Back On The Ice - A Feature Segment

Let's get one thing straight. I've never considered myself to be an "athlete". I played soccer as a kid, but I never took it seriously and was never more than mediocre. I always wanted to play hockey, but I grew up in the middle of a cornfield and because of that, there was no rink within 50 miles. When I went to Purdue, I joined a roller hockey league that played every Sunday in the armory. You could see there was a major skills gap between myself and the competition. At times it was frustrating but ultimately enjoyable..

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#1 In Jersey Number Only

I finished school and moved up to Chicago. I purchased all my equipment and I was ready to play in a league of beginners in late 2010. It went well, but I broke my foot in an unrelated incident in the spring of 2011. My foot rehab was slow and I haven't played a game since. Now that I'm in my 30s, I've decided it's time to get back on the ice, but as of now, I am in no condition to hit the ice without killing myself. I'm not sure I could play for 60 minutes or run for 60 minutes at this point, so I need to condition, weight train, and most importantly focus on my nutrition that I will share with you each week.

Conditioning & Weight Training

One time I ran a half marathon in under 2 hours. That was almost 10 years ago. How the mighty have fallen. Living in Arizona has required me to adjust my outdoor training due to the seasons and extreme swings of temperatures. I also happen to live next to one of the great mountain running trails in the Southwest at Camelback Mountain. Running 1.5 miles up the mountain will do wonders. The New Years Resolutioners are starting to fade away from the gym, so I look forward to being able to find a parking spot and not have to wait in line for equipment here soon.

Nutrition

Full confession. My diet sucks. For too long I was able to get away with eating total garbage (fast food, etc) and have no negative repercussions from it. Now that I am in my 30s and sit at a desk all day, the weight is starting to come on. The only advantage is that I was so underweight (I weighed 140 lbs when I graduated from college) that because I was 5'10", I could afford to gain 30-40 lbs. Now I step on the scale around 175 and I actually look like I fit in my body. The other item of note is that I recently learned that I have a dairy allergy. Since cutting off dairy from my diet, I've started to feel better...but that's only one piece of the puzzle. It's time to step this up and fix my diet so the conditioning and weight training actually mean something.

Skating

Another full confession. I have not been on ice skates since my broken foot incident. The other item of note is that I have never actually owned a properly fitted pair of skates. I actually shelled out the cash to buy a good pair of skates and have them properly fitted at a hockey shop (shout out to the Coyotes Ice Den in Chandler). I need to get back on the ice, break in my new skates, and get comfortable again while not thinking about my foot injury from several years ago. So in summary, I am using this blog as a check to make sure I continue my training goals. Also, I will share with you features from my training during the week and my menu up until I play in my first hockey game going on now seven years. Wish me luck ( I need it) and enjoy reading!


This post was proofread by Grammarly