Hardly Working

After I got out of the hospital, I took another week or so off before going back to work. When I got back to the office, I found lots of work waiting for me. I stayed very busy at work during the day but did not really do much in the way of exercise before or after work. I was getting pretty antsy and was ready to do something again. Other than work and eat and sleep that is.

One day my coworker and his brother needed some help down their way. They needed someone with a truck to help them do a leaf and debris cleanup at the neighbor's house across the street from their house. So I drove down to help them out. I have always been good at this type of work and I guess I had a lot of pent up energy because I worked very hard and we got a lot of work done that morning. I felt pretty good. So good in fact that I decided I would go home, get my gear and head out to the soccer field to see if I could get some minutes in the Galaxy game.

I went home, grabbed my stuff and went to the field. I watched most of the first half and then decided I was up for going in to play. As it turns out, despite all the time off and the collapsed lung, I still was in pretty good shape. I had asked to play on the side or up front but they put me in the middle. And I actually held my own. I think I ran more than most of the guys on the team and of course I still had the skill and technique to play well. To be honest it was sort of shameful for the team that I had such an impact on the game. It was fun though.

At this point in my life, I was still not serious about my fitness. I was in good shape but mostly it was because I just did a lot. I biked a lot and I played soccer a lot. I was in shape by default. I did not work to be fit. I certainly did not have the best diet in the world and I did not focus on any fitness goals.

I continued playing soccer the next couple of seasons with Galaxy on Sundays. In addition to playing with Galaxy on Sundays, I started playing with Galaxy Coed during the week. Coed Soccer is really just as competitive as mens soccer but you do have a little more time on the ball which made it even more fun for me. This little bit of extra time on the ball allowed me to contribute even more. It was great fun. Games on Sunday and games on Tuesday nights. I was getting in shape without trying.

Also around this time, I started a new sport. Running. I do a lot of running during soccer games but I had never run long distances. Every year my church does a 10K training team for the Monument Avenue 10K. A 10K is 6.2 miles. Each Saturday morning, we would meet at the church at 7:3o for our group run. During the week, I would run the mileage that our coaches had prescribed for us. Plus I played in the two soccer games every week. I also threw in some mountain bike rides just for some added exercise. Again, I was not really thinking about my fitness or trying to reach any fitness goals. I was just doing it. I had turned into a calorie burning machine.

In my next installment, I will describe how I slowly transitioned from a longtime soccer player to an endurance athlete and my triumphs and tribulations along the way.