They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Well, only three are needed to sum up the photo in this story – run for it.
Alright, I know – nice legs, too.
In an attempt to showcase my male machismo – or highlight the stupidity of yours truly – I tried some of the heavyweight events for Saturday’s Halifax’s Highland Games and Scottish Festival at Dartmouth Common.
The opportunity arose Monday at the 2009 Kilted Golf Tournament at the Hartlen Point Forces Golf Club, where the media could flex their brawn before hitting the links under the guidance of Games competitors Shaun O’Neill and Al MacFarlane.
After getting properly fitted with my kilt (yes, I wore something underneath it), sitting before me was a 56-pound weight in the shape of a ball with a handle on it.
I was hoping my bad lower back might get me out of doing the 56-pound weight for height, but before I could run for it, Al had me sucking in air and strapped a weight belt tightly around my waist.
Showtime, I guess. After watching examples from both, I got in the squat position, picked up the weight, and with my right hand, did two back-and-forth motions before putting the stone between my legs and throwing it in the air as high as possible.
It got up to my eyeballs.
However, my second attempt went much better. But as I was admiring my glorious throw that went about eight feet in the air, a light bulb went off in my head – what goes up must come down and booted it from where I was standing.
This wasn’t the only thing I tried. There was also the 18-pound stone throw and the 22-pound hammer toss. I apparently did very well in the latter because I didn’t fall on my butt – which was expected by my 300-pound trainers.
What’s even better, the fear of me not being able to move because of stiffness never materialized the next morning.
No, my worst pain came from a wicked sunburn that covered my face.
Who would of thought one could get a bad sunburn with our crappy summer weather?
