Monday, July 22, 2013

Golfing (Or Some Resemblance Thereof)

I set the goal to live an active lifestyle at the start of the month.  I figured I was working mornings only and would have tons of time to fill and I wanted to fill it with things outside rather than television.  However, I spent the first week running to interviews straight from work, the second week working another job to cover for someone, and the third week sicker than a dog.  So what did I do when I came off of working midnights at the end of a 4 week straight work period with no days off?  I went golfing with my hubby of course because it is rare I have a Sunday afternoon off to do such things.


Tamarac Golf and Country Club, Ennismore, ON
As I was still hacking up my lungs and we know we suck royally at golfing we opted to take a golf cart.  In future I plan to walk the course on nice days to get that extra level of activity, but for today it took all my energy just to swing the clubs so many times (close to 100 swings for 9 holes, yikes!).

 

Chris and I own the world's oldest golf clubs.  Or at least it seems that way as we inherited them from my mom who picked them up off the streetcurb.  Neither of us has a full set and we only own one putter that we shared, but they did the trick.  Plus, they remind me of my childhood golfing with my dad (who owned expensive clubs and always had a golf membership) and my brother (who had his own set because he is super tall and left-handed).  I on the other hand had my grandpa's ancient set of wooden driver and old irons.  Oh the memories.



My score was very high for 9 holes.  But, I feel like I showed improvement from last year.  I had a few awesome drives, some great height off the fairway, and I only lost one ball in the water and one in the bush.  We even found a few balls on the course to replace our own.  We only golfed once last year so I figure with a few more outings this summer I will build a foundation to work off of for next year when I plan to go once a week.  I might even join the ladies league for best ball as I enjoyed the youth league when I played in it.



If Chris and I both get decent enough I think golfing would be a great way to spend time together and we would meet some couples in our area that we could get together with on and off the course.  Golfing is an awesome way to spend a few hours with people you like.  We had some great chats, lots of laughs, a few cries of frustration, and a few screams of terror in the golf cart.  It was a great day!

Monday, July 1, 2013

An Update and a New Direction

Dear Readers,

I haven't blogged in a long time because I haven't had anything to blog about. I stopped training for my try-a-tri because although I'm excited about the idea of doing a race I'm really not that committed to it.  I didn't feel like I was successful enough at the running part to really do a good job at it.  I felt like I was taking on too much (like learning to run before you can walk).  I haven't totally given up on the idea of entering it yet.  I have until the end of July to register.  But, if I do enter it will be just to try it out as I am and see what happens.  I no longer wish to train for it.

Now to most (and I'm sure my husband) this will seem like I'm giving up.  I hear your exasperation and words of encouragement. To me it is not giving up (on the race and running yes, but on me and fitness no).  I've been feeling like I'm trying to be someone I am not and have never been before.  I shouldn't be surprised that I struggle with living a fit lifestyle when that is a lifestyle I never lived nor saw myself living.  If my husband was not fit and very active now I don't think I would have even entertained fitness for as long as I did.  It is not me.

What is me is doing things that I find interesting and exciting.  So, I am going to shift the focus of my blog to reflect that.  I am no longer learning to love the gym.  I am learning to live an active life.  I want to do more things and get outside more often.  I don't want to spend time convincing myself to get off the couch to exercise.  I want to get off the couch because I choose to go cycling, swimming, walking, geocaching, volleyballing, badmintoning, baseballing, gardening, etc.  I feel like I need to change my lifestyle before I can change my mindset.  I need to just do the things I love for fun first.  Then I can get competitive about them and try to do them better in the future.  I need to walk before I run.

Today I'm heading in a new direction and that direction will take me through all the active things I do now, want to do soon, and will do someday.  Check out my new tab to see where I'm headed and stay tuned to my blog to read all about my new adventures.

Be well,
Amber