Woes of Getting Old or Woes of Being Out of Shape

On the rocks!

I decided to join my church's softball team this summer.  I've never played softball in an organized league before but things were moving along quite nicely.  True I was 0 for 3 at the bat in my first game when I was a little nervous and tight.  But I quickly found my swing and was beginning to contribute at the plate.  After four games played I was batting .400 with a home run and four RBIs.  Fielding is still "like this like that," as Evie would say.  But I was feeling good about my progress.

It was in the fourth game that things took a turn for the worse.  I was lead-off hitter.  I got my game face on, picked my bat and made my way to the plate.  After our pitcher tossed a couple of warm-ups I stepped in the batters box and raised the bat to my shoulder.  Our pitcher lobbed the ball towards the plate and swung a mighty swing connecting just off of the sweet spot on the bat.  It was a good hit and I easily made it third.  Great start.  Our team captain was up next and he sent a solid shot up the middle that was bobbled and dropped.  I took off for home and about half way I felt a twinge in my leg.  Ignore it...RUN!!  Another twinge...and then RRRRRIP!!  No, it was not my shorts shredding, it was my groin muscle.  I hobbled in home (and scored)!  After a brief moment of being keeled over against the backstop I limped off.

I didn't know it was torn, I thought I pulled a muscle or tweaked something.  I thought I could stretch it out and walk it off.  I tried to take my second at bat but the twisting aggravated the injury more.  I wasn't able to get enough behind the ball and popped it up and to be honest I was glad because it meant I could stop hopping to first.  And that was my game...and as it turns out my season.

Twenty-four hours after the game my leg began to swell and a bruise started to surface.  Forty-eight hours after the game the width of the bruise was the length of my hand and stretched from the groin proper to the knee.  Aurora Borealis pales in comparison to the brilliant colours of my bruise.

A trip to the physiotherapist confirmed that I had torn my muscle significantly.  Thankfully there's no serious damage, nothing is severed, everything is attached as it should be and all I need is some time and patience to ensure it heals completely.  She told me 6 - 8 weeks until it's all healed up.

You know, for about a month before this unfortunate incident I felt that my legs were unusually tight.  I kept thinking to myself that I really oughta do something to get back into some semblance of shape - stretching at minimum - but never got it around to it.

It reminds me of that old saying about taking time to sharpen the axe (I think it's actually a saw in the saying, but I prefer using an axe).  We can get so busy doing doing doing that we don't want to stop to take time to sharpen the axe.  All the while the axe loses its edge making the work harder and thus taking longer to do.  It would have been smarter to take a few minutes here and there to sharpen the axe  to ensure it was as efficient and effective as possible.

I'm a pretty active father.  I play a lot with the kids - but now I'm hobbled for at least a month over the summer when I'm
usually the most active all because I didn't make the time to stay in better shape.  That stinks!!  Consider it a lesson learned - I will aim to take time more frequently to get and stay in shape.  I'm sure it will pay dividends for me and my family.

The beginning of the bruise - more photos to come as soon as I get my camera back from my sister-in-law.