Wednesday, 23 July 2014

Practice Round #1- Capital Hills at Albany

It was an early 6:15 am Eastern Standard Time wake up call today to prepare for a 7:30 am shotgun start.  As I dragged myself out of bed I was excited to see the course and the conditions that we have to look forward to.  My roommate and I luckily got housing this week which helps greatly especially in terms of sharing the cost of a car and everything in between.  (Did I mention we got a free upgrade from a Nissan Versa to a small SUV, aka: a Buick Encore?!) It had about 2 miles on it when we picked it up J



We finally headed off to the course which is a 3 minute drive from our host family’s house and loaded up our bags on our power carts for the long practice round ahead of us.  Not to mention at this time of day it was already about 24 degrees Celsius and 80% humidity!  I teed up my ball for my first swing of the day, although the muscles in my body felt a little tight from the travel day yesterday I was able to hit the ball in the left centre of the fairway.  From there it was a day of practice and getting to know the course by determining the slope and distances of ideal spots on each hole.  Truthfully enough, I am very thankful I have a volunteer caddie for the week as this course is not going to be an easy walk.  It is a golf course placed in the hills of Albany in New York where approach shots and par 3 tee shots must allow for +5 to +10 yards of uphill slope! By the way I was striking the ball and making strokes with my putter, I feel that I am so ready to compete this weekend starting Friday. 

After a couple hours of practicing and having lunch at the course I decided that I desperately needed a nap after only 5 hours of sleep the night before.  It was probably the greatest 25 minutes of rest I had given my body today!  Soon after, it was that time to hit the gym and work on my mobility and stretch out my body from the long day of travel to prepare for the weekend J  As part of the Symetra tour, at each event we have priviledges at fitness faciliites where we are able to keep up our fitness and training.  I headed out to the YMCA in Delmar and began to warm my body up for the week.  I had worked up a good sweat and after some time I needed to get some groceries to meal prep for the week.  My grocery list consists of string cheese, vegetable medleys, chicken breasts, baby potatoes, spinach, eggs, vitamin water (dragonfruit flavour), greek yogurt and orange juice.  My meal prep for lunches on the course is a combination of grilled chicken, vegetables and potatoes and string cheese to snack on.  It is important to maintain the level of energy throughout the 5 hour round especially during hot and humid days.  By preparing a balanced meal with necessary protein, vegetables and carbs I am allowing myself to be well nourished on the course.  For people who know me, they can agree that I eat A LOT!



Speaking of eating a lot, I enjoyed a “Fantastic Roll” at the Hana Japanese Steak House and Sushi Bar tonight with my roommate and her friend. YUMMY!



It has been a long day, and it is time to catch up on my zZz’s.  Good Night until tomorrow!

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