With her final goal completed, she only needed to finish off her reflections part of her notebook. It had been a few days since her successful loop over the pitch and she was finally ready to write about it. After finding a nice quiet place to work, she pulled out her flying notebook and began.
Quote:
Emmalyn Walsh
Hufflepuff Second Year
Major goal: Be able to do a full inverted loop over the pitch on my broom.
Minor goal 1: Increase flying speed. Be able to cut at least 2 seconds off my cross pitch flying time.
Minor goal 2: Be able to hang on and fly upside down across the pitch.
Minor goal 3: Increase arm strength.
Month 1: Run sprints and work on push-ups and pull-ups. Try to take 1 second off sprint time by the end of the month. Add 10 reps to push-ups and pull-ups each week.
Month 2: Continue running sprints and add in flying sprints. Improve by at least 1 second by the end of the month. Add triceps dips increasing by 10 reps each week.
Month 3: Continue flying sprints and add inverted sprints. Improve flight time by at least 1 second by end of month.
Month 4: Maintain flying sprints or improve. Start loop attempts over cushioned pitch.
Month 5: Work on meeting all goals not yet accomplished and do inverted loop over pitch.
Reflections:
It was a lot harder to keep up with training for my major goal than I thought it would be. I hadn’t ever planned a goal out that far in advance before, so maybe I’ll make more small goals to build to the big one next time. I did enjoy working with Derf on building muscles and increasing flying speed. I think I will team up with an older student next time I try something like this. I could also pair up with a younger student next year to help them. I think that would be a lot of fun. Have a little flying buddy or something like that.
I am pleased with how well things went when I tried my major goal. I didn’t fall off my broom and I was able to hang on for the loop. I had tried the same maneuver multiple times last summer at quidditch came and I wasn’t able to completed it any of those time, so I call doing it a huge success. I did, however throw up all over the pitch (sorry professor). Maybe I can work some sort of training in for my stomach next time.
After the last words were written, Emmalyn gently blew on the ink to set it before closing her notebook. It had been a fast few months and she felt a little sad that it was all over. She would have to thank the professor for having them do the assignment. Her mind was set against it at the beginning, but it had turned out to be one of the best projects of the year.