Hello St. Lawrence River!

After a laborious 7 hour drive from Cleveland, Ohio to Oak Point, New York, I finally had the chance to stretch my aching legs and sore knees.  The river was calm and the air was crisp and fresh. I was thrilled to be back up in this beautiful and quiet cottage after a hard fought venture in Reno, Nevada for Summer Nationals 2011.

The St. Lawrence River way is so secluded from the busy city noise and ruckus. You can actually hear the sounds of the river lapping up on the shore and the sun beats lightly on your shoulders and warms the senses. You are close enough to small towns that you still feel attached to civilization, but at the same time you are isolated enough to feel peaceful and all your worries fly out the window.

The surroundings are beautiful! The flowers are in full bloom and Canada is a short boat ride away. The big freighters flow up and down the river, the trees are green and the beautiful birds pepper the branches-decorating them with splashes of reds, yellows, brilliant blacks, and bright oranges. The water is crystal clear and the air clean. It is the perfect place for a nice vacation.

The cool water makes training ten times better when the sun beats down on your back. This week I will not only be relaxing, but training as well. The peaceful surroundings make exercising so much more enjoyable. Imagine training in total and utter complete bliss. Work almost feels like play-almost...

I have been and continue to plan to fill my days here with brisk 3 mile runs-the cool air in the morning allows for perfect running temperature, but if you wait too long the beautiful river side street becomes a hellish pathway where you feel as though you are melting and the sun is pounding you into the asphalt.

After my morning runs, I come back to the house for footwork and fleche exercises that fill another 45-60 minutes of my time. Due to the gravel road, I am forced to resort to utilizing the faded wooden gray floors of the boathouse as my mock piste for my training. (It is not well appreciated by my family members when I do footwork across the kitchen and living room floors :P). Even though the room gets a bit muggy, it's nice to have my own secluded fencing training area to concentrate on my footwork and technique without interruption.

I put in the minutes day in and day out carefully training my footwork. All the pain and sweat goes towards perfecting actions and improving reaction time and foot speed. Pushing myself to the limits allows me to feel a sense of accomplishment. I am not only physically working, but mentally too. I imagine bouts and actions happening bore my eyes-my fleche taking off and my fingers ever so slightly disengaging and taking the blade in 6 as my point finds its intended target-the shoulder.

Throughout my lunge jumps and scissors jumps I picture my lunge growing and increasing in speed and endurance. I practice and perfect patterns and blade takes to shave time off of my footwork. I force myself to bounce during footwork exercises like I would in tournaments in order to increase endurance and speed of attacks.

At the end of it all I relax and make my way swiftly to the calm cool water way of the St. Lawrence River. The cool water refreshes my sore muscles and cools my mind, allowing me to let loose and unwind. By the end of my days I work my ab muscles with my medicine ball-performing ab twists and sit ups. All in all, throughout my time on the St. Lawrence I relax and unwind and take the opportunity to train deeper than usual with my clearer mind. My goals are sharper and my motivation high. I run, swim, do footwork, and all sorts of ab and arm exercises to reach my goals and to train for my next fencing challenge-this year I will be at the Alliance international training camp in Houston for two weeks after my week here!


Courtney Dumas

Lessons Learned, Reno Summer Nationals 2011

So I'm finally back from Reno, Nevada. It was a lot of fun, although there was nothing but desert all around the hotel. This year I competed in Juniors and Division 1A. The competition was fierce and unrelenting.

There ended up being a total of 186 fencers in the Junior event. I blasted my way through the pools after a shaky opening bout that I won in priority, 3-2. The confidence was flowing and the actions were swift. My lunges and fleches flowed with ease and my mental game was sharp.

With the assistance of my tournament personalized playlist and the support of Amanda Sirico of DCFC and my Hooked on Fencing teammates, I pounded out a 6-0 record in the pools with a plus 18 indicator (touches scored minus touches received). Everything was working pretty well and I was confident moving into the direct elimination round.

By the DEs my fencing was strong, but not up to the caliber it was at Junior Olympics where I finished second. The footwork was just not as crisp and the distance was shaky. I struggled to put away my opponents, even though I won by 4 or more points. The flow just wasn't energetic or agile. I had to rely on my counter attack much more often than I felt comfortable with.

After fighting my way through to double elimination I finally lost a close bout to Signe Furguson, 15-14. We had doubled all the way from 10-10 to 14 all! The bout was intense and nerves were high. As she pushed  and pressed me, I finally took the initiative and fleched in the 8 line, but I missed the blade take! I ran right into her counter attack and lost a hard fought bout 15-14.

After a long wait for my second chance DE, I regretfully was nervous and jumpy. I doubted my skills as a fencer and was scared to lose. I had come all this way just to fence like I had 3 years ago. My bout against Jennifer Horowitz was dismal. I would close the distance or allow my self to be pushed around the strip as a result of my timid fencing. I didn't fully commit to actions and lunged half-heartedly. After all my hard work I lost 15-9 in a bout that I will never forget.

A fencer can never be timid. If you compete scared you will in all likelihood fail. That is what happened to me. I forgot my training and my mental preparation. I had no "general"-mental prowess, to lead my "army"-skill set and ability. Without a general your army is worthless. You could have the best army in the world, but without a leader to command their movements, they are an unorganized mess. This is why I lost the bout and it is a lesson learned and will not be easily forgotten.

May this be a lesson to all you out there not to be afraid to risk it all. In competition the worst you can do is lose, but if you are afraid to lose and compete in that manner then your opponent has ALREADY WON.


   Courtney Dumas