Hurley to Rise

A calf for the slaughter

Practice Monday didn’t go quite as planned.

I have to admit, during the early exercises, I wasn’t feeling it. I just tried stopping balls instead of catching them.  I was having trouble with my helmet, and used it as an excuse to stop what I was doing and fiddle with it.

But then I began feeling guilty about my sloppy attitude, and started pushing myself.

We were practicing “challenged overhead catches” where another player and I scrambled around the field for the hurling equivalent of a pop fly.

It’s a pretty important skill, and one I certainly need to perfect. Why’s that? Well as a slower player, if I can gain control of the ball by catching it then I don’t have to run after other players as much. Additionally, I should be better at catching the sliotar than most players simply because I can outreach them.

We were only 10 minutes into the practice by the time we started this exercise and I was going against a teammate who was much faster than me and quite a better athlete in general.

He handled the first fly ball and bat back with skill and speed, and when the second came whizzing overhead, I had a little bit of an advantage: It was going to my side and not too far away.

I could make it, I told myself.

So I spun around and charged forward, and then “whack,” I felt a sharp pain in my calf.

Almost immediately, I said “Dude, you just hit me with your stick!”

But that wasn’t the case. He wasn’t anywhere near me.

He was already at the ball and hitting it back.

And I was limping.

For the rest of the practice, I limped. To be honest, I wasn’t really involved in the practice.

I kept walking and rubbing my calf. It wasn’t feeling any better.

I helped a little of course. I gathered up out-of-bounds balls. I served as a “designated hitter” for a couple of exercises, but other than that, I was useless.

I couldn’t lift my toes up on my right foot. I couldn’t run without a charlie-horse feeling in my leg.

By the time practice was over, I had retrieved many balls, hit a few and fielded a half dozen questions on my condition.

Even then, I could tell it was worse then a muscle spasm. I sometimes get leg cramps in the middle of the night, and this wasn’t like them at all.

The trip home wasn’t so bad, but the hour-and-half drive didn’t do me any favors. When I got out of the car after parking, my limp was horrendous since my calf was so tender.

Ice and Advil helped me get to sleep, and after work the next day I was at the doctor’s office. She said I had strained my calf, and I’d take at least two weeks to recover.

And that’s the major bummer. My first game (more on my prospects later) was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Another practice is Monday.

Even today, three days after my the incident, I can tell Saturday’s out. I can’t run a bit. The walking limp has eased up some.

At this point, Monday seems out, but maybe I can manage practice on May 24.

Until then, I’ve decided that I can still do some upper body work. I figure a good portion of my slowness is a direct result of my spare tire. Maybe if I can whittle that down a bit that I can be faster and more agile.

This injury is only a minor setback though, you can trust me on that. This game is way too exciting to give up now.