Frozen Vegetables....Good for Food and Sport
Woohooo! Finally a training night where I didn’t feel like I sucked….Well at least not the entire time.
I only slightly sucked. Maybe it was the rain making my feet move around a bit easier but I was on a roll. Dodge, dodge, shimmy swerve. Completely owning the passive defensive technique.
What a high…Finally I felt like I might just have earnt my place on the team. That was until I was asked to participate in a drill that actually required speed….Sadly, it appeared that my feet were uh, stuck in the mud, since they didn’t appear to move. Watching me trying to navigate in a defensive triangle with some sort of speed was akin to watching a snail race. I was incredibly slow, dragging a trail of sludge behind me as I attempted to move within my allotted mud puddle. I’m sure someone had suddenly strapped 3kg weights on each of my boots since it felt like an impossible mission to be able to get my damn legs to move. Coupled with the fact that my shins now felt like someone was hammering on them from the inside out and I’m sure I must have looked like some sort of marsh monster, rising up from the mud lagoon…Might have even howled a bit like one too I reckon. At least the rain kept me cool, though by this point I couldn’t tell if my shirt was wet from water or wet from sweat….
I thought I was faking fit pretty good, but when the team was asked to jog to the corner and back, I hobbled over to coach and said “ummm do you mind if I don’t jog tonight?”…Well of course he did, but seeing that my "old gal" body didn’t seem to agree to having my shins renovated from the inside out, he agreed to me just helping to collect cones instead. By this point I’m really starting to think that my “sore shins” might actually be the sinister signs of shin splints, especially since this isn’t the first time this has happened lately! I have this theory though, that if I ignore it long enough, it might go away……A bit like ignoring the bad behaviour of my children. Only I should know better cause it never actually works!
One last exercise to go before the session was over….by this point, I'm sure I’ve ground down my teeth a couple of centimetres, my legs were probably going to fall off and I’m sure a few of my wobbly bits had wobbled into different places. BUT still, I was determined to finish on a high note. After all, I must’ve earnt myself a few brownie points with my super awesome, lightening quick, passive defensive moves earlier on??? Maybe?...
What a win! The last exercise was throw ins. Perfect! This is something I could easily do without have to move my legs much and show the younglings any sign of weakness. Remember team goldies (aka golden oldies), we must not let them see us falling apart. They'll be patting us on the back, congratulating us for the ability to bend down and put our boots on next if we do….Besides, the throw in exercise will even up the aches and pains, since my arms will feel like falling off too. Fitness experts do recommend a full body program as part of a well balanced fitness regime. I'm simply taking this advice on board :p .
Let me tell you. It’s an interesting drive home when your legs are throbbing and driving etiquette actually requires you to use those throbbing legs to press a brake or an accelerator. I don't think you are legally allowed to drive home all the way in 1st gear doing 5klms an hour. I swear at one point I was literally using my non dominant driving hand to lift my leg to get my foot on the pedals. Kids, don’t try this at home! I am afterall, a seasoned professional bahahaha.
Que an hour later from this point and it finds me now, where I’m sat in the recliner, legs up in the air, and a frozen bag of broccoli florets on each shin. I’m fully amenable to taking medication for aches and pains, so am also happily consuming a decent amount of wine to act as a local anaesthetic….The moral of this exceedingly long story? Always keep plenty of frozen vegetables in the freezer! Great for a healthy side and shin splints. Oh! And it doesn’t hurt to have a chilled bottle of white in the fridge for medical emergencies either!
