Today was my second day of archery practice, and wow. First let me say that
the field is wonderful. It might be the best archery venue I've ever
seen--and this is only the large qualifying field. We haven't even laid eyes
on the field for Finals, which is even better.

The second thing I would like to note is that I really wish I'd pushed hard
with my wheelchair at home. My forearm is in some serious pain and it's
getting in the way of shooting. I'm feeling like an idiot that I tried to
prevent it by being careful, when I ought to have been doing the opposite.
Still, I had no idea what to do at the time and it seemed like a good idea
to err on the side of caution. Ok. So, I'm done feeling silly, since that
won't help. Now on to how to fix this. During shooting, I focus a LOT on
relaxing my forearm muscles and using my back muscles to power through the
shot. I've been wearing my ugly white wrist brace almost all the time, and
I've switched off crutches almost completely. I warm up carefully before
shooting, and do some stretches. When I shoot, I've got the thing taped up
(same as if I had tennis elbow) and when I'm done I ice the dickens out of
it. Then a couple hours later I ice it again with electrostimulation. I top
this all off with Reiki and drinking lots of water, getting enough rest,
etc. Beyond that, I don't know what else I can do.

The irony of this is that if I can just ignore the pain (and get past the
fear that I'm doing some lasting damage, which I doubt) then this little
injury might be a good thing. I'm having to focus very hard on my
form, which is usually a plus. And the two things I'm working on are not new
to me, which is even better. The only sketchy part of the deal is that I'm
not used to having pain come from that part of my body and every once in a
while I have a spasm of pain/weakness while drawing the string
back. It would cramp anyone's style, so I'm just trying to get used to it.
Half the problem is the surprise. I'm so used to my back scapula giving me
trouble that someone could probably jab me with something sharp at full draw
and I'd never notice. I need to build up that same resistance when it comes
to my forearm. I know I can do it, it'll just take some extra focus.

In other news. At the Dining Hall today, we saw someone from the Chinese
team eat rice with chopsticks. Nothing strange, I suppose--except that this
guy was eating with his feet. Seriously cool. Any Paralympic Village
is stocked full with people like this, who have overcome the most
debilitating setbacks in the most incredible ways. I know the motto "adapt
and overcome" belongs to the Marines, but I think the Paralympics should
give serious thought to adopting some version of it, because when you come
right down to it, that's what this whole thing is about. Adapt, overcome.
Leave your obstacles in the dust, rise above them. Citius, Altius,
Fortius. Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Which reminds me, a couple of you made comments on how cool blind judo must
be. I haven't seen my roomate in action yet, but the blind athletes never
cease to amaze me. During the briefing back in the US, they showed us a
short video on John
Morgan, the Paralympic's version of Michael Phelps. He won thirteen gold
medals in '84 and '92 and dominated the sport, eventually receiving the
honor of being inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame. He was a
regular swimmer before an accident in a gym blinded him. He said it was two
years before he could bring himself to get back into the pool. "I felt like
I was diving into a void," he said.

That's what it is like for every blind or visually impaired athlete
competing here in Beijing. Even for those who can make out light and dark,
different blurs, etc, it's still taking a huge leap of faith. Blind runners
and cyclists have guides running or riding with them, which are formally
called "pilots" but it's still hard to throw yourself into something like
that full tilt without knowing for sure what lies ahead. Swimmers
have no guides. Goalball players have no guides. I don't know how Visually
Impaired Judo works, but I'd bet a lot that when they step onto the mats,
they are on their own. What strength of character that must take! Talk about
confidence.

I have to go track down our team medic for my afternoon dose of ice and
electric zaps. Tonight we have our official Welcoming Ceremony and Flag
Raising. I hope we get to share with the New Zealanders like we did in
Athens. I'd love to watch them do their incredible Haka, the Māori
traditional dance. Trust me, you haven't seen the Haka until you've seen it
done by hyped-up rugby players stomping their wheelchairs while screaming
their heads off. Talk about a show! I get chills just thinking about it.

Will try and post some video to YouTube, if I can figure out how to access
the site...
Until next time! Miss you all.