My attitude toward the shooting world has definitely changed since my first article. Instead of dreading the matches when my husband invites me, I am now filled with gusto and enthusiasm. So many people have been encouraging and praising my efforts that my goal to focus on my shooting skills has become concrete, and I have fallen in love with the shooting community.

But it hasn't all been smiles and fervor. I had felt so good after that first Steel Challenge match that I wanted to retry my hand at USPSA after all these years. I decided I would switch from the Glock 34 9mm I used at my first match to the weapon I carried on my hip throughout my short career as a police officer — a Glock 22 .40 cal.

I quickly regretted the transition after the first shots of the day. The recoil was so magnified compared to the 9mm I used the last match. I could feel every vibration throughout my hand and wrist.

To be blunt, it was painful. The split second it took for my first round to exit the barrel and puncture the ground far in front of my target was all it took for all of my fear and anger to return. I readjusted my grip, gritted through the discomfort and pulled the trigger again. Dirt.

Trying to tame the painful recoil of my .40 caliber Glock.

On top of the pain the .40 cal was inflicting on me, the complexity of the stages were far and away more difficult than the Steel Challenge stages the week before.

The first stage of the day required that I remain static at the start signal until I shot this one small steel popper that was about 30 yards away. After five shots and dust now floating around the stage, I decided to shake it off and move forward, bypassing the target altogether.

The complexity of the stages were ramped way up from Steel Challenge the week before.

The stage became increasingly difficult from there with hidden and swinging targets. By the time I was done with the stage, all of the motivation and positivity I had going in had evaporated and were replaced with frustration. In contrast, my husband, Joshua, was receiving accolades from his fast time and accurate shooting.

When time came to score, I didn't even want to hear it. I was embarrassed and felt the judgement from these champion shooters around me. As the scores were yelled out to record, I was surprised to hear multiple "alphas." Don't get me wrong, I had many "mikes" as well, but I was happy to hear I was not nearly as incompetent as I felt.

Not only that, the judgement I had felt was completely self-induced by my own insecurity. After the stage, one of the match directors, Steve Leach, approached me to not only give tips on how to plan out my stage, but also to encourage me to keep shooting and that I showed potential. While it didn't dissolve all of my frustration, it gave me just enough resolve to finish the next three stages.

I was not all smiles, but I wasn't going to give up.

My three major weaknesses when it comes to shooting with my injury now are racking the slide, reloading and overall strength in my support hand. Strength in my hand will never return to what it was, but I did make adjustments for the other two issues.

First, I added a large slide racker to my weapon that would allow me to use my arm strength instead of grip strength to operate the slide. Second, I decided to compete in the Limited 10 division in order to practice reloading more often and take advantage of the major scoring of my .40 caliber Glock.

On the third stage of the day, I was met with my first malfunction. This would normally have me grasping and struggling to operate the slide, but now I utilized the slide racker that had been recommended to me and moved past the issue quickly to finish the stage.

My time wasn't fast, but I felt a sense of accomplishment because that jam had not caused me to be written out of the fight. While I celebrated my small victory, Joshua was celebrating an almost perfect stage run, which he seemed to accomplish with ease.

Using the slide racker to work through a malfunction.

By the fourth stage, I was emotionally and physically done. My shooting was not nearly as accurate as it had been during Steel Challenge, and my hand was hurting. I am not going to lie, I wanted to throw in the towel and call it a day. But my ego would not let me.

It was then that a lively and veteran-looking group of men came to the stage, all wearing red and white jerseys with "Team Curmudgeon" written across the back with a clever caricature of an elderly man.

Mark Gardner from the Curmudgeon team approached me and addressed me by name. He had recognized me from the first article I had written and wanted to offer words of encouragement. We shook hands and after a short conversation, I had learned that Mark had served in the U.S. Army and had faced multiple physical issues when it came to shooting.

Mark showed me the surgery scars on both of his elbows and one of his hands, and explained that he had even had surgery on his back. He told me that at age 40, he thought his life was basically over.

Then, he told me he had just recently accomplished reaching "A" class in his sixties! Now he shoots on a senior team, but you would never be able to tell their ages by the way they all shoot.

Mark Gardner from Team Curmudgeon helped boost my confidence.

When I left the match and headed home, my energy was quite different from when I had arrived. I had made many mistakes, I could no longer shoot my duty pistol well, and my husband had done so well with what seemed like minimal effort — which was frustrating in and of itself.

My husband annoyingly won the Limited 10 Division for the day.

But then I thought back about how many times Joshua had come home discouraged because he had no-shoots or mikes (even though his job requires he never have no-shoots or mikes) and how Mark had to fight past multiple physical ailments to achieve success. Joshua and Mark had taught me something invaluable: Shooting is difficult!

These shooters around me — experienced or not — have bad days of shooting, create bad habits and have all wanted to give up at one time or another. But people like Mark and Joshua make me remember that you can overcome anything if you do not allow the fear to keep you from it.

I had had it in my mind that after I got back out there things would get back to "normal" and my scores and speed would start to increase overnight. I had not prepared for taking steps backward.

This journey is not about getting back to "normal" but about moving forward and not allowing the past to get in my way.