I was reminded of something yesterday. Father Time or whomever tapped me on my shoulder and said, “You are not 20 years old.”
It wasn’t anything big but it was a reminder. See, I took my wife and daughters to the playground in on neighborhood to play basketball. We haven’t done this before but I thought it would be fun. I loved playing ball “back in the day.” I would play for hours. I wasn’t that good but I could shoot. 3 pointers were not that difficult. Shooting 3 footers in the lane were. I would play at the park, at the courts in our apartment complex, even snuck into the UGA coliseum quite often to play where the Dawgs played. (I found it was harder to shoot when the hoop is in the center of a big arena!) So, this little trip to the neighborhood playground with an 11 year old, a seven year old and my wife was of no concern to my physical well being.
Well…
My body responds differently now.
And that surprised me. It surprised me because I run. Since I am not working I have time to run. I run 3-4 times a week generally doing a 5k each time. I’m not sore afterwards and could go out the next day and do it again if I wanted to. This basketball thing was different. As we walked home I could start to feel my body reacting. Stiffness…soreness… I took ibuprofen as soon as I walked in the door. I took a hot shower. My back, shoulders and knees were yelling at me.
It was so weird
It was humbling
It was a great message for the need to do some cross training. Running is one thing but I need to involve the rest of my muscles in some activity.
Playing basketball for 30 minutes with a 7 and 11 year old will wake you up like a tap on the shoulder.
MattMunnell.com 