If that’s all they got!
Hard to see, but the snow is just starting to fall
Portland has thrown some pretty harsh stuff on The Dan Plan over the past seven months of training, but today was roughly as bad as it gets. With gusts of 20 mph, a temperature of 34 degrees and dropping, and a slushy mix of rain and snow, it doesn’t get much more uncomfortable to stand out on a putting green for four hours. And, in all honesty, it wasn’t really that bad at all. Granted, I would much rather be practicing down in Palm Springs with 75 degree dry days… but, I feel like pushing through and practicing here, in these cold rainy conditions, adds a bit of street cred’ to The Plan. This is, after all, not your typical golfing story and I don’t believe that I am in any way your typical golfer, so might as well putt through an inch of water on the greens!
Of the handful of people out playing rounds today, I overheard one telling his partner: “Now that’s dedication, practicing on a day like this.” Made me feel a bit proud and a bit like I might be slightly off my rocker!
Seriously, though, I was a little nervous about the winter and how it would feel to be standing out there, but after today I feel comfortable that I can do this standing on my head. (Get back to me in April and we’ll see what my tune’s sounding like, though!) I just told myself that no matter how numb my fingers got, when I was home and warm the cold would be a distant memory and if I turned my attention to golfing I could actually completely forget about my physical discomforts. The power of the mind!
In other news, last week I met with the sales director over at Columbia Edgewater about potentially being able to practice on their course. The meeting went well and I was very impressed with their practice facilities, by far the best I have seen in the Portland area thus far. It would be a perfect place to take my practicing to the next level and hopefully we can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement in the near future. The Dan Plan is looking for a “home” golf course and Columbia Edgewater would be a perfect fit. We’ll see!