Getting older, injuries and pain

The last 4 days have been hell on my body. I'd like to say that I can still play softball like I used to when I was in my early twenties. I'd like to say that when I am injured I heal as fast as I used to when I was in my early twenties. I'd like to say a lot of things. But the simple fact is that I am getting older. I am 38 years old now and while my mind is still as young as it ever was, my body just doesn't see things the same way.

Granted I am more heavy than I have ever been in my life and I get only a fraction of the amount of exercise I used to get when I was younger. But gosh darn it whoever invented this whole getting old stuff just wasn't thinking things through.

So on Saturday afternoon I was over at a neighbors house playing whiffle ball with him and his son. It is something we do from time to time. I pitch and his son hits the ball and runs the imaginary bases. Sometimes he actually hits the ball where we can catch it. This time was a little different in that he hit the ball over my head and I actually went for it. I thought ah what the heck, see if you can catch it.

I actually caught the ball. It was what happened 1 second after I caught the ball that was the problem. As I was stumbling to catch my balance I thought to myself "Oh man this is gonna hurt"

WHAM! I hit the ground. I stuck my left knee out to try and cushion the fall. Which means my knee took the brunt of 275 pounds of human being falling on top of it. Still clutching the ball I rolled around the ground in pain. I waited for about 60 seconds and a feeling of euphoria came over me. It was enough of a feeling that allowed me to get up and hobble home. When I hit the door my wife had seen me limping as I came up the driveway. She is so good to me, she hopped right up and got me a bag of ice.

So last night I was playing softball. The knee was actually not bothering me that much. So I thought I would try to get some exercise. When I hit the ball I usually try to go to right field. it is a widely known fact that the weakest players are put in right field. People that can't throw or run or catch.

The past few games i had been struggling in trying to get the ball out there. Last night was different in that when I swung the bat to try to hit it to right field my body contorted in such a way that caused me to (as the doctor told me this morning at 5:30 am in the ER) strain my rib cage. Whatever I did, it hurts.

So here I sit this morning on a heavy dose of Motrin for my ribs and a large bruise on my left knee. But I am happy. I am happy because I caught the whiffle ball and I went three for three at last nights softball game.

They say you are as old as you think. Well I think I am 21 but my body doesn't agree with me.