my most feared nightmare came true.
after many weeks of anticipation and planning, i was injured playing in a fun-yet-competitive game of flag football. one week ago, on thanksgiving morning, a few friends planned a friendly game to start the day off. there were people pre-trash talking, team t-shirts... very fun stuff happening.
my wife and i woke up at 5am that morning because we couldn't sleep and just sat in bed and talked for an hour or so. after that, i got up and made some breakfast, got dressed, and left. we picked up some kolaches/donuts from a local bakery and brought them to meet with our team. we get to the field at around 9am -- beautiful sunny skies, clear open field, and just a perfect day ahead of us.
we jostle around for a few minutes playing catch and toss, take a few pictures, etc. at 9:20, we start the game. the other team gets the ball first. rules: 4 downs to get 20 yrds, 1 down must be an ATTEMPT to a girl if previous plays do not result in a first down. we intercept the 2nd pass and take over. Toko -- pretty much our team captain -- takes charge at qb and gives us route assignments. 3 completions and 2 first downs later, we're in the zone and nearing touchdown territory. grinning ear to ear, i take the next route inside across the middle, a la wes welker! i catch the ball as my lower body is facing forward and upper body is corked backward. i straighten to face forward, knowing that my friends' high school kid brother is on my tail. i take two hard sprint steps cutting left.
and that's when i felt it. a little bubble of weirdness in my lower right leg. my next step landing on my right foot is tender and my knee buckles slightly. no pain. i couldn't straighten my leg. now, i'm still moving at a fairly decent speed, but realized that i couldn't run any longer....so i hobble out of bounds as my flag is pulled.
people set up for the next play while i hold my right calf. still no severe pain, but something definitely wasn't right. my initial thoughts were that i just pulled the muscle and i could walk it out. i attempt to stand straight after a few minutes bent over and a shot of pain ran up my whole right leg causing me to flinch back into a bent knee position. as long as my knees are bent, there is no pain and nothing seems to be wrong. but when i stand straight, it hurt like no other!
i limped back to the sidelines and sat on my ass to try to stretch it out. it was extremely tight, but not as painful as i thought it would be. a friend helps me try to stretch, which actually felt good despite a slight pain. but every time i got up to try to walk, it just wasn't happening. i knew after 15 minutes that my day was done. i was left to cheer for the sidelines the rest of the morning. very disappointing indeed.
even more disappointing is that i haven't ran for a week. my training is compromised and my calf is still tight. i also have 1 week to decide to switch to the 1/2 marathon as well. i didn't realize muscle strains produced bruising. it's quite ugly. sigh.......
the good news is that i feel i've made significant progress in this short amount of time and if i can run a little this coming weekend along with a decent 6-8mile run by Wednesday of next week, i'll probably stick to the whole marathon training. i've been lucky enough to get a few walking distances and upper body workouts in. at least i'm burning calories. surprisingly, i'm still around 147.5 lbs.
gotta cut this entry short....!
EZE
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