Life at the Olympic Training Center

I'm back at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) getting ready for World Championships in Guatemala in 2 weeks. Awesome! I'm so happy to be back in this environment and to be surrounded by all the Olympic level athletes. (Track and field, Rugby, Field Hockey, Volleyball, BMX, Rowing)
However high my excitement level may be, I've been struggling a bit the last 7 weeks with my shooting after having a strong period of really good shooting. Whomp whomp. I knew coming out here would clean up my technique. Day one the coaches made a small change to my string hand that I really liked. Day two the coaches knocked my bow weight down 4.25lbs and everything just fell into place. Yes yes yes, I'm solo excited about this!!! I realized that my struggles appeared when I started testing out a new bow with 10% more weight then I had previously been shooting. Competition season started and had been attributing my issues to the pressures of competing and completely missed the obvious and real issue. Thankfully I have the best coaches in the USA currently available to me and we were able to figure it out in two days. It's like an elephant has been lifted off my back. I can once again shoot and not have to "try" to shoot. I'm so excited for what the rest of these next few weeks will bring me. Archery I love you.

...living the dream

Strength and Conditioning

I want to give a big shout out and thank you to 24hr Fitness in Dallas for sponsoring me for the 2013 season. Its through the generosity of companies like them that I will be able to focus more on training so I can bring home a medal for Team USA. 

                                                      I am getting stronger everyday, thank you!

                                                      Living the Dream...one arrow at a time

Facebook.com/cassandrawolfarchery

Here's a great shot by USA Archery at the Texas Shootout at Texas A&M this past fall.
I'm really looking forward to shooting this season. My goal for 2013 is to make a World Team, this steps up my shooting but I've applied to the Olympic Training Center in San Diego, CA this summer to really get focused.
I'll keep everyone posted. Like my Facebook fan page to get instant training updates. Facebook.com/cassandrawolfarchery

living the dream...one shot at a time

Long and hard road pays off...

Its been over year since my last post and things have really changed.
I stopped training full time at the OTC end of last year when a job opportunity came my way. I still continued to train, but only part time. I brought my bow with me when I traveled, which was every week and worked on bow strength exercises.  I spent my entire weekends at the Olympic Training Center in SD.
I continued this pattern until the summer of 2011. At that time I dedicated more time to training at the OTC and less time traveling for work. I had Olympic Trials in only 90 days it was time to buckle down. My training was working, I shot personal bests in Vermont making it into the 1/8th round with a final ranking of 8 in Olympic Rounds. Next up was US Nationals where I ended the year with a USA National Ranking of 15 for 2011.
At the end of the summer I was still traveling for work and it appeared that this would be the case for the foreseeable future. I decided that moving would be much easier then traveling across the country each week and would allow me more time to train. I was fortunate to find a FITA field only a couple of miles from my work. So...I'm moved, training and working. I spent a week at the OTC in SD the week before Olympic Trials. The training went well and I felt ready for Trials.

Olympic Trials was held in College Station, TX September 28th, 2011. Practice day went well and I was excited to shoot Trials. Top 16 here I come! Unfortunately I started the day slow, and fell behind in the rankings. At about the half way point I started to make a come back, my shots were strong and my confidence was improving. I was jumping up the leader board like no one else and was still hopeful of making it. In the end I was just too far behind and I couldn't catch back up. It was disappointing was satisfying all at the same time. The long hard road I took for 3 years had paid off, because I tried. I gave it my all and always looked forward. I turned what seemed an impossible dream in 2008 into realty. I may not have made it past round 1 of Olympic Trials, but I made it TO Olympic Trials. Next time it will be all the way! No year off, no complaining! I'm doing this folks and chronicling along the way. I want to make a World Team, I want to shoot a World Cup and I will take this journey to 2016 Rio!

Here we go....

Not try to try and relax

Apparently I'm a ball of tension when I shoot with lots of other wonderful side effects. I have to admit, I'm not that surprised I do have a higher intensity resting rate then others. For those who dont know "me" in all my environments wouldn't understand/see this.
No, I'm not making any excuses. I do bring to the table a high level of intensity and high standard to every action of the shot cycle. I know I need to work on relaxing while shooting and just letting some of it come more naturally.
This is going to be my focus tomorrow I'll let everyone know how that goes.

BTW: I was so excited I forgot to blog a personal best that I shot yesterday. A 268 (w/a miss) out of 300- 18m indoor/outdoor 40cm target. The miss was a choke, the last arrow of the end. (Uh-hmm, high intensity, probably)


Focus Today...Succeed Tomorrow
My focus today was learning everything I could from the RA's.

Monday Determination

Shoot Shoot Shoot. That was my plan. ...I succeeded!

I shot 200 arrows on Monday, quite a feat after all the shooting I did this weekend at the OTC this weekend.

Monday's Schedule
Morning- 30 mins SPT
Morning- 100 arrows at 18 meters
Lunch
Afternoon- 100 arrows at 18 meters
Afternoon- Gym, Boot Camp fitness Class-focus on shoulders and back. 20 mins Stair Climber lvl 11
Evening- R & R

Focus Today...Succeed Tomorrow
My focus Today is picking up the pace.

TGIF - oh wait...

Did I just post TGIF?...hahaha... I like Fridays and not for the reason everyone does I'm sure. I like Fridays because it means I'm going to be spending the next 2 days at the Olympic Training Center for Archery Training. I'm ready for the soreness Coaches, so lets make some adjustments to my form. Like past days I have several videos I could share, but I narrowed it down to 2.
This was my schedule today.
Morning- Floor stretching including legs and upper body.
Mid- Morning- 70 arrows at 18 meters outdoors (good results on the target, hopefully the form was good) *see pic
Early Afternoon- Tournament Research and Mental Challanges Research
Afternoon- Gym including Cardio, mat work for abs, core, triceps, traps and a bit of lats
Evening- 40 arrows at 5 meters. 25 mins SPT Endurance, 30 sec hold

I probably wont post tomorrow, but will do my best to give everyone an update on Sunday.






Focus Today...Succeed Tomorrow
Today my focus was Right hand position on Setup and Set

Wednesday's Schedule

2 more days until I return to shooting at the OTC!!!
I'm working really hard to impress the coaches on my return tomorrow. Hopefully they can see that I've improved in strength and control. Well, at least it feels that way...
Today's Schedule has gone like this so far.
Morning- Endurance SPT for 30 mins
Mid-morning- 5 ends of 8 and 10 ends of 7 (110 arrows) this was not the plan, but i split an arrow today from what I believe to be from too much contact with the other arrows (aka I group too well) :) so I switched from shooting 8 per end to 7.
Afternoon- Cardio, normally I would do abs/core today, but I fell 6ft off a counter and injured my tail bone a bit. ouch. So, no abs for me.
Evening- 70 arrows and 30 mins of Endurance SPT

Focus Today...Succeed Tomorrow
*My focus today was my release. Follow the jaw line and keep hand position the same.

Monday's Practice

This Thursday is the first day back after break, so I'm kicked my training into full gear this past weekend.
Today I started with...
Morning- off with SPT (Specific Physical Training).
I'm working on Endurance SPT for 30 mins. "The bow is drawn in the normal manner, using correct technique, but without an arrow; hold for 30 seconds. The rest time, between each repetition, should be double the "Hold Time"; e.g. hold for 30 seconds then rest time will be double this or 60 seconds. - Duration 30 minutes.
This exercise must be done with proper form, incorporating aiming, otherwise bow will move all over place when fatigue starts to set in." http://kslinternationalarchery.com/Training/SPTs/SPTs.html
Mid-morning- I shot 100 arrows in the garage at 15 meters. (One & half hours)
Afternoon- Gym for shoulders, Lats and cardio.
This Evening I intend to shoot another 25 (4 ends) or so arrows and an additional 30 mins of SPT training.

Focus Today...Succeed Tomorrow
**I worked on my hand position on the bow today. It's starting to make more sense on how to "hold"/palm the bow for more consistent shots.

How it started

An advert in my community newsletter had a small column about an Archery Club forming at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. Having tried Archery for a couple of months in High School and somewhat remembering that I enjoyed it, I thought it might be something I would enjoy during my free time.
It was mid-September 08 the first time I shot a recurve bow at the Olympic Training Center. That first day was an overview of the Archery Program and the Clubs expectations. They permitted those interested to shoot a couple of arrows. I was the oldest person there, who wasn't a parent of a child who wanted to shoot. Putting awkwardness aside I put on my best face of confidence and shot my first Recurve bow. Whew, how exciting I thought, but as the 9 and 10 year old's around me were squirming around wanting to shoot i decided it best to take a step back and just watch.
Looking back, I'm really surprised I went to the Olympic Training Center (OTC) Archery Club that first day, from the minute I pulled up, I was an anomaly in my yet to be known quest.