Wednesday, 29 October 2008

revolution/revulsion

When an object is in the act of revolution, it is revolving.

When a person is in the act of revolution, it is revolting. When a person revolts, we speak of revolution.

When an object revolts, the process is revulsion.

What's up with that?

Monday, 27 October 2008

golfing weekend

A couple of games of golf this weekend.

On Saturday morning Neil, Ross, Andy and I played Nudgee north. After a slow start, I hit the ball really well off the tee, which was a change from recent outings where I'd been struggling. My short game was off, though - my putts were OK, but not dropping, but my chipping was just bad. Of course, driving for show and putting for dough, so my score of 99 (+28) was disappointing.

The story on Sunday, at Keperra (holes 10-27), was similar. I hit the ball well off the tee, but my putting wasn't giving me the chance to make scores, and I managed to lose a few balls, which is never good for the scorecard. I finished with a disappointing 101 (+30). I hit a couple of bunker shots that I was pretty proud of - I went for years without really needing to, somehow, and I lost the touch I think I once had. As for the course, 9-18 was really pretty and in good nick, but I found 19-27 a little lacking in length and charm. The 27th, in particular, is a very bland hole to finish on.

I've been having looks at hitting par 5s in two recently, which has been surprising. Mostly this has been because I've been playing shorter courses (no 500m par 5s), but also I've been starting to hit my 3 wood off the deck, which brings a 220m second shot into play. I haven't hit any yet (I reached the 9th at Vic Park at one point, with 6 iron - albeit bunker rather than green - but Vic Park doesn't count), but its going to happen.

Neil regressed a bit after his strong outing at Vic Park. He's having a hard time spraying the ball right, either sliced or off the toe, and not getting down to the ball. He started hitting it better on the back 9 on Sunday, though, once he firmed his hands up and made more of an effort to keep his head still.

Tuesday, 14 October 2008

trivia paydirt

We won our first ever money at trivia last night. We aced the first round, and surprisingly were the only team to do so, and we walked away with $450 for our troubles, very satisfyingly in the form of a big pile of $5 notes. We also won the night, also for the first time, as we went off for 96/100 (which I think is our best score), good for a 2-point victory. We've been there and thereabouts for the last month or so, with some 2nds and 3rds, and we'd been saying amongst ourselves that we were due.

Monday, 13 October 2008

cycle of pain

Well, I got there.

Yesterday morning I got up at 4:45am, and within a half hour was on my bike, as I would be for most of the day, off to the Brisbane to the Gold Coast bike ride. I decided that my aim was to get there in under four and half hours ride-time, and under 5 hours total time.

There were 7800 participants (or so we were told), and I arrived in time for the 25-30km/h group, so I started with them, rather than the 20-25 group, as I'd anticipated. I started well, and felt good early, covering 27km in the first hour.At about 35km my calves started getting tight, so to avoid cramping (as I did last time) I made sure I was getting enough fluid, and stretched them out on a couple of downhills, which seemed to relieve it. The rest stop at 40km was welcome.

At about 60km, I hit the wall, I guess you'd say. We were in open flat land, the wind was starting to come up slightly, and I found myself without a group to ride with. I ran into Peter Mascaro, which was nice, but his and other groups rode past me just a little too fast to tag onto. I found myself a gear or two down on hills and on flats and really doing it tough, and the rest stop at 80km couldn't come fast enough.

I started well on the last segment, putting 8 solid kilometres down before I started feeling it again. Its never a good sign when you look down at your computer and you've advanced 300m since you last checked it. The computer ticked over 100km at 3:59:33 ride-time - 25km/hr - which was a benchmark I'd thought of targetting but abandoned as too ambitious. A good thing too - the ride didn't finish until 104km and 4h12 (ride-time, about 4h42 total). I am actually very happy with that time - I had expected more like 23 or 24km/hr. Anna Bligh was allegedly quicker (they told us 26-27km/hr), but I figure she had a peloton working for her, and probably proper gear (as opposed to me - hybrid, no cleats, civilian clothes) so I don't feel so bad.

It really did hurt, too. My calves and quads, and also my ankle, shoulders and wrist, were all pretty sore after I finished, and a few of those I can still feel today. I'm very proud of having finished, though - it was one of the hardest physical tests I've ever given myself, I'd say.

The fundraising hasn't so far been as successful as the Brissie To The Bay Ride, which is a little disappointing. For those who still want to donate, head over to my donations page. The Heart Foundation appreciates anything you can spare.

Monday, 6 October 2008

golf

Neil and I went for 18 holes on Saturday at Vic Park. Neil is improving noticably. He's only played 2 rounds of 18 where he actually counts strokes (twice we played ambrose), but over those 2 he's gone from +56 to +36, and is noticably more controlled swinging the club. I had an up-and-down day, or more specifically a down-and-up day, shooting +17 for the front 9, and +7 for the back.

The course itself was typical for Victoria Park, only more so. The greens were being "scarified and recored" (whatever that means), so were a bit rough, and the 4th hole is always a bit gravelly, but I really do like the Vic Park layout. Its by no means a high-level course, but the holes, although very short, are often interesting, and there is a lot of up-and-down variation, which they use well. The shortness, though, is frustrating, because I know that pars on par 4s are devalued when they're only 240m. It got slightly worse when they put the inner-city bypass went in (shortening the 5th), and when they put the inner northern busway changing the 15th and 17th). Yesterday was worse again, with the 1st and 12th changed from par 4s to short par 3s (moved tees), and the 9th from a par 5 to a par 4 (crappy temp green). Par 62 is a funny type of golf.

Friday, 3 October 2008

swimming

I went for another swim today. Much easier, 40 laps without too much trouble, and felt fine pushing myself for the last 3 or so. I might try 50 next time. Hopefully I don't feel it tomorrow playing golf...