Report card time

Well, I’m approaching 60 days into this thing and I think it’s time to step back and assess how it’s going. For starters, let’s have a look at the rules I laid out in my second blog post and assign some grades.

Beer league training shall:

1) Cost no money

I haven’t spent one dime on this new hobby, although this may have to change soon as my running shoes are on the verge of falling apart. Also, I think a powder blue track suit would be just the thing to take this to the next level, fashion-wise.

Grade: A

2) Be a one-man show

Apart from a couple lapses during which I used my kids as barbells, I’ve avoided dragging anyone into this personal journey of mine. There have been some secondary repercussions due to the time I now spend time outside most evenings rather than inside with my betrothed discussing politics or viewing the latest television serial.

Grade: A-

3) Fit into my current lifestyle

As I’d planned, I’ve cut out my nightly Xbox habit and have slipped in hockey training. In that sense, it’s been a seamless transition. However, there’s more to it than that. My video game time used to come at the end of my evening, as my reward for having done my various duties. With the new routine I’ve established, my hockey training is the first thing I do when my personal evening time kicks in, since it requires energy and is mainly done outside – I don’t want to leave it too late. This shift in timing has, in effect, elevated my new hobby to top priority status whereas other tasks like doing the dishes or organizing the garage should maybe be in that spot. 

And yes, my training has become somewhat of an obsession and it’s a challenge keeping it to 30 minutes a day. The workouts leave me feeling tired – a deep, radiating fatigue that causes snores to emanate from the very core of my bones – which means I don’t always accomplish anything concrete afterward. Call this a work in progress.

Grade: B-

4) Not include guilt

There have been a few times when I’ve missed a workout and have felt pangs of disappointment that were trending toward guilt, but I’ve kept those feelings in check. Now that I’m working out regularly, I feel like I’m entitled to my other indulgences, such as eating too much munchies and consuming too much soda, so I’m feeling less guilty about those things than I did before. Aha, there are side benefits to getting in shape!

Grade: A

Averaged out, when assessed based on these rules, the success of my hockey training endeavour comes in at about an A-. That ain’t not bad, to borrow a line from Bart Simpson.

However, as we’ll see in my next blog, there are other criteria that call into question the long-term viability of this whole scheme.