Back to the Basics

Monday night I played in my first soccer game in a long time. Let me think....at least 6 months since a game, and even before then I would show up either 1. exhausted because I just did something like bike 80 miles or run 15 miles, 2. exhausted just thinking about adding in one more "workout" 3. or not wanting to play hard because I had some Ironman workout left to do that day. And, before all of the Ironman training, I was dealing with the broken bone in the foot issue, and soccer with all of the cleats and cutting just didn't seem to help that poor little sesamoid. For the first time in over 23 years, soccer was just not fun.

But, Monday was fantastic! It is cold and rainy here in Memphis, so this was an indoor game. If you have never played indoor, it is a little different. You sub (or should sub) often. If you are not wanting off of the field withing 5 minutes, you aren't playing hard enough. I was loving it! All of the sprinting- shifting- jumping. I felt like the fittest out of shape athlete in the world, if there is such a thing. My chest hurt from the sprinting- I mean that deep hurt where you can't catch your breath- I mean your heart hurts. It is not the same as a track workout. Indoor soccer sprints are 15-20 yards, but they hurt because they don't stop and they are full out, and whether you get the ball or not, there is no rest. I had sweat pouring off of me at the end of the game.

It was brilliant!

Now I know where my speed has gone. I left it somewhere on the soccer field- months, almost even years ago when I stopped playing so much. It was like I had walked back into the missing link in my life when I walked onto the field last night. My body was so happy to be playing again. And I had to swim on my own today because I was too exhausted to wake up this morning for master's. ha!

Okay, but I have to say it was weird when I signed up on the roster and saw that my birthday was the only one that was a 197x as opposed to a 198x or even 199x! When did I become the old woman on the team?

So, for the next 8 weeks, Monday night is indoor soccer night. It is keeping up with the young girls, risking injury to every part of my body, and enjoying every moment that I cannot breathe night.