Monday, December 03, 2007

Beat up and Bruised

Doesn't it always seem, if it isn't one thing, it's definitely another? As noted, my applications are complete. Gosh, that feels good to type: COMPLETE. On Friday, I celebrated Andrea's birthday with a very drunk Andrea (she was sick at midnight and rallying shortly after). Indeed, she is a trooper, but it makes me wonder how good that sort of abuse is to an individual's body. Technically, one gets sick because they have a mild form of alcohol poisoning and that is the body's indication to SLOW DOWN. To each their own. At 4 am, I finally drifted off into a slumber after spending two hours with Jackie playing "catch up". I still can't believe she lived in St Thomas for a year.

Saturday, I slept and that's it. I rolled out of bed around 4:30 pm, caught some football, grabbed a snack, and got ready for the night. Saturday night proved to be interesting, but I won't say anymore.

On Sunday morning at 7:30 am, my alarm started blaring, reminding me that I had to be on the field and ready to play soccer by 9 am. The first game of my day was rather mellow. Although I was bumped into on numerous occasions, I don't feel I suffered a lot of direct injuries from contact besides putting my right leg in front of a few shots. At the end of the game, I had the ball imprints to prove it.

Shortly after my first game, a men's 8v8 game started. I was about to walk out the gate, but one of the guys asked if I'd be interested in playing because they were short. After 30 minutes, I decided to leave the boys to their testosterone and continue across the city to my 1 pm match.

Indeed, I did warm up, but it was likely with reduced effort. I can't say it was solely because I was tired from the morning's activity, but additionally, my muscles were tight. Unfortunately, that tightness seemed to hinder my game or at least, my hip flexor. By halftime, I was playing with noticeable pain. I stepped out of the game for a moment's rest until one of my players ended up injured and had to be replaced. Through the end of the game, I worked. It helped that Mike would remind me to jog it out of the back. As an seasoned defender, I know that we need to clear the back ASAP, but the strain prevented me from following my own instructions. Despite the effort the team and I put in, we suffered our first loss of the season - game 9 of 11. OUCH. I wouldn't say the other team's win was clean, but we could not shoot anything on frame. Our only goal was scored as a ricochet from a penalty kick I took. However, their second goal was off my knee as I got hammered in the back because I was perfectly positioned on a cross. Granted, I realize it's not my fault, but as a player you can't help but feel that you should have made that play.

The day was full of activity, however I returned home for a short baking session and some much needed R&R. Hopefully this injury is temporary and next weekend is more fun.

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