It's Time to Renew My Old Addiction: Triathlon

I haven't raced a triathlon since Ironman St George in 2010.

Weird.

Especially considering it was such a huge part of my life for 10+ years prior to that.

I guess I just got burned out after training so much in the 9 months leading up to that race, and I needed a break after. A change of pace is good for a person, right?

Well, if you follow my blog or Facebook or Instagram, you probably know I've filled the hole with golf.

A lot of golf. (see posts here, here, here, here, here, and here)

Yes, I consider myself a pretty decent golfer now, and I'm proud of that fact.

I enjoy playing, especially with my friends. But I worry because I'm starting to get the classic golfer belly.
Not too bad, but more than I want. I'd like to get that triathlon body back, and I think it'll improve my golf game if I'm in better shape, too.

I'll be stronger, more flexible, and I won't be sucking wind when it's a hilly course or I play 36 holes in a single day (yes, I've done that, and yes, I recognize it's excessive).

So as part of my rehab from the torn Achilles last year, I have been swimming and biking, and I'm slowly getting my jogging back to a level where I'll be able to run the 5K necessary to at least finish a sprint tri later this year.

I'd been hoping to prep for TriUtah's Jordanelle race, as it was always one of my favorites back when I lived in Utah previous to heading to DC, but it's more likely that I could prep for Ogden Valley on Sept 14th.

Fortunately, I also loved Ogden Valley, so it'd be a great return-to-triathlon race. Even though the distances are a little longer than a standard sprint, including a 4-mile run which will test me.

But if we don't push ourselves, and we don't try, then we can't succeed. So that's my goal.

Happy training and I'll keep you all posted on my progress!

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My First Golf Round in the 70s

It's been a while since I've had a big breakthrough in my golf scoring.

I broke 90 for the first time in May of last year, and there was much rejoicing.

Mostly it's been gradual improvement from regular low-90s to high-80s to mid-80s.
But finally I had a solid round with some great saves, and I scored in the 70s.

Nick, Dean, and I played Glendale, which is a fairly forgiving course, and Nick and I were battling the whole way, feeding off each other, and that was helpful. I don't know that we actually knew how well we were playing, until with a couple holes to go I looked at the scores and saw we could go lower than I ever have before.

Pretty stoked to both shoot in the 70s

Or maybe Nick knew, and he didn't want to stress/psych me out. Either way, that just left a few holes where I had it in my head and just had to hit my spots and roll some putts.

Fortunately, I was able to keep it together, and I finished with an ecstatic 77 (+5)!

Check out my first sub-80 card:

Those back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 were pretty great. I hit in the fairway on both, missed the green, and then either chipped in from about 40 feet (on 12) or chipped to close and made the putt (on 13).

I almost had a miraculous birdie on 14 (for which Dean would have owed me lunch), but I missed the putt. Still happy with how I played that hole, too, and most of the other holes.

Nick was one stroke behind on the 18th tee, but he missed his tee shot right, into a bunker, and didn't have a look at the green from there. I hit the fairway, and then the green with my next, so that kinda iced it. He played a great round of 79, though, which was fun we both went sub-80 the same day.

What I'm most proud of is playing even-par on the back 9. Don't think I've ever done that before!
Oh, and I'm second-most proud of the lack of 2Bogey+ black squares on that card. Avoiding penalties truly is key to having any chance at being near par.

Hopefully I'll be posting another card on here soon where I go sub-70, though I'm sure it'll get progressively harder to go lower and lower, so don't how your breath for that post. hahaha

Hit 'em long and straight, friends!

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Today We Are Golf Champions: 2013 Wilson Mohr Scramble

I've only played in a few golf tournaments, but I was excited for this one.

Playing in the 2013 Wilson Mohr scramble with my buddies Nick, Clint, and Dean was going to be fun.
We play together regularly, and we each have our strengths, so with all of us playing together and taking the best ball from our shots, that was a recipe for success.

Clint sizing up his tee shot

We set a goal of -10 for our round, which would mean we'd need a birdie every other hole.
With everyone in the tourney playing from the white tees, that seemed like a very reasonable goal.

There were a couple holes where our tee shots were wild-ish, but we had one or two in the fairway on just about every hole. And usually that gave our big hitters a chance to swing freely and go for distance.
Which means we had a good amount of birdie putts, and luckily we hit some long ones.

Long story short, we reached our goal with the help of an eagle on the hardest hole, and we finished with a bonus birdie, too.

In the clubhouse, we turned in our score and then ate some tasty food while the remaining teams trickled in and the scorekeeper posted.

And look, our score held up! We won with a 61 (-11)!

Looks like we'll have to defend our title next year, and I have a feeling we'll be working on our games often between now and then, simply because we have lots of fun playing together.

Congrats, fellow champions!

Oh, and thanks to my buddies' wives for letting them come play with me all the time!

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Better Add These 18 Golf Holes to My List of Places to Visit in My Lifetime

Just about everyone wishes they could travel more, don't they?

I have friends that travel quite a lot, and even they want to see more locations, right, Amber?

Well when I see articles/slideshows like this one, it kicks my travel bug into overdrive.

Think of it.

Legendary courses like St Andrews,

No. 17: Par 4, 455 yards

Cypress Point,
Pebble Beach,

No. 18: Par 5, 543 yards

Augusta National,
TPC Sawgrass,

No. 17: Par 3, 137 yards

Royal Country Down (Northern Ireland),
Riviera,
Muirfield Village,

No. 14: Par 4, 363 yards

Stoneforest International (China),
Royal Melbourne (Australia),
Royal Troon (Scotland),
and seven more remarkable golf courses.

Yes, please.
I hope my travel case is ready for some frequent flier miles.

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My First Golf Round in the 80s

And no, I'm not talking about the decade of the 1980s.
This post is about the first time I have ever played a round of golf and finished with a score in the 80s.

Yes, it's a big deal for me, since I'd never been lower than 92 before that.

Wearing my lucky golf hat and one of my favorite golf shirts

Here's the story.

My roommate Yale and I set a tee time at the East Potomac Park course, which is on Hains Point right by the Jefferson Memorial. The course is straight-forward, generally pretty forgiving of miss-hits, and quite flat. All good factors for being able to shoot low.

We were put in with two nice guys about our age, and that's always helpful when you can have relaxed, casual conversation throughout the round. I don't mind being put with older guys, as long as they're friendly and we can all shoot the breeze in between shots or while waiting on the tee box.

Anyway, the weather was great, and we got underway. I started doing a hole-by-hole recap, but that was getting quite boring, so I'll just do a quick recap of the whole round.

My big objectives were to play within my ability, improve my putting, and stay relaxed. Course management is and needs to remain key for me, since I'm not a long-ball hitter. No risk-reward golf, because the risk is far too great and my recovery shots are not consistent enough.

Here's how the round went:

My scorecard

For the most part, I stuck to my objectives and it paid off. Instead of using my driver every chance I could, I often pulled out the 3-wood or 4-hybrid. Taking yardage off the tee was a fine exchange for improved accuracy and hitting more fairways than usual. Plus, I wasn't tempted to swing for the fences, which just leads to all kinds of issues in my game.

My putting was fairly solid, except for a little shakiness as I started the back nine. I'm chalking that up to low blood sugar, as I hadn't eaten anything in a bit. My trail mix kicked in after a couple holes, and I was able to settle down and putt consistently again.

Yale and our playing companions remarked several times that my playing style was "boring but extremely effective", and I definitely took that as a compliment. If I'm boring to watch, but my scores stay low, then I'll take a round like that any day.

Can't wait to get back out and see if I can keep this low scoring going!

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Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride

No, not me.

But thanks for your concern, Mom and Grandma.

I was thinking about sports stars that were overshadowed by someone just a little bit better.
If not for the super-star, these guys would have owned their era, winning championships or tournaments or races all along the way. And their names would be the ones synonymous with excellence.
Note: I'm not saying they aren't champions; they just didn't get the glory they would have received if not for their contemporary.

Here are a couple I've identified [tormentor in brackets]:

Karl Malone & John Stockton [Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen]
The Utah Jazz stars played over 1,400 regular-season games together and went to the NBA Finals in two consecutive years. Unfortunately, Jordan and Pippen were waiting for them both times, and the pick-and-roll just wasn't enough to steal that elusive championship ring from the Bulls' clutches.

Jan Ullrich [Lance Armstrong]
Everyone knows who Lance Armstrong is. Pretty much only cyclists and cycling fans know who Jan Ullrich is. That's because Jan only won the Tour de France once (1997) prior to Lance taking the cycling world by storm and finishing in the yellow jersey 7 times in a row (1999-2005).

Phil Mickelson [Tiger Woods]
Yes, Phil has had a whole lot of success in his career, and he isn't done yet. Their rivalry has defined an era in golf, with most people remembering Tiger's ability to finish tournaments. On the flip side, Phil too often let leads slip away late in the weekend. Time remains for Phil to catch up, but at present Phil has 4 Major championships to Tiger's 14. Better get on it, Lefty.

Boston Red Sox [New York Yankees]
I have love for both teams, but you have to admit the Yankees have had more success when it really matters: the post-season and especially the World Series. Prior to Schilling's bloody sock in 2004, the Sox suffered an 86-year championship draught, during which the Bronx Bombers won 26 titles. Ouch.

Cameron Brown [Tim DeBoom & Peter Reid]
Outside of triathlete circles, not many people know of Cameron. At the Ironman Championships in Kona, HI, he took top 3 in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005, as well as two other top-10 finishes, but was never able to cross that line first. To his credit, Cameron has dominated Ironman New Zealand with 10 wins and 2 second-place finishes from 2000-2011.

All these poor guys/teams sadly had their incredible careers which happened to coincide with other guys/teams at a slightly higher peak. We still applaud their skills and accomplishments, but the rivalry didn't come out in their favor. Tough break, but that's the way sports are.

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Two Things I Love: Star Wars and Golf

Just a quick funny video I stumbled upon. I don't know why Spike was advertising this, but I love it.

Star Wars + golf = happy Aaron

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