Back Again (literally)

Getting old and growing wiser are clearly not always in unison with one another, especially when you're talking about yours truly. I brilliantly went out and re-injured my back playing hockey (beautifully depicted in this pic), and let me tell you, it's a complete bummer. The best part about this tale of woe is that I actually hurt it while tying my skates in the locker room - it's almost too crazy to even believe. I was lacing up my skates and started to tighten them when I twisted around in a strange manner, at least I think it was strange, and tweaked my back. I felt it immediately, and let me tell you, I was so bummed. The familiar throb of pain was emanating from the usual location on my lower back. I stopped what I was going and tried to stand up and stretch, which helped a little, but didn't alleviate the problem. The other guys were probably tripping out on me if they even noticed me, which is probably more accurate.

I was able to lace up my skates and even played hockey, which in retrospect was probably not the best idea. Stupid is as stupid does, right? It did dawn on me, however, that if I went down on the ice, I might have a hard time getting back up. I didn't get too crazy and if you can believe this, my back didn't really hurt as long as I was standing upright, or in this case, skating upright. Sitting doesn't hurt too bad, either. It's really the transition from sitting to standing where it hurts the most.

Whatever the case, I'm suffering now. I hurt my back on Monday and played hockey again on Thursday, so clearly it's not as bad as I'm making it out to be, but it's a bummer nonetheless. The kids and mom were teasing me by indicating that I needed to come up with a more dramatic story about how I hurt my back - tying my skates just wasn't cool enough, though it's funny for the dork/klutz factor.

Being hurt puts a bit of a damper on splitting wood and doing my condition workout, though skating twice a week is pretty hard work in and of itself. The pain is not as excruciating as what I've experienced in the past, but it is a challenge to stand completely upright. I have a major stoop. Could this be my destiny?

I also worked on Saturday night and I think that exacerbated things a bit. Then again, just about everything exacerbates it, so I might was well stop whining about it (too late) and just deal. I have noticed one thing - it's important to keep moving as opposed to lying on the couch and feeling sorry for myself, even though I would like to do the latter more than anything.

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to George Gertner for the pic.