Monday, March 26th. The 34th day of Lent.
I was pretty excited about the softball game on Sunday with the Episcopalians. It’s just a recreational league. No practicing or anything. Whoever shows up can play. I put on my extraverted personality and took the initiative to meet people. After all, I was the new guy trying to fit in. The guy in charge asked if I would play third base. Sure, no problem.
As the game began I realized this was the first time I had participated in any kind of competitive team sport in many years. This used to be such a big part of my life. I’ve been working out hard for about a year now with P90X, so I felt well prepared to step back into team sports.
Sadly, things did not go well.
I fielded the first grounder hit to me and made a good throw to first. The second ball was hit to me with runners on 1st and 2nd. I fumbled the ball a bit. Rookie mistake of not watching the ball all the way into the glove. I went to my knees to pick up the ball. By the time I got a handle on it, the runner advancing to third was near me. I lunged toward her, trying to make a tag, but she eluded me. I then whirled on my knees to make a throw to second for a force out. The throw was okay but I think the second baseman was caught up in watching my spastic tagging attempt and was unprepared for a sudden throw her way. The ball caromed off her glove. I stood up and felt a sharp pain in my left hamstring. I pulled it somewhere in all of the sudden movements.
Pretty bad muscle pull too. I had trouble walking off the field. I was done for the day in the second inning. Done for quite a few days, really. It’s been so long since I pulled a muscle that I don’t even remember how long it takes them to heal.
I realized later that I hadn’t bothered to stretch my legs. The P90X workouts have stretching incorporated into the beginning of the workout, so I kind of forgot about that.
On a good note, the Episcopalians I played with seem like very nice people. And no one got out of hand with the competitive stuff.
Hope the leg heals up by next week. I want to try again. This time I’ll watch the ball all the way into my glove.
Gordon
