A week in which it turned out that watching golf (ie walking the course with the players) is just as tiring physically as playing golf…
This week there was a professional competition at my club, so I got the chance to play another great local course for free (because we get offered alternative tee times elsewhere when we can’t access our own course). However, this didn’t mean I wasn’t walking my own course, because I followed the golf competition for three days (well the pro am for one, then Friday and Sunday of the actual comp)! The cover image shows a view across the 18th hole.
Other than that, this week was much like last week: gardening, cooking and reading.
Reading:
Still working through the Detective Kindaichi Mysteries by Seishi Yokomizo series and not feeling the urge to read anything else other than blogs and a bit of news (but mostly skimming the latter). I’m certainly not setting aside time for research-related reading right now (and this is giving me some anxiety, because I do have outstanding research writing on my list)!
The body count in each of the Kindaichi novels continues to be high!
Golf:
Last week I noted that my golf had slumped, so it was great to play somewhere new this week. Being somewhere different alters your thinking about your game, because suddenly you’re concentrating on working out what to do even more than usual, rather than the shot itself as one you’ve played many times before. My playing partner had visited the course before so offered advice on some holes (ie “avoid the left hand side” or “there’s a sharp dog leg right here”, etc). It was hot, so we were driving the round together sharing a cart, which meant I didn’t get overtired (a feature of last week’s experience).
Exercise:
As I mentioned, following the golf (not playing) has still meant I’ve covered a lot of kms this week. Alongside working in the garden, this meant I skimped on home weights and only managed a quick body weight set of single leg exercises this week. I did have a proper physio weights session, which was focused on high repetitions of low-ish weight to fatigue (and in the heat that made me pretty nauseous). I clearly got to the stage when my red face suddenly turned white, because my physio made the choice to bail on the last set!
I would still like to get back to running, in part because I’m watching my friends run via Strava and feeling guilty for not getting out myself. Still not sure whether that’s enough to get me motivated though!
Food:
I’ve continued to cook a fair bit, in between being tired from walking and getting easy food options from the store. I took advantage of the cooler weather later in the week to cook chicken pasta and pork thai curry. It was good to leave the barbecue and salad behind for a couple of days.
Garden:
I continued to prune and tidy the garden. I did some work in the front and back gardens this time. Pruning in the back I found the cactus (? could be a large succulent) that D says is a regular interloper from next door. When I cut that back I kept a few cuttings which I’ve potted up. I must remember to water them! The green bin still has some space, so maybe I’ll get back out there.
I am still putting off repotting the huge cactus… and that’s because I’d like to find a nice pot (because I’m not planning on moving it again any time soon). Finding something that I like (just something plain and simple) of the appopriate size has proved more difficult than I expected.
With no pot, I’ve not yet organised help for the repotting task (see last week’s three ideas for this and in relation to Adventure and Work below).
Adventure:
We continue to discuss how to test my ability on the snow. Having snapped my ACL last time out, we know that I’ll be petrified, but I’m much stronger now too, so might get on ok. Planning a break where a couple of days skiing is an option seems like the best idea. Maybe Melbourne, Canberra or New Zealand (and I’m pretty keen on the last of those).
I located three potential places for wingfoiling lessons, but haven’t managed to decide on whether group lessons or individual are best for me. I can see pros and cons both ways. I think I might email each place to find out their reaction to teaching someone with a knee brace (because I’m not trying anything new without using my brace). I guess I should write a post about the whole ACL/knee thing at some point.
Work (a new section):
I did not set aside a couple of hours to assess the feasability of the journal article I committed to write. I think I may need to approach this in 15 minute chunks (advice I happily give other people, but often do not take myself).
Three ideas:
- Book some wingfoiling lessons (on the basis of email responses about knees, maybe?!)
- Organise cactus repotting (so, find and buy the damn pot!)
- Set aside 15 minutes to assess the journal article writing (and hope this, or a few of these, will break the anxiety spiral)
Writing this weeknote I felt a bit flat. I enjoyed watching the golf, but it took up a lot of time. The gardening was definitely worthwhile and the food I cooked was good, but I have a lot of anxiety about research writing (aka my sword of Damocles) that has meant a lot of time spend avoiding the task (by doomscrolling mostly).
