Hurts So Good
November 6th, 2007 by matt
You know how some people have a type of person they tend to choose for significant others and that type of person is no good for them?
That’s me and soccer.
You see, I’ve started playing soccer again. I had my third game tonight and so far I’m doing OK.
Let me back up for a second. You see, I’ve had four knee injuries, two knee surgeries, two shoulder injuires, and one shoulder surgery all thanks to soccer. So soccer definitely is an abusive spouse.
So why do I keep coming back? Well, I guess I must like the abuse. I’m sure that’s at least part of it. But this time, at least, I had to prove to myself that I could come back. I had to prove that I can still compete and run and kick and cut and knock people over and not have any ill effects.
I had to. Admitting one’s limitations is a hard thing to do, and I’m not ready to admit that I can no longer run around and be hard on my body.
But the first three games have been fairly validating. I was hurting pretty badly after the first game. H-U-R-T-I-N-G. My knees were sore for a few days. So sore, in fact, that I was limping slightly. I was a little sore after the second game, but only for a day (and no limp). So far I feel pretty good after the third game. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but I’m not too bad right now. And I haven’t even starting drinking yet, so there’s no alcohol to dull the pain.
My knee, as in the actual joint, is holding up just fine. The problem has been with my hamstring. For those who were following along, I had a hamstring graft for my latest ACL repair, which means the doctor took part of my hamstring and extended it down to be my new ACL. Naturally, this causes some strain on the hamstring. Apparently mine is not completely healed, because anytime I really stretch for the ball with my right leg, my hamstring feels like a guitar string that was over-tightened and then strummed. It’s not good feeling. But it doesn’t feel like it’s going to pull or rip, it just feels like it’s way too tight.
The good news is that it feels a little bit better every game. The bad news is at the current rate of improvement, it’s going to take six months to be back to normal. Of course, tomorrow marks eleven months since surgery, so perhaps I’m just expecting too much too soon. But dammit, I want my body to be healed now.
I mean, I’m due for another serious injury soon, so I can’t have my hamstring be bothering me at the same time. That’s right soccer. Slap me around again and call me your bitch.
I love it.