Hockey Clinic: Give Hockey a Try

I have met some wonderful people on Twitter.  In the beginning, most of my followers were hockey and SJ Shark fans.  They were following along with me on my journey of better health.

Often I would express my love of hockey and how I wanted to play the game. One follower suggested that I do a clinic that was hosted by my local rink called “Give Hockey a Try”.  It was put on my the Northern California Women’s hockey League and they use the great event to recruit league players.  Of course they would mostly be beginners but we all have to start somewhere right?

All the league players lend their equipment for the clinic participants.  The cost was only $20.00.  I already had my skates and another Twitter follower gave me a Nike hockey stick. The day of the clinic I felt like it was the night before xmas. (yes I am a bit crazy about hockey)  I checked in and started getting set up with my gear.  Now I have done this before (suited up) and knew what to wear under the gear.  One thing I can tell you is that there is a science and process to putting all that stuff on.  Like if you put your shin guards on before your skates you can’t lace your skates, etc. I think putting your gear on is a perfect warm up before you get on the ice.  You are sweating and totally exhausted before your blade hits the ice.

The clinic was made up of drills to see what level everyone was at.  Then they spilt us into two groups, one that can skate better than the other group.  I made it to the “can skate better” group and they had us work on stick and puck handling.  We paired up with someone and did “pass the puck” drills.  Then we did the same but skated the length of the rink.

By the time we got to the end of the drills, I thought I was going to pass out.  I made it to the bench and then, of course, they all took a water break.  I downed a bunch of water and was ready to go.

Now this is when the fun started.  They split us into teams of 5 and we did 2 min scrimmages.  I chose to play defense. I have no idea where that came from, it just sounded fun to me.

The Gang - I'm in the back row 5th from the right.

OMG, the 2 mins went by in 20 seconds.  It was so much fun to actually (well kind of) play a game.  Since you are fully geared up, your are not concerned about falling.  If you do, you really don’t feel anything and you just pop up and skate off.  The puck would drop in the face off and then I would start skating like a maniac. I was flying around the rink at speeds I never imaged, ok I am sure it looked like I was in slow motion to the spectators but that’s how it felt to me.

It was the one of my favorite experiences of my life.  For a week after I dreamt of ice skating and playing with my boys, SJ Sharks.  How cool is that, exercise and happiness all rolled up in one thing.  Can’t ask for more!

Skiing – Lemon to Lemonade

My brother is an avid skier.  He loves the sport and has always wanted to introduce me to it.  I am always up to try something new.  Especially if it involves moving, working up a sweat and is fun.  Over a year ago he invited me to do a day trip with him and he would show me the ropes of skiing.  He also recommended that I take a beginners lesson at the resort to get the basics down.  I went to the local ski shop to get my rental equipment.  The staff there did their best but couldn’t get a ski boot to fit comfortably around my calf.  We tried boots that tend to run large in that area and also tried men’s boots.  My brother thought that the lodge might have something for me, so we forged ahead on our ski date.

Well sorry to say that the rental equipment at the lodge was the same story.  Thank goodness the staff there was also very kind about trying and never gave me any reason to feel bad about it.  Since we made the long drive to the mountain, I told my brother to go ahead and ski.

At first I was so sad that I wasn’t skiing.  I sat in the lodge watching everyone coming and going from the lifts and ski runs.  I think I felt sorry for myself about a total of 5 mins.  Then I realized that I wore some great hiking boots and I had brought my iPod that had a great play list of cardio music. So, I headed off to the lodge road and took off for a cardio walk in the snow.

Kirkwood Ski Lifts

The skys were clouding up and sure enough the most delicate, soft snowflakes started to fall.  There was no wind so they fell straight down. The streets I trucked along on were lined with amazing gigantic ski homes.  It was during the week and there were no cars on the road.  My music kept me going a quick pace.  The snow fall started to pick up pace with my music.  Soon I had a layer of snow on my head, arms and tops of my boots.  I suddenly realized that I was keep pace to a beat that I normally do at the gym BUT I was at 9,000 ft elevation.  WOW, I wasn’t running out of breath.  I broke a heavy sweat and after a full 30 mins I spun around to walk back to my starting point.  I walked a total of an hour.  The slippery road/snow/slush added to the workout by challenging my balance (equals core workout).

I finished my walk in time to explore the lodge and then meet up with my brother for lunch.  Like me, he was proud that I choose to take a bad situation and turned it into a fun experience.  On top of that I had a great workout.

A year later we tried again to get me into a ski boot and I am about a 1/2 inch away from the bindings to close comfortably.  We went on a day trip anyway.  I did my cardio walk (no snow that time) and then spent the afternoon in the lodge working on my job search.  It’s amazing how easy it is to just choose to turn something around – take lemons and make delicious lemonade.

Would you like that “Diet to go”?

During the 1st company 5k race I did, the company had various vendor tables set up around the gym.  One of the vendors was “Diet to go”.  They had a few sample items of their food to try.  As I munched on some of the food, I got the low down about the program.   They say it best on their website “Healthy. Great Tasting. Affordable. Diet-to-Go provides nourishing, delicious meals for individuals to help them lose weight, maintain a healthy weight or improve their overall well-being. Only the highest quality ingredients are used in our freshly prepared meals.”

You sign up and choose what plan you want.  I choose the Low-Fat Traditional meal plan for 5 days of the week (lunch & dinner) each day.  I felt I could handle the breakfasts and weekend meals.

Sample of Meal

Once a week you pick the food up at a set location. Cost wise I felt it was just a tab bit higher than making your own meals.  It sure was convenient.  My work at the time was extremely busy, so having the food ready to be heated up was nice.  The food was not bad at first.  It is carefully balanced nutritionally but seems to be on the high side on sodium.  I did this plan for about 4 months (yes I think that 4 months is my breaking point on diets) and lost about 10 pounds.  Honestly after awhile the food all started tasting the same. I found myself not eating it and throwing it away (it doesn’t keep very long).

I’m glad I tried it but in the long run it was another thing that just wasn’t a match for me.  So I choose to move on.