Injured Reserve

One of my co-workers recruited my husband and me to play on a co-ed softball team.  Having come from a mostly fast pitch background I find switching to slow pitch can sometimes be a challenge, even though just about everyone assumes it would be a lot easier.  But, despite my initial reservations, Dean and I added our names to the roster and now every Sunday evening our athletic talents are on display at the city play fields.

My first game went very well.  No big defensive plays in the field, but my hitting was extremely on the mark (much to my pleasant surprise).  Sprinting around the bases felt amazingly good, even if it left me a bit winded, and jogging to the outfield each inning while inhaling the smell of warm grass reminded me of something.  

I have really missed this game. 

This past Sunday I was actually looking forward to our game.  My arm was feeling a bit more in control (after a couple years of not playing catch those first few throws felt terribly foreign), and I was looking forward to more base running and maybe even chasing down some gappers in the outfield.  So finally game time rolls around, and I prepare to make my first appearance at the plate.  I let the first pitch go by.....it was way too deep.  The second pitch comes floating toward me, I swing, see a ground ball go racing between the short stop and third base, throw my bat on the ground and take my first step to go tearing down the first base line.  

I can't even really describe what happened next.  I was setting off to run, and felt a pop in my left quadriceps.  I tried to run, and found I could only hobble.  I urged my right leg forward, trying to force my left leg to pick up the pace.  But there was such a pain in my quad it was all I could do to finish my trek to first base (safe, by the way).  

I stood on the base and tried to stretch my leg a bit, expecting the tight, sore feeling in my quad to gradually fade away.  But damn, it sure hurt.  As the next batter launched a line shot into the outfield I tried to run to second base.....and still found I could only hobble.  This was more or less my status for the remainder of the game, and while my leg actually began to feel slightly better the more I moved around, I was nowhere near 100%.  I had officially pulled a muscle. 

This might not sound like a big deal to anyone who has ever played sports.  Pulled muscles happen all the time, in every single sport.  Except, they have never happened to me.  I have never pulled or sprained anything in my life.  I have never not been at 100% and unable to run, jump, dive, slide, you get the picture.  Sitting at home that night with ice on my leg, feeling the tightness in the muscle and my inability to walk like a normal person, I realized that jumping back into the whole "athlete" scene wasn't going to be as easy as it used to be.  I was going to have to dedicate a lot more time to stretching, warming up, and all those other things that I used to do but sometimes only halfheartedly.  I always took for granted to fact that I never seemed to get injured or have major aches and pains.  This limited mobility I now faced was not my cup of tea. 

Is this a sign that my age is catching up with me?  Like most people I have always just assumed that I would always be young and able to do the things I have always been able to do.  Is the universe's way of telling me that my theory is flawed?

Today I will subsequently spit in the universe's face.  I refuse to let a little pulled muscle keep me down, which is why I plan on running this afternoon.  Probably no sprinting quite yet, but my goal is to hopefully be free of the tightness in my leg by Sunday.  

And yes, from now on I will probably take a few extra minutes to give the quads a good stretch before each game.  And yes, if my leg starts to ache while running I will probably scratch a mile or two off my workout.  I guess sometimes when the universe talks we have no choice but to listen.