![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redfiona99Now back to catching up after unexpected medal
Am I desperately scrambling to get this up before this year's Memorial competition, yes I am.
Last year's (and this year's and all future years) competition was somewhat complicated by the work Christmas party being the night before. Cue yours truly partying till 2, getting up at 8 am to catch a train to Leicester, fencing, party that night, and then fencing all of Sunday.
I was cream-crackered.
Matters were not helped by new high heels. My old high heels, which have served me since 2006, literally fell apart. Cue panicked hunt for heels. Now, there are various problems with the search. Some of them are all my fault - I refuse to wear heels that I can't kick people in, and run in. Some of them are more structural. I have size 5 1/2 feet (39 Euro, 6 US, goodness knows what Australian). Most UK shoe shops have stopped selling half-sizes. Therefore, I have to wear 6s. A lot. And, as far as I can tell, British women just have fat ankles. And I don't. So I literally fall out of a lot of heels. I found a pair, but they were, and indeed still are, sub-optimal, and I will be hunting this weekend for a replacement pair.
I came off better than my head of department who was fed sambucca all evening by our head of division, and ended up with glass in her feet (no, we don't know how), the now-fiance of one colleague who was ranted at for half an hour about the perils of married life by a different colleague and still proposed the day after anyway, and at least a few other people who I know were nursing sore heads the day after.
On the plus side, there was free facial glittering so I looked stunning/ridiculous.
The individual competition went okay. I mean, I am not an epeeist, I go for the esprit du corps and for the charity (https://www.alicerugglestrust.org/), and I finished just outside the points but not last. Got beaten by a tiny left-hander in the 16, which was expected but I took her to full time and she didn't reach 15. She also accidentally got given a hit to floor that I swear did not hit my foot, but there are competitions where I am not going to cause a ruckus, and this is one of them.
Went to the competition party. Terrified this year's uni club treasurer by telling him I was his predecessor from 12 years before (please imagine my crone-iest cackle at this point). A quite remarkable number of this year's committee are French!
Woke up the next morning and got to the hall in time for the team competition because I'd been put on stand by in case the 3rd member of Leicester Uni B couldn't make it due to a stomach bug. He made it (brave fool), but I was needed by Northampton B. Northampton B's third member couldn't make it for some excuse he'd pulled out of his hat so I got drafted in. Not a problem because Northampton B are lovely. Also not a problem because it mean the girly team (C who is lovely and would be GB number one but the BFA are morons, M who, rather infamously, is the person who chased me off an epee piste for being a bad ref but I have mostly forgiven her, A who I have known for far too long and M who is lovely and married to one of Northampton B) could have their team despite C needing to dash off before the end of the competition.
It did not go swimmingly. M just couldn't get his rhythm right, J was having a bad day and I am a foilist, and we probably came dead last. But lots of fun was had by all. The new epee rules (non-combativity for 30 seconds causes end of that specific bout-section in a team event) got called upon, because one fella couldn't figure out how to hit me and I couldn't figure out how to hit him. Given he's an actual epeeist, I think it reflects worse on one of us. Had lots of fun in a few fights, including fencing L from our club (he's at uni in Manchester and was on team we-fleche-a-lot, officially named "The Pomellers"). Lost horribly to E from the old Leicestershire and Rutland lot, duelled H (also a foilist) to a draw and accidentally hit D (D from Frisby for the one RL person who might read this) right in the ankle, which I feel horrible about.
Girly team got 4th, I think, but M nearly made IA cry along the way. Which is bad given he was reffing her, not fencing her. When I say mostly forgiven, I mean, I have forgiven her for me, I may never forgive her for IA. Because he is a sweetheart, if hopeless in that particularly fencing way.
So had lots of fun, even if I didn't fence particularly well, and only a limited amount of bruising. I was tired as heck afterwards mind you, and mildly zombiefied for the week after at work. I have learnt and am talking the Monday morning off this year.
For a more official write up, please see here - https://www.alicerugglestrust.org/post/ar-mem-fencing-2018
Am I desperately scrambling to get this up before this year's Memorial competition, yes I am.
Last year's (and this year's and all future years) competition was somewhat complicated by the work Christmas party being the night before. Cue yours truly partying till 2, getting up at 8 am to catch a train to Leicester, fencing, party that night, and then fencing all of Sunday.
I was cream-crackered.
Matters were not helped by new high heels. My old high heels, which have served me since 2006, literally fell apart. Cue panicked hunt for heels. Now, there are various problems with the search. Some of them are all my fault - I refuse to wear heels that I can't kick people in, and run in. Some of them are more structural. I have size 5 1/2 feet (39 Euro, 6 US, goodness knows what Australian). Most UK shoe shops have stopped selling half-sizes. Therefore, I have to wear 6s. A lot. And, as far as I can tell, British women just have fat ankles. And I don't. So I literally fall out of a lot of heels. I found a pair, but they were, and indeed still are, sub-optimal, and I will be hunting this weekend for a replacement pair.
I came off better than my head of department who was fed sambucca all evening by our head of division, and ended up with glass in her feet (no, we don't know how), the now-fiance of one colleague who was ranted at for half an hour about the perils of married life by a different colleague and still proposed the day after anyway, and at least a few other people who I know were nursing sore heads the day after.
On the plus side, there was free facial glittering so I looked stunning/ridiculous.
The individual competition went okay. I mean, I am not an epeeist, I go for the esprit du corps and for the charity (https://www.alicerugglestrust.org/), and I finished just outside the points but not last. Got beaten by a tiny left-hander in the 16, which was expected but I took her to full time and she didn't reach 15. She also accidentally got given a hit to floor that I swear did not hit my foot, but there are competitions where I am not going to cause a ruckus, and this is one of them.
Went to the competition party. Terrified this year's uni club treasurer by telling him I was his predecessor from 12 years before (please imagine my crone-iest cackle at this point). A quite remarkable number of this year's committee are French!
Woke up the next morning and got to the hall in time for the team competition because I'd been put on stand by in case the 3rd member of Leicester Uni B couldn't make it due to a stomach bug. He made it (brave fool), but I was needed by Northampton B. Northampton B's third member couldn't make it for some excuse he'd pulled out of his hat so I got drafted in. Not a problem because Northampton B are lovely. Also not a problem because it mean the girly team (C who is lovely and would be GB number one but the BFA are morons, M who, rather infamously, is the person who chased me off an epee piste for being a bad ref but I have mostly forgiven her, A who I have known for far too long and M who is lovely and married to one of Northampton B) could have their team despite C needing to dash off before the end of the competition.
It did not go swimmingly. M just couldn't get his rhythm right, J was having a bad day and I am a foilist, and we probably came dead last. But lots of fun was had by all. The new epee rules (non-combativity for 30 seconds causes end of that specific bout-section in a team event) got called upon, because one fella couldn't figure out how to hit me and I couldn't figure out how to hit him. Given he's an actual epeeist, I think it reflects worse on one of us. Had lots of fun in a few fights, including fencing L from our club (he's at uni in Manchester and was on team we-fleche-a-lot, officially named "The Pomellers"). Lost horribly to E from the old Leicestershire and Rutland lot, duelled H (also a foilist) to a draw and accidentally hit D (D from Frisby for the one RL person who might read this) right in the ankle, which I feel horrible about.
Girly team got 4th, I think, but M nearly made IA cry along the way. Which is bad given he was reffing her, not fencing her. When I say mostly forgiven, I mean, I have forgiven her for me, I may never forgive her for IA. Because he is a sweetheart, if hopeless in that particularly fencing way.
So had lots of fun, even if I didn't fence particularly well, and only a limited amount of bruising. I was tired as heck afterwards mind you, and mildly zombiefied for the week after at work. I have learnt and am talking the Monday morning off this year.
For a more official write up, please see here - https://www.alicerugglestrust.org/post/ar-mem-fencing-2018
