Humility

[USMGolfer]

So this morning I got a nice dose of humility I thought I'd share. Let me start out by saying I'm in some of the best shape of my life. Typical practice day includes 4-5 hours of practice, play a few holes, and then workout on Tuesday and Thursday. A typical workout starts w 2 miles of running, then 45 minutes of lifting (2 miles under 14 min is not a problem). Since I decided I wanted to step up my training this year, I thought I'd add swimming to the list twice a week.

This morning I get up at 630 to hit the pool. I'm walking up thinking "great, I'm going to be the youngest guy in the pool by 30 years." Well those old guys handed it to me. I don't think they stopped swimming the entire time I was even in the pool. There I am huffing and puffing, not to mention my goggles were not having any part of this. Now off to practice... FML

[Aubs]

I used to guard the Early Bird Sessions (6am-730am Mon-Fri) my junior and senior year of high school. There were some people in their 40's, but the majority of people were in their 60's/70's and could out swim most of us lifeguards.
Most of the older people do 30 laps in 35min, and the younger ones do 30 laps in 30minutes.
If you're huffing and puffing try using a kickboard for part of the time. Especially if your goggles are giving you trouble, you'll still get a great leg workout, but you can keep your head up out of the water.

[LFADAM]

swimming is so much more intense than people give it credit. I decided to swim for my school this year, thinking that Im a pretty good swimmer. I died the first few practices. By the end of the season I had the best endurance of my life. I laughed at my friends when they were whining about how hard the lifeguard test was (you have to swim 300 yds in however much time you need, just cant stop)...we did 400 yds to warm up in practice. Then again, my girlfriend laughed at me when I complained about our practices...she does year round and swims the mile (~38 laps I think?) in like 18 mins.

[Commodore]

USMGolfer, 1st triathalon I was in, I didn't have enough time to bring my swimming back up to speed. But I figured since I was such good shape with biking and running all the time, no problem.

In my age group, I was second to last out of the water, and at the end I was just telling myself, "don't drown in front of all these people".

[Hollywood]

swimming is freaking hard

[USMGolfer]

Aubs, you know I have to get my endurance up so I'll be good to go at the end of July when you get down here

[ky1e]

The worst is coming back home and your buddies inviting you out for a surf. Talk about showing you if you are SLIGHTLY out of shape.

[nu2dagam]

ilubronix, that is the truth. A lot of my friends still surf on a daily basis, much more than I do. When we get back in the water, it is embarrasing. They will paddle circles around me after an hour or so.

[ontrider]

this is funny... I had a similar experience when someone entered me in a distance swim for our lake regatta... thought I was in great shape and I swam quite a bit, but not distance... figured I'd be okay when I looked around at the competition. Anyway, I got smoked by a 15 year old girl and an old man.

[8824]

USMGolfer, So, are you saying golf is not a sport?

[churchy]

[USMGolfer]

[8824]

Try to play golf on ice while people are trying to kill you.

[Wake Trakker]

If you can get paid for what you enjoy doing, go for it. It doesn't matter what people call it.

[ontrider]

What about porn/prostitution?

[Wake Trakker]

[ChrisG]

[chavez]

ChrisG, same here. Not since I was like 12 anyhow.

[buckthis]

1)golfer, don't even put golf up there with tennis. Have you ever seen a john daily in a professional tennis tourny?
2)have you ever played pool for 5 hours? grueling.
3)surfing requires more coordination than any other sport.
4)refer back to #1

[jryoung]

I fricken love Daly.

Jeans, shoeless, shirtless and cigarette in mouth...awesome

[ky1e]

Daly has been playing at a local private club here in clearwater for the last few months that my buddy belongs to. He sees him everyday and occasionally chats with him. Basically the story is Daly partied away all of his money and now claims to have "zero dollars to his name". He currently is making his living gambling with the rich guys at the club who are essentially just giving their money away to play around with Daly. One of my other buddies who belongs their has played Daly twice and beat him twice. The first time my buddy beat him Daly through his clubs into the lake on the last hole...the whole bag. The kid is trying to qualify for the tour right now so hopefully this gives him some confidence in the tournaments. Daly sounds like a pretty sad story though. He is sober now, but still has a hooker addiction and for the Super Bowl he hosted a tailgate party outside of the Tampa stadium that was a hooker party with the game playing on flat screens. $1000 a head and I guess anything went.

[USMGolfer]

8824, I've always wanted to play hockey and love the sport.


buckthis, have you ever played a serious tournament round of golf? I can respect where pool might be hard for 5 hours, but imagine doing that, walking 7 miles w a 20 lbs bag, and then trying to hit more precise shots... yes it will wear you down. I'm sure surfing requires a lot of coordination, but I find it hard to believe that it is more precise. A few degrees off a your hands = 30-40 yards left and right w the driver. Not to mention other stuff such as back spin, trajectory, and shape when it comes to wedges ...


ilubronix, Daly is actually a really interesting guy. If you've ever read and followed his entire story from college it's pretty interesting. He once lost 40 lbs in a semester of college on a pop corn and Jack Daniel's diet.

[ky1e]

USMGolfer, yeah he is beyond an interesting guy. He is such a talented golfer, but it seems every time he gets his sh*t together, he falls off the wagon again. It still amazes me that they let him just chill and play at this club for free. It is called Bellaire Country Club and is probably the snobiest most waspy place in Tampa/Clearwater. I didn't think they were the type to let a guy like Daly hang out every day, but I guess everyone wants a "celebrity" at their course. Either that or free Hooters .

[Aubs]

usm - nothing can prepare u for that