Shooting Star
I ran the USA Ten MIler a couple of weeks ago. Nothing spectacular. But, it was an OK 76 minute effort. WEather conditions were tough, hot, humid, and windy. Thankfully, there was no sun. And, after the race, we were treated with some much needed rain.
My training for NYC is starting to go into taper mode. I ran my last longish run on Friday. An easy 15 miler. It was a lovely morning. The run felt easy. Then, I was up in Arkansas for some serious hill training. The run from my house to Cliff Road is probably the flattest course. There is one very serious hill. Otherwise, it was just some rollers. On Saturday and Sunday, I got in a little over 5 miles on each day. On both days, I ran negative splits, and I ran the out and back a minute faster on Sunday. The weather was ideal on both days. Temperatures were in the low 50s on both mornings. I love running in cotton.
Now and then, you wonder what someone’s talent is. My son has a few talents. He plays the clarinet very well. He can put thing together like no one’s business. This weekend, I think he’s true talent is with the shotgun.
Arkansas is not just about hill running and golf. The Sylamore gun range is about an hour north of our place. We’ve been there a couple of times. We headed up again with a bunch of weapons. We got the 30-06 sighted. Then, it was time for some fun. We had planned on shooting some clay. But, the range actually had people there. My son is good with the hand guns. Other than shooting the 22 rifle, he really does not have a lot of experience. I’m impressed with how safety conscious he is. He is always good with the gun, he remembers his ear plugs, and he even remembers his safety glasses.
Over the last couple of months, we’ve added some guns. The boy is very good with the 9mm and the 1911. In fact, he’s a better shot than me. I can still out shot him with the muzzle loader, the 257 magnum, and the 22 target pistol. He’s been wanting to use the 12 gauge an shot some clay. It’s the first time he’s used the shotgun. Bad on my part, but I gave him no instructions on the shotgun. other than show him where the safety was and how to chamber the shells, he was on his own. His first three targets, he missed. Then, he started to knock them down. On Saturday, he was hitting about 8 of 10 clays. He double shot a few. However, I was impressed.
Sunday, he was even better. He hit the first 22 clays with 25 shots. Then, it was my turn. He can shot the clay, but he can’t throw them. Between his poor throwing and my bad shooting, I hit like 2 of 14 clays. On his second turn, he was only hitting about 2 out of every 3. We took a break from the shotgun and messed around with the other guns. The range was all ours. We had one box of shells left. So, I let him shoot. He hit every clay except the very last. In all, he hit 22 clays missed one and only used 25 shells. I was rather impressed and proud of him.
Hand throwing is interesting. I kept a mix of about 3 throws. Right over the middle, low and fast, and high over the head. Not matter what, he was able to bust the clay out of the sky. Now I just need to find some competitions for him to try. He’s very excited about shooting and is looking forward to a hunting trip that I need to put together. It’s fun to see him have such passion.
