Last year, when we started talking seriously about doing this, Melanie cautioned that if we were going to try, step 1 was playing a mini-tour of 10 straight days to see how my body would stand up to the trip. I, of course, said “posh! I play hours of basketball everyday what is a little golf going to do to me!?!?!”
Let’s just say, Melanie is wise
The 10 days went well, for the most part. However, I did learn I put too much torque in my swing to continue to use my interlocked grip and golf that often (at least if I wanted to keep my right pinky finger attached to my hand). Lesson learned, mini-tour validated, ready set go!!! I was certain I had learned everything I needed to know about my body and endurance (in addition to playing *a lot* of basketball on a regular basis I’ve also run multiple marathons).
Let’s just say, Melanie is wise
I’m now 15 days into this trip, and I’m learning that there are a few other cracks in the foundation. Nothing that should compromise the trip, but stuff that will require a bit of maintenance. The outside of my right index finger has now produced, not one, not two, but three blisters (I think I have this remedied with athletic tape going forward); my injured knee (torn meniscus) does not take kindly to long rounds (over 4 hours) walking and toting my bag; I have general muscle soreness as this trip does not allow for any recovery days.
Again, it’s all manageable. I’ve taken an aspirin this morning and done a little stretching. The big change I think will have to be (gulp) diet. I’ve been living the high-life for the first couple of weeks as far as carbs and sugars, and I think I need to do a better job with that to give my body the best chance to deal with the relatively constant (and new & different) stress I’m putting on it.
So, more salads and fewer dinner roll’s for me. Some stretching and a little band work, and I think everything will be fine and dandy. But, I figured a little glimpse into some of the realities of this trip was appropriate. It’s still mostly sunshine and roses; however, right now there are a few more groans when picking my ball out of the cup than I’d like…