Words cannot even begin to describe the pain I felt while gazing up the three flights to our apartment this evening as I came home from work. Every single muscle used to climb stairs was sore. I've rarely felt so many pains at once: burning, aching, stiffness, cracking. Ouch. By the way I am describing my walk up the stairs this afternoon, one would think that I am a frail old lady who hasn't used her legs in 50 years. Well, my friends, try 4 years, although it was much more than my legs that I was using...
A few weeks ago, my boss and another girl from work asked me if I wanted to join an adult field hockey league in the area. Thrilled at the opportunity to re-live my glory days from high school (see my stunning High School field hockey team - I am in the very front on the left), I agreed and signed my eager self up! Last night was our first game, so I showed up in my cute little athletic 'squort' (Skirt/Shorts) and my little white ribbon in my hair, brand new shin guards, the whole deal. I show up to find some very professional-looking women passing (now when I say passing, I mean one girl is at one end of the 'field' and another girl is at the far other end) a hockey ball like they've been playing every day since high school. My boss and I look at each other - mortified. Thankfully women less svelte than myself showed up in very frumpy outfits, I might add, which slightly relieved my angst. About 25 girls showed up, which was more than enough for 2 full teams, and thankfully, there were plenty of subs to be had.
Our referee called us over to begin. "No rules, really," she said, "I'll just blow the whistle if I see any sticks slam into any faces!" Gasp!! She chuckles and walks onto the field. I am doomed. I haven't even so much as picked up my stick in about 4 years and even before that, I had only played for 2 years! The whistle blew to start and I immediately ran up the field. By the time I had reached the circle to help assist, I could feel my lungs start to cave in. I paused to catch my breath and low and behold, I was wheezing. Pathetic. I stayed in for most of the 15 minute half, which I was very proud of myself for doing. We played for 2 hours that night. No one was keeping score, and I felt much better about myself by scoring 2 goals and making a few assists. Plus, some of those rough looking girls weren't so good. Perhaps they were trying to re-live their glory days too.
So, as I made my way out to my car after the game, I could feel all of my muscles beginning to tense up. I just knew I was going to be sore tomorrow. To ease that feeling, I stopped at McDonalds (or Fat Donalds, as Bobby likes to call it) to treat myself to a strawberry milkshake! So moral of the story, try getting into shape before starting any physically intensive exercise AND don't live on the 3rd story of an apartment building. Lesson learned.
