I'm No Lance Armstrong

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."

So true, I suppose, yet I clearly haven't learnt that lesson in the past few years. It's a quote from said man in title, and tonight, I felt pain alright. I went to play 5-a-side football for the first time in about a year.

Now, a few things here. 1) I don't really exercise anymore. Obviously, it's not cricket season, but football season, where I am a goalkeeper and don't do that much running. And 2) My refereeing is constricted to once a fortnight at most, so I don't do much exercise at all. Unless you count work, but that doesn't count!

I turned up, quite excited about playing for the first time but fairly wary of how long I would last physically! It turned out not very long... 20 minutes or so, and I started to feel a few things that I tend to feel when I start to get tired. My vision goes a bit blurred and I get an awkward yet very painful feeling in my left shoulder. Almost like cramp, I'm not sure what it is. I had forgotten about these pains before I started, but when they came, I remembered them alright! I didn't put in 100% effort, because the last time I did that, the consequences were not fantastic.

It was at winter cricket training back in... 2008 I think. We were at the local sports centre and being put through our paces by the coaches who were needlessly making us work uber-hard for the level of cricket we play. A whole hour of the session was spent solely on fitness, and the head coach, (who is an absolute moron), didn't even let us stop for a brief rest or a drink. After 45 minutes of this or so, I started to feel very unwell, and halfway through an exercise designed to, "strengthen your core", I collapsed. Apparently, the coaches just thought I was lying down, giving up, but when I didn't move, they became concerned.

I came round a whole 15 minutes later, perched up in a chair in the corner with paramedics surrounding me and looking at me. I couldn't remember what had happened and before I knew it I was in hospital. I spent a good 4-5 hours there, and was banned from Father Mitten in playing in the next days football match, all because the coaches had worked us too hard. I also heard that a few others felt unwell after the over-exertive session, but I was the only one who required an ambulance. I am still ripped apart for it these days!

So, at 5-a-side, even 2 years on, I am still incredibly wary of ending up in the same state. I know I am unfit, after not a lot of exercise and spending the last 6 months pretty much comfort eating, so I just about got through without making a fool of myself! Mr. T just came into my head...

The one thing that has improved about me though IS my core strength. If I mentioned that to a Bedford CC coach, they would say, "that exercise worked then even if you did collapse!" I do feel stronger and more ... "bulked out", than I did last year. Some of the people we played with tonight, were like me last year, not overly strong and I seemed to be stronger than some of them. I'm not sure, but maybe that will stand me in good stead, especially as the cricket season draws nearer. I can't wait to be honest with you!

Talking of cricket, the 3rd Ashes test starts tonight, and I have been invited by CC to go round to his and watch! I'm looking forward to it! So much so that I put a tenner on another England innings victory! At 16/1, it was too good to turn down!!

So, I'll leave you be. I'm certainly no Lance Armstrong, physically or mentally, but I'm getting there. Maybe 1% of the way there..!

Ciao x