More dedication and commitment!

Well I`m ashamed to say that I didn`t do my run after work on wednesday night, I felt tired and hungry and I was going out in an hour blah, blah, blah.....
I did though manage to complete my during my lunchbreak yesterday. I ran a mile, walked for a quarter of a mile and then ran a mile back, to top that off I ran another mile at about 10 o`clock last night. So in fact I ran a 5k yesterday though it was in 3 parts. I really need to push on further, I want to run a 5k comfortably and then push on towards running a 10k, I know that this requires a bit more dedication and commitment on my part. Having said all of that I do feel pretty good this morning and not as tired as thought that I would be, so the next planned run will be on sunday night at about 6-30ish.
I went to the driving range on wednesday night and I`ve lost any direction which I may have had, I need to watch my instruction dvd again and get some new ideas.
After the golfing nightmare I played some snooker with a friend of mine, the table which we played on was extremely tight (tighter even than pro tables) but I played quite well. I totally reduced the amount of side that I used because I had to be so accurate and it seemed to work. I wish that I had done this more often when i was playing seriously.
I`m going to ceroc tonight at Orpington, I hope it goes better then it did last week when tragically a man there had a heart attck and died.
One of my goals for next week is to start going to bed a bit earlier, preferably by 11 and definately before 12. I`ve been struggling to get up this week and didn`t arrive at work until 8-25 this morning (the poor old cleaner had been waiting outside for me since 8 o`clock).

2009 is going to be great!!

I`m determined that this coming year will be a great year, as always its up to me to make sure of that. These are my goals for this coming year in no particular order.

1. To maintain and improve my running - I have spells where I go running regularly, I hadnt done a run for months but have done two 1 mile runs in the last five days and it felt quite easy, I think this is mainly down to the dance classes. I`ve thought about joining a running club (there is one in Beckenham which meets up on a wednesday) for quite a while but mainly because of my introvertedness and shyness I haven`t found the bottle up to go. I also want to run a 10k race or even a half marathon, I think this would be good for me.
2. To date more - I meet a lot of girls which I like and seem to like me and because of bad experiences I`ve had I look for reasons not to go out with. Dating is fun, much more exciting than a relationship and I need to get back on the wheel.
3. To be more social - I`m not a good mingler, it just dosen`t come naturally to me. I need to be a bit more bolder and go up to people and start more conversations, they won`t always be friendly back but that life. I need to be more chatty in pubs and at ceroc.
4. to keep trying to improve my golf - I`m not a great golfer but I could be much better. My swing needs working on and I sometimes get a little down with myself when I seem to be getting nowhere but I have to persevere. I still haven`t broken 45 around magpie but that is easily attainable this year.
5. To go to at least 2 new countries this year - Last year my holidays consisted of 2 weeks in Greece. It was a chill but it wasn`t me, it was a place for clubbers and I felt about 15 years too old. This year I`d like to go somewhere which would excite me a bit more. We will see.
6. To make better use of my freetime - I do keep myself busy but I still waste a lot of my sparetime. The house could be tidier, I could be fitter and I could go out more than I already do. But nobody is perfect!

7. To maintain my blog - My blog is one of ways that helps to give my life a direction and help me do the things that I really should be doing to be totally happy.

8. To be a better dad - I think I`m a good dad but I could be better. I spend a fair amount of time with my boys and try to make them happy. Sometimes work and other things get in the way and I can be a bit grumpy when I`m tired.

9. To smile more - you can never smile enough, thats for sure. I need to smile more and I do smile a lot more than I used to.

Cake and golf!

The boys stayed with me again this weekend, George went to a party at quasar so I just had Ben for the first couple of hours. The plan was to make a chocolate cake with Ben but I soon realised that I didn`t have a cake tin(I was sure that I did), so we went and got a new one after picking the George up. The boys helped whisk the mixture and the cake turned out really well.
On sunday it was Bens turn to go to a party. So I took George to a short par 3 golf course in Orpington. George took about 13 or 14 shots at the first including about 7 putts and was very frustrated but after that he played pretty well. He had a couple of 5s and a 6. He even his tee shot at the seventh beyond the green (hes usually short partly because some of the holes are too long for him). A good 7 iron form about 50 yards out onto the 8th green capped a good day.

Positive Max!

Ive got a touch negative lately, my friend feels that since I`ve stopped concentrating on my fitness I`ve become less positive about myself. So my goal for the next few weeks is to be more positive and happy with it.
I took the boys to the driving range a few days ago and weve started playing this game where we have a chip shot each from near to the green and the nearest to the hole wins. Amazingly Ben put his chip shot sraight into the hole to seal to deal!

I`m Back!

I got a bit disillusioned with blogging and maybe I`ve lost a bit of my discipline aswell. My computer access has been a bit more limited lately and I was extremely busy at work during August.
My golf hasn`t improved scorewise though Gary feels that my swing is a lot better(he says that my backswing is pretty good but I drop the club on my backswing rather than returning it down its original path).
I had two weeks in Greece in early september which were ok and my fitness regime has come to a complete halt.
Ive got a new car aswell which drives really nicely.
I`ve not been dancing as much lately for a number of different reasons but I haven`t totally given that up either.

It was wet,it was cold and my golf was bad. I shot 54 today at Bromley despite back to back pars at the 4th and 5th holes. I`m not swinging that well and I`ve lost any distance that I may have gained.
Hole..Par..Score
...1.......4........7..
...2.......4........5..
...3.......3........5..
...4.......4........4..
...5.......5........8..
...6.......4........8..
...7.......4........8..
...8.......4........5..
...9.......4........9..
............35.....54.

49 at Brnehurst.

Ive been to a couple of cerocs this weekend. On saturday night I went to Bromley with a couple of friends, there was a nice crowd there and the music was pretty good aswell. I didn`t get as involved as I could but still had a good night. On sunday night I went to Penge which was incredibly hot, apparently they`ve been planning to get air conditioning installed but it hasn`t happened as yet and I think this has affected the numbers. Hopefully it will be sorted soon because Penge is probably the friendliest of all the ceroc venues.

I played golf last night with my ex nextdoor neighbour at Barnehurst. I shot 49 despite some really awful golf including a 9 at the par 5 2nd. I managed back to back pars and was nearly achieved another of my goals of making 3 pars in a nine hole round. One problem that I have is that I really struggle on par 3s.
Hole...Par..Score.
...1........3.......5.....
...2........5.......9...
...3........3.......4..
...4........3.......6...
...5........4.......4...
...6........4.......4..
...7........4.......7..
...8........4.......5..
...9........4.......5..
............34.....49

Talking telephone numbers.

I didn`t play too well last night, well to be honest that is an understatement. Me and Gary had our usual thursday 9 hole at Bromley. I started 6,6,5,5,7,7 , it sounds more like a telephone number that a round of golf. My slice had suddenly reappeared to my horror aswell. Gary noticed that I was dropping my arms at the end of my backswing which could have been part of the cause. I will work on this on the range next week. Gary didn`t play very well either shooting 9 over, the only consolation was that the Bulmers we drank at the harvester after went down very well. On a more positive note, Eduardo Romero was only two shots off of the lead in the British Seniors Open and is giving me a good run for my money.
Hole..Par..Score
...1........4.......6...
...2........4.......6..
...3........3.......5..
...4........4.......5..
...5........3.......7..
...6........5.......7..
...7........4.......6..
...8........4.......6..
...9........4.......9..
............35.....57.

Good night at Orpington!

I went to Hayes ceroc on monday night, it was another of those ok nights when I didn`t really get that involved.
Ive been to the driving range twice this week, on monday I was at Bromley after I finished I started watching the guy on the bay next to me who had a very nice swing. He was using a mirror to check his backswing and I then realised how short my backswing was in comparison. With this in mind I went to the driving range at Sidcup I experimented with a longer backswing with the aim of gaining some extra distance on my shots, it was a bit of a disaster and hopefully it hasn`t messed my head up.
I went to Orpington ceroc last night and it was really good, I danced much more than I have been which is good.
I did another 2 mile run yesterday and it was incredibly hard, it was very hot and I hadn`t had a run for aboutfive days. I wanted to stop after about half a mile but
On the betting front Ive backed Eduard Romero for the British Seniors Open at 14-1 and I think he has got a real chance.

Terrific weekend in Camber!

Well, myself and the boys got back from Camber Sands this morning and we all had a really good weekend. The boys really enjoyed the various play areas, swimming pool and the arcades. They also played some crazy golf and we also had a trip to the beach aswell. I was able to keep an eye on them whilst watching the British Open golf on the television in the bar which was won by Padraig Harrington for the second year running. The camp was fairly well organised and Ben was disapointed to be going home. We watched a dvd in our chalet called `Nacho Libre` which was very funny and the boys loved it. All in all it was a terrific weekend and we will hopefully do something similar next year.

Best round this year!

I played golf with my friend Gary today and hit the ball probably aswell as I ever have. I shot a 46 which I was really pleased with but I still left 3 or 4 shots out there. Gary shot a 40 which is five over par but he is a 13 handicapper and very consistent.
Hole..Par..Score..
...1.......4........6...
...2.......4........4..
...3.......3........5..
...4.......4........6..
...5.......3........4..
...6.......5........5..
...7.......4........5..
...8.......4........5..
...9.......4........6..
...........35......46.
I was pretty close to all of the first 7 greens in regulation but because my chipping and putting was poor I didn`t score anything like I should have, so there is still much to work on.
Im going to attempt the 100 push up challenge which is a 6 week plan which hopefully by the end I will be able to manage 100 push ups. I also did another 2 mile this morning which felt a little bit easier than the last one.
I taking the boys to Camber Sands for the weekend which should be fun.

Gremlins too scary?

On saturday I had the boys a little bit earlier than usual and I took them to `Rascals` at Bellingham. `Rascals` has ballpools, climbing frames, slides etc, and kids love it. Its sort of organised chaos. After that we went to the driving range, Ben wasn`t really in the mood for it and he didn`t behave to well so we left early. It was a shame because George wanted to stay longer. Later on we watched a dvd called `Gremlins`, I hadn`t realised how scary this film was and I gave the boys the option of turning it off after about half an hour but they was enjoying it so we watched it all. The boys mother gave me their school reports to read and both boys are doing really well.
On sunday I night I went to Penge ceroc with my friend and had a good night. We stopped for a drink on the way at the `Goose` but still managed to get there on time for the intermediate lesson. There was a nice friendly crowd at Penge as there always is and it was pretty warm but we still had very good night.

Nightmare finish!

I took the boys to the driving range on wednesday. It was raining but they was still happy to go and there wasn`t too many people there. George was struggling with his consistency again after the good form of the last week or so. Ben had a good time and is trying to do the things hes been taught including to keep his left foot on the ground on his backswing. He also has a habit of looking behind to see where his club is on his backswing.
In the evening my friend came round and we a film called `Into the wild` which was quite sad but still a terrific film.
Last night I played nine holes with my friend, he played really well going round in 38 which is only 3 over par. I didn`t strike the ball too well generally but still scored well and had only took 41 coming to the last. Unfortunately I took a 10 at the last to finish with a 51. My friend said that I don`t always complete my body turn through the ball which means that I leave the clubface slightly open. I also don`t follow through when playing bunker shots. So these are things which I have to work on.
Hole..par..score
..1.......4........5...
..2.......4........4...
..3.......3........6..
..4.......4........5..
..5.......3........4..
..6.......5........7..
..7.......4........5..
..8......4.........5..
..9......4.........10.
.........35.......51

Virtual Round.

I went to the driving range at sidcup last night. I didn`t get there until about nine o`clock which is thelatest I`ve ever arrived there. There had been times in the past when I could have got up there at a similar but chose not to thinking it would be closing up. I was wrong, it was packed! They have bout 80 bays and I struggled to find one that was empty. Eventally I did find one and I was swinging the club pretty well again. I played a virtual round of golf with myself where I tried to play all the woods and irons in the order that I would at Bromley, it was fun.

Hold-em or Omaha?

Yesterday I left work with the intension of picking the boys up and taking them to the park or the driving range but unfortunately it was raining quite heavily so with the consent of their mother we postponed it until wednesday. I had intended to go up driving range myself after and then go for a run aswell but had to have a bit of a rethink because of the weather. I decided to have a quick game of poker on the internet which I haven`t done for a while. I found a tournament that was starting soon and with an entry fee of only $10. Unfortunately I had mistakenly entered a pot limit omaha tournament (I usually play texas hold-em), I have watched omaha being played on the television before and it`s similar to hold-em (in omaha you start with four hole cards instead of two) but I wasn`t sure which starting hands to play and which to fold and at one point a friend of mine called me on the phone and I totally misread my hand. I think I ended up finishing 17th out of 36 players which is reasonable for a first attempt. I may have another game at some point this week.
The rain subsided after a couple of hours and I went up the driving range after all. I was swinging really well. I then went to Hayes ceroc and had a pretty good night.

Rafa wins classic final.

Ive had a pretty good weekend. My boys stayed over on saturday night as usual and we watched an episode of `Hustle` with some microwave popcorn.

On sunday we popped to the driving range in the morning and George hit his 7 iron over 70 yards on more than one occasion, he was putting his right foot at an unusually wide angle but I didn`t want to tell him as he was playing so well. Ben was hitting the ball fairly well aswell and he behaved a lot better too.

After that I took the boys and one of their cousins to see `Kung-Fu Panda` at Greenwich cinema, it was a pretty good film which they all seemed to enjoy despite the usual trip to the toilet halfway through the film. I then took them to my brothers house to play with their cousins for a few hours before dropping them back at their mothers.

In the evening I had planned to go ceroc wth my friend but because of a rain delay the mens singles final was still going at wimbledon, we watched the end of it in `The Goose` with Rafa Nadal winning a classic final 9-7 in the 5th set.

My goals for July.

Ive not really thought too much about my goals for this month but I would like to stick to whatever I come up with here because last month I got back into some bad habits. Maybe my first goal should be to stick to my goals.
Golf
To realise that the most important thing is to enjoy the game.
To try and hit my irons better and swing slower and smoother(ie a good tempo).
To get onto the green with some of my tee shots at the par 3s.
To drive the ball a little better.
To make at least 3 pars in one 9 hole round.
To improve my short game(ie putting and chipping)
To keep on developing my knowledge of the game
Ok, so I`ve really got into my golf lately.
Dancing
To always try to make sure that I have a good night.
To ask more `strangers` to dance with me
To be more chatty generally and mingle better.
To learn some more moves
Fitness
To run more often and further than last month and get up to running 2- 2.5 miles regularly
General
To be more tolerant with people
To tidy upstairs indoors

Good short game.

I played golf again tonight, I didn`t play that well to be honest but I had a really good night. It was more of a social game to be honest because the guy I played with is somebody that I hadn`t seen for about five years. Hes a real nice guy and a very good golfer aswell, he shot a 42 around Bromley golf course, I shot a lot more. we had a few drinks in the Harvester at Petts Wood after and he complemented me on my game which was very nice. He said that my short game was good and that my swing was a lot better than when we last played. I didn`t record my score but from memory -
Hole..Par..Score
..1........4........9..
..2........4........5..
..3........3........4.. .
.4........4........6..
..5........3........5..
..6........5........6..
..7........4........7..
..8........4........6..
..9........4........7..
...........35.......54
Thats not too good really is it? I hit my tee shot at the first into some dee rough and it took me four attempts to get it out. I was also scuffing a lot of my iron shots off of the ground so I need to work on my ball striking aswell.

Nice finish!

I played golf again yesterday and I played pretty good apart from a couple of holes in the middle on my round. I was 5 over par for seven of the holes but took a 7 at the short par3 5th and didnt even bother to record a score at the 4th where I lost 2 balls. I hit about 3 wild drives but chipped and putted well. I played the last four holes in only 2 over par which I was really pleased with.
Hole Par Score
..1.........4..........5...
..2.........4..........5...
..3.........3..........4..
..4.........4.........12..
..5.........3...........7..
..6.........5...........6.
..7.........4...........4.
..8.........4...........5.
..9.........4...........4.
.............35.........51
For arguments sake Ive given myself a 12 at the 4th though that is still probably a bit generous.
I watched a film called `Lucky Number Slevin` last night with my friend and I really enjoyed it, it was one of those films that didn`t quite make sense for the most part but all came together in the end. I recommend it.

Happy Gilmore.

I took the boys for a golf lesson on saturday morning which was very enjoyable.
Ben really struggles to concentrate for more than about 2 minutes and the coach had a tough time trying to show him anything. The 2 tips he did give to Ben were to - keep his hands together, and to keep his left foot on the ground on his backswing.
George gained a lot more out of the lesson, the coach showed him how to take a proper backswing, also to keep his hands together aswell(I should have noticeed that myself) and to widen his stance a little bit. George started hitting most of them much straighter and further and he was also maintaining his balance at the end of his backswing.
I worked saturday daytime in Deptford, in the evening the boys stayed over as usual and we watched a film called `Happy Gilmore` which they loved, its a comedy film based around golf.
On sunday I met with my cousin for a few drinks at a pub in Nunhead, hes moving to Ireland next week with his family which is a brave thing to do and I hope everything turns out ok.
Yesterday I took the boys to the range again and George done really well, hes even started to do some chipping. Ben was quite naughty but that is partly because he gets bored quickly and isnt aware of the danger that exists at driving ranges and golf courses.
When I got home I watched the end of the Murray /Gasguet match at wimbledon. Murray won in 5 sets in an absolute classic.