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June 22, 2004
PROGRESS... AND THEN A BIG SETBACK
So I've been doing well on the diet - have really done well at watching what I eat, have cut out non-diet soda completely, am drinking a ton of water, have cut back on portion size... and it's been working; I'm down 3 more pounds. Yes, I have reached my first "milestone" weight and am down to 250. So that's definitely progress.
The one thing I wasn't happy with was that I am still as lousy as ever at making time to exercise. (And you have to make time, because it's not like the world gives you any.) I didn't get to the gym once last week. I was unhappy with myself over that. So last night when the softball team I signed up for (and then never showed up to play for) had its sixth gsme of the season, I was psyched to actually get out of work early enough to play. Yeah, it's not "real" exercise, but it's doing something, and that's better than I had been doing.
So I played second base. And it went pretty well for most of the game. I made one rusty error -- ranged to my right to get a ball hit up the middle, actually got there before the ball, but just didn't get my glove down in time -- but I also made about five or six other plays, and we actually came close to turning a couple of double plays. I was 0 for 2 at the plate, but the second time I really got ahold of one, laced a nice slicing line drive into deep left... only the other team's left fielder was playing me deep and only had to take about 4 steps back to make the catch. But I did really put a charge into it - hit it further than I figured I would. Not bad for not having played ball in almost two years, right?
So in the 7th and final inning, I'm at second base and the batter laces a line drive right up the middle about 8 feet high, just over glove range even if I'd have been playing him right up the middle. I know from previous at bats that the guy is a slow runner - he's about 50 and has a bigger belly than me, so he is pretty much jogging the bases -- so I figure I don't need to cover second... I take a couple of steps toward the outfield to take the cover throw. It comes in low and to my left as I face the OF, the ball veering toward the shortstop and coming to me about ankle-high. I bent low to get the throw, and stretched out to the left. And just as the ball as about to hit my glove, inexplicably I hear, "HE'S COMING!"
What? The slow guy's gonna try and beat me to the bag? I don't believe it. I'm thinking, "The ball's coming in about 5 steps from the base - he's not really going to try and take second, he knows he doesn't have the speed... but if he took a wide turn coming off first, I can gun him down if I can pivot and get the throw to first... that old man is toast!" So while bent at the waist and slightly at the knee, and while still in the process of making the catch, my 36 year old body is also trying to pivot toward first base, my hand already reaching for the ball that's not quite in my glove yet... it's going to be a great heads-up play, right?
I'm sure you can guess the sound and sensation I heard and felt next. Rrrrrrrrrrrip!
I've never been shot, never received a bullet wound. But if I ever am, I imagine it would feel something like the sensation that suddenly tore through my left groin. Instant burning - sharp, sudden, and intense. The ball bounced off my glove as I fell to my hands and knees. As it turned out, the guy hadn't even been thinking of coming to second... he'd just rounded first widely and one of my teammates overreacted. But the second I stood up, I knew I was coming out of the game. For the rest of the game, I cheered my teammates from the bench, occasionally shouting out, "Avenge me! Do it for the groin!" Naturally, they lost.
After the game, we went for the traditional post-game beer. (The bar is on a slight hill, which made for an excruciating hobble up the incline from the parking lot to the door.) About fifteen minutes into the post-game celebration, I went to the restroom. And let me tell you, there are few more startling experiences in life than a man seeing deep purple and black discoloration anywhere near a particular area of his body.
To make a long story shorter (I know, too late), I have a badly pulled groin. I ended up going to have it looked at (a humbling experience, being repeatedly told to drop trou by strangers!), and they told me pretty much what I already knew... the only cure is rest, unless you've torn it from the bone. It's going to hurt and take a long time to heal, and the only way to heal it is to rest it. Here, kid - wrap it, and ice the hell out of it when you get home. So I spent the rest of the night with ice wedged between my legs... which is another wholly unpleasant experience.
So the exercise part of the plan is off indefinitely. I'm supposed to go back later this week or early next once the swelling goes down (no jokes, and that means you, Erika!) to make sure it's not an off-the-bone tear. Other than that, all I can do it rest it. This will make the weight loss all the more challenging, and probably much slower than I'd have liked. Not to mention the ignominy of having hurt my groin in front of a bunch of guys I work with - I can guarantee the group e-mails this morning are going to have a field day with me!
Anyway, that was my night. How was yours?
