Friday, December 38, 2018 (Court Day #237)
I pulled into Brommer Park at 9:00 sharp. My car thermometer read 51 degrees. But it was sunny. I headed to the courts in a T-shirt and shorts. When I got to the planter (which acts as a bench), I pulled out my ankle brace and put it on.
I got to warm up with Dan Bliss. Dan’s still recovering from some serious joint surgery and has to limit his play. He was very personable and kind when we warmed up. (Not abnormal, by any stretch.) I was doing very well with my dinking.
I played an early game with a tall man named Harry. He’s a strong player. I think I’d seen him once before, he’s not a regular. There were quite a number of unfamiliar faces today. Maybe a dozen people that I didn’t know. It was an odd feeling.
The surprise of the day was Kim’s friend Cathy and I beat Leslie and Steve 11-4. That was a real shocker. I was playing well.
Kevin and I played a game against George and Art. Or maybe it was Harry and George or Harry and Art, I can’t remember. I was expecting a lopsided game, but instead, Kevin and I found ourselves having to make a comeback to win. I did get a big smile from Kevin when we walked off the court.
There was a pleasant surprise, Rob, my partner for the Golden State Games, who’s been AWOL for months appeared today. He said he’s just been working a lot do he hasn’t been playing pickleball. That and when the waves are particularly great, he surfs. We got in some games.
Eric asked if I was going to play in the Paso Robles tournament in March. I told him I hadn’t thought about it yet. He said the registration starts on the 2nd. I asked if he was looking for a partner. He said no, that John P. asked him to be his partner now that Eric qualities for the 60+ bracket. I told him that they should do well.
The last games of the day were Binh and me against Steve and Rob. We lost every game. I figured Steve and Rob were the strongest opponents, so I’d asked Binh to play with me. I don’t mind losing as long as I’m challenged.
The last few games my ankle was starting to consistently bother me. I was dragging. My tennis elbow was worsening to the point where nearly every shot hurt.
When we finished the last game, I was stunned at the time, 1:35 p.m.! No wonder I was dragging and my ankle and tennis elbow were painful—I’d been playing for 4 1/2 hours! I was going to be very late getting to work. Oy.
Saturday, December 29, 2018 (No Play)
Today, my right arm was very sore. It gave me trouble. Even last night, just resting my arm on something, it was aching. Not good.
This afternoon, after seeing the suggestion in an old discussion thread on the Pickleball Forum on Facebook, I went next door to the sporting goods store and bought a 3-pound weight. (I asked for 2 pounds as recommended, but they didn’t have any.) Tonight, I rested my forearm across the corner of our dining room table with the weight in my hand. I slowly dropped my hand, flexing at the wrist, and lowered the weight. Boy, did that hurt! I lowered and raised the weight about ten times. I’ll need to continue doing that on a regular basis and strengthen the muscles, tenons, ligaments and whatever else is messed up.
Number of days on a court: 237
Number of total hours: 651.5
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