we wandered around again. The resort was very nice and and almost big enough to get lost in, almost. As the morning dragged on I got more and more nervous. I kept bouncing. I couldn't sit still. I just wanted to get the event started. Scott was kind enought to hang around and be my bag-boy. He helped keep me from being totally nuts.

At noon I got to register finally. Registration was open for an hour and then another twenty to thirty minutes to post where to go. So about 1:30 pm Central time I found myself in my first pool for my first event. I was nervous. There were seven people in my pool and because I was the unrated fencer I was listed last. I had to wait for three bouts to start. Without going into details, I won two out of my six bouts and that allowed me to go into the direct elmination. I felt pretty good about how I was fencing. I got touches on everyone in my pool and actually got touches on the better fencers in my pool. Some of them were surprised, which made me feel darn good. Unfortunetly I lost my first direct elimination bout so I was off to the showers and some food.

Saturday July 11th - Lessons Learned

Day two of fencing was a lot harder for me. First of all the event had more better fencers. Second, I woke up and was exhausted. I guess I had used up all my energy with the excite- ment of the first day. I started an hour earlier than the day before. This time Scott was fencing first so I was able to be his bag girl and that kept me distracted. What happened next is my lesson learned. Since I was exhausted I thought I would try an energy drink to get my juices flowing. Apparently for me this was a very bad idea. Not only did I not get any energy, at least as far as I could tell but I also found I couldn't focus and think. Also I became very emotional. I felt like crying for no apparent reason. It felt like someone put a blender on Frappe in my emotional center.

Needless to say, I did not do well. I only won one bout. I almost won a second one but lost 5 to 4. So I did not get to go into the direct elimination. What they do is to have the top 80% go into the direct eliminations. So I was that bad. The good news is I got to watch Scott and he did really well. He actually made it into the third direct elimination. Once he lost we returned to the room to shower and then find food. We wandered around for a little while and returned to the room to relax, watch some TV and get to bed early. We ended up staying up too late watching a silly movie which had me laughing so hard I was crying. I'm not sure if the movie was that funny or if it was the after effects of the energy drink, which by the way, I'm never drinking again.

Sunday July 12 - I Found my people

Sunday, after the energy drink episode and staying up late I was expecting to be ex- hausted but to my surprise I felt pretty good. My event started much earlier than the previous two days so I didn't have to wait around too long. I watched Scott start his pool and he did great, won five of his six bouts. I got to my strip and found myself surrounded by women my age. It was a wonderful thing. I felt I had found my place and my people at the Nationals. Many of us were a little out of shape, in terms of having too much shape, and moving just a tad slower. We sat around waiting for our bouts and were chatting about loving to fence and what body parts weren't working correclty any more. There was even a discussion about the problems of wearing bi-focals while fencing. It was great. I ended up winning three out of my six bouts. I made the cut into the direct eliminations and actually won my first one. I felt great! I had done better than any of the previous days and had more fun in the process. I lost my second direct elimination so I went in search of Scott and found his in what turned out to be his final bout.

I found out the next day that the women who came in first, second and third, had all been in my pool. I had lost my second direct elimination bout to the third place winner. I felt pretty good about that. Then I found out that the woman who won the event was one of the three I had beaten in my pool. That made me feel even better. Although I didn't make it to the finals or get a metal I now know I was as good as the rest of them. Next year is going to be a different story! Even more fun for me was finding out that I the top unrated fencer in the event. I was rated higher than any of the D, E or U rated fencers. I had lost to B's and C's but did better than all the rest. That en- couraged me even further. Yippee! Even in the other events that I didn't do as well I moved up. Next year will be a different story or at least that is my plan! Next year is in Atlanta and I plan to be there and to kick some butt!

Aftermath

Monday I made my way back home to Vegas. It was periods of long waits, at the hotel waiting for the van. Waiting at the airport for the plane that was delayed almost an hour and finally home to husband and dogs. I actually fell asleep on the the plane for awhile which I almost never do. I was exhausted after the whole event but I felt really good and when people asked me how I did I got to tell them I did well for me and that I had a great time. I now understand why competing is so hard. It's not so much the actually physical effort, although that does count, but it is the emotional and mental effects. And learning lessons like energy drinks don't work for me. I'm so glad I went and so glad I have friends and family who supported me and encouraged me to go. It was truly an experience of a lifetime to be able to compete and participate at an event of that calipher and I hope to have many years to continue to do so. Once again thank you to everyone who encouraged me!

You can see my results on the USFA website, however
these links will not return you to my page.
You may want to open them in a separate window.
Results for Veterns 50, I'm 14th.
http://usfencing.org/content/index/6779
Results for Women's Epee Div II I placed 103
& Div III I placed 91st.
http://usfencing.org/content/index/6755

Scott & his YouTube Videos

	Click below to see Scott fence at the Nationals. Thanks Scott for all your support. Clip 1 Clip 2 Clip 3