So I thought I’d go all BADASS and play through an ongoing knee injury that had, days before, been jarred real nice like in a Saturday morning basketball game that turned into a four-day hangover. On the Wednesday after my knee’s resounding recovery had given me cause to exclaim- ere I departed for another round of basketball- “Let’s go crash my knee all over again!” (I think the voice of arrogant youthfulness comes through here)
I proceed to bike to the closest park and begin to casually shoot around. No more than ten minutes had passed when two knuckle-headed, jerk-faced juveniles descend from the neighborhood shadows onto the court and start shooting around like they don’t even notice my friend and I already there shooting (kids these days!). So, in good, healthy form, we happily (no, begrudgingly) incorporate their two (small, worn out) basketballs into the mix and before long it came to the expected challenge, “You guys wanna play two-on-two?” The smaller of the kids (16 and 17 year olds are really just kids) seemed hopped up to play and so in the good spirit of sportsmanship and because sometimes old men gotta teach a lesson to these whippersnappers (the one kid was wearing Bugs Bunny SHORTS! Who does that?), we accepted the game against both my and my friend’s better judgment (he recently had had a traumatic episode where his back gave out and so rendered himself a bit tender of late).
It was less than two minutes into the match that I felt my knee wrench, painfully stressed, and from then on I was a hobbled joe. Yes, I could have taken leave of the game and responsibly rested my joint rather than satisfying my ego, but I chose, unwisely, to drag it out so I could prevent Josh and George from their satisfaction: beating up on us “old guys”.
Needless to say the win came with a palpable comeuppance in the form of a severely sensitive, constricted right knee. (*A doctors note: my right knee was orthoscopically treated at the age of seventeen for a torn ACL and healed relatively well after the second operation which was performed to address the failure of the first which came nearly seven months after originally tearing it while doing squats in my garage. My knee has been moderately stable ever since excluding some intermittent strains and bruises from regular playing.) Rightfully anxious about the potential prognosis, I went straight to ice packs, tending to it as it seemed to feel vaguely like my knee had when I originally tore my ACL now twenty years ago.
Almost a week has passed and it feels adequately stable, but there is definitely a weak lateral angle of the joint that I cannot “push through” due to severe pain. I am however optimistic that this not as severe as first surmised (objective analysis can be a tall order when you’re in a lot of pain). We’ll see what this rehabilitative process yields as a preamble to this new year. I’m not in the mood for letting it break my stride. Who knows, maybe this is when, in step with my progressing maturity, I will create a healthy walking routine, heretofore unthinkable to my internal twenty year old. Nevertheless, it’s certainly not gonna spoil a sweet 2016.
March Forth!
Grass Is Greener Fitness 