It seems like ages ago now that I used to be in excruciating pain every Sunday. I would hobble around, hardly able to bend or even walk. Playing hockey would kill my back. It would hurt during the game, it would hurt after the game and it would be super stiff the next day.
Last night I played two games. Our team only had two spares, one guy for the defense to switch off with and one guy for the forwards to switch off with. This meant that out of 60 minutes I was on the ice for probably 50-55 minutes. I only came off 4 or 5 times I think. In our game I scored 1 goal and notched 4 assists. Not too shabby! In the second game I didn’t score, but there was lots of skating to be done anyways.
The interesting thing is that it was during those two hours of hockey that my back felt best for the whole day! Earlier in the day we had a black belt pre-grading at the club. Two ‘kids’ (both about 15-17 or something) are getting close and it was a time for us to knit pick what they are doing and explain some things very bluntly to them. It really was great and a huge learning opportunity for all involved.
The problem for me was that I was standing, and wandering around the room, and watching. We started at 10:30 and finished at about 1:30 and by noon I was starting to feel my back tighten up. Bare feet and a soft-ish floor are not agreeable for me for long amounts of time (I had already been at karate since 9am). When about 1pm came around I was glad we were going to do randori (an exercise where one person stands in the middle of a circle and the people on the outside attack. It’s the one persons job to defend and strike and/or throw down the people that attack) because it meant I wasn’t just watching anymore. I could get in on the action and maybe loosen me up a bit.
I meet with Jodi on Thursday to do measurements and stuff and I know now what I want to work on. Lower back strength and flexibility. I hate feeling like this. But I know the solution, work!
Amazing that you know your body this well. I've been in a slump of sorts while pursuing a significant change (interviewing for new jobs) and reading your post really magnifies that for me. I walk around with a level of stress/excitement pretty much all day long and keep thinking "This will wear off when I'm settled and THEN I'll refocus and settle in my new employer's gym working out". Another version of "I'll start again on Monday". Sigh, your level of energy is exhausting to try and keep up with! :) Nice work. I'll aspire to be like you someday.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I can run for hours with no back problems, and do pretty much anything else that comes my way, but this weekend at Mardi Gras, my back got so sore. We spent hours just standing, not really moving, and that was really hard for me. I should work on it so it doesn't bother me. For a while I was trying to stand still more at work, guess I should go back to that!
ReplyDelete