Really !
Don’t believe what the fitness nuts tell you. They lie !
I’m currently trying to persuade my legs to work properly after last night’s game. How did it go ? Here’s the status update from Facebook last night :
” first game of season, enjoyed it – found the motormouth tendency again while fielding, too knackered to lift bat properly. Didn’t get zero. Team hammered, don’t care – enjoyed the running around too much.”
Pretty much sums it up 🙂 I can get quite vocal when on a cricket field. I don’t sledge, I really dislike that sledging has become part of the game. I try to keep the noise to encouraging the teams I play for. A little bit of encouragement can go a long way and I like to think that by giving a little I’ll get a little back when I need it. It gives a good feeling too when you say the right few words to a tiring bowler and get rewarded with them taking a wicket.
We fielded first, which was good cos it let me feel my way back into playing. I can’t remember when I last played a match, so it must be a good few years ago. The main reason for not playing was the shoulder and back but there were some pretty major personality issues at work too. The shoulder and back issues haven’t gone away, I’ve just decided to ignore them. The personality issues seem to have resolved though, as there is a different person picking the teams now. The Small World Syndrome hit there, as someone I know unconnected with cricket also knew the fella with the problem and she thought he was an ass too.
But it looks like he’s not involved with the cricket now, so it’s well past time to move on.
The team seems to have evolved a fair bit as well. Another minor reason for me giving the cricket a rest was that the standard and, as a consequence, the expectation had gone through the roof. I’ve always been a reasonable player but not an excellent one, so I was feeling like a spare part in the team, especially as my bowling was no longer viable. Things go in cycles with the work team as people join and move on. Yep, things had gotten a bit too serious and I have a feeling it’s stepped back to being Fun.
As it should be !
“Too knackered to lift bat” ? Yep. I don’t have the strongest arms out there. Definitely not a PopEye. I’ve always had reasonable technique, except when I try to hit the cover off the ball which is when the technique disappears. I was fairly pleased with how I batted yesterday, I remembered some good technique, scoring 9 in our lowish total. I’d have liked to bat through but got bowled by a straight one that I missed because it bounced lower than I expected. That “try to hit cover off ball” thing striking …
Yep – got hammered but I enjoyed it. Yesterday I was glad I came out of retirement to play. Now, I’m not too sure … The catalogue is :
Screaming leg muscles that have had a concrete infusion
Bruised left leg (dunno how)
Bruised knuckles (from muppet catching)
Groin strain
Not worried about the first three, hopefully the groin strain I picked up while batting will settle down quickly. I don’t think anything in there is torn but it feels more strain-ish.
And there we come back to the title : Exercise is unhealthy.
If I hadn’t played last night, my legs would be fine and I wouldn’t have the groin strain. So there.
And it’s not just me ! There’s a bloke in the office who goes to the gym most lunchtimes. And he ALWAYS comes back with a limp. I’m telling you : Exercise equals pain. If we didn’t put ourselves through this torture, we’d have a lot more time for fun stuff like gaming.
Mind you, that’s when you come to the last part of that Facebook update : “Team hammered, don’t care – enjoyed the running around too much.”
Yes it hurts now but it was worth it. And getting a confidence boost all last week when thinking “last weekend, I climbed a mountain” is just part of what makes the exercise worth it.