Monday | 14/12

The practice went really well. I was on the range for almost 2 hours without feeling much. I could how the bow steady for a long time and drew to full length + long time almost till the end. I could only think of two things affecting it. One being the food I ate for lunch and then the break I had the day before. I had a lot of questions regarding my form too. If possible I’d like to actually shoot soon.

Tuesday | 15/12

Today’s practice was short. Went in the morning after going in the evening yesterday. Drew the bow 50 times. It was definitely tiring. I’ve noticed that I want to stop earlier not when I’m tired but when I don’t feel like I’m doing that well. If I do plan to reduce food this week, I can’t shoot on the weekend like I was planning. But I can always use the stretch bands. I hope I can go on a hike soon!

Wednesday | 16/12

I was holding for 70 shots, not very long tho. But I could feel I was doing much better than the previous day. At first, I assumed it was because I didn’t do it for long but then I realized I went to the range after having lunch. It was really fruitful but I was shocked about the effect of carbs on performance.

Thursday | 17/12

I think I was dry holding for almost 1.5 hours but I don’t really remember. It was in the evening, around 3. It was the same thing I was focusing on. I was trying to get more into the expansion. It went really well since I had my lunch before going. It was a deliberate decision after seeing a good performance the previous day.

Friday | 18/12

I went on a hike in the morning. It was fun and my fingers almost got a frostbite(jk). It took around 3 hours, my watch showing I walked 16k steps and ~30 floors. I felt it would be nice to take a break as well as I had already wasted enough time on that.

Saturday | 19/12

Dry holding for 50ish rounds. It was in the morn, around 11 AM. The wind was extremely annoying! It was real cold too. And it rained that night. Was there for around an hour.

I didn’t really think I’d actually go out on a rainy day. But I just left for the range, pretty much on autopilot. Anyway, I was happy that I could hold the bow to my lips and tried a lot to expand more. I don’t really remember why I left only after 50 rounds but I had to walk all the way around for getting to the range. So I might have done it for 70ish rounds or I was tired or I thought of something I wanted to work on the technique.

Sunday | 20/12

I am not sure if to include Sunday in the previous week or the next week but since it’s the weekend, I’ve decided to include it in the previous. Going on with the practice, it was so fun! I was at the range from 1300 to 1600. The setup was difficult and ugly but it wasn’t as difficult or boring as I thought. And I was not bad, all the arrows went onto the target, if not the center.

I had to tweak my technique a lot that I couldn’t get them to group. If I want to progress sooner, I need to work on my technique faster. It’s not just technique but also strength. I can’t get the technique right if I don’t have the strength or flexibility required. But I can see that I’m getting there. I just need to get my strength.

Action Items

• [EXERCISE] Start Archery Specific Strength, Flexibility, and Endurance Training
  • I can rotate each of them twice a week and the final one on the range clubbing it with usual practice.
  • Finger strength is another surprise I was up for!
• [TECHNIQUE] Read up on technique and practice with stretch bands(alternate days theory and practice)
• [NUTRITION] Eat better. Well, the practice is better now since my tummy isn’t in the way of the followthrough but it isn’t funny when my knees ache from standing too long. I still need to lose a little weight but it gets me tired and there’s so much good food around. I’m thinking lunch-dinner variation for now but let’s see how it does. And how much sanity can I maintain? Also, it only matters if I actually exercise; otherwise, all that good food directly goes to the hibernation ration.
• [PRACTISE] Just keep pushing(rather expanding). Dry holding is also a good time to think of story ideas.

This whole thing should take ~2 hours/day, if I don’t die doing these.