Monday, December 26, 2022. (Court Day #567)
Yesterday morning, my COVID rapid test came back with the less strong of a positive reading, but it was still a faint positive. Today, once my wife got back from her dog walk, she dug out a COVID test from her secret hiding place. My test came back absolutely clear. Understandably, I was quite happy. This meant I was released from my “house arrest” of COVID isolation. It was getting kind of miserable.
I quickly changed and headed out the door, making a quick stop at work to record a holiday phone greeting that the business is closed today (that I would’ve recorded last week had a not been sick), and then headed directly to Brommer Street Park to play pickleball. I arrived a few minutes before 11 a.m. and by that time some of the players have left, leaving two empty parking spots even though the courts were pretty busy.
My first game was with René against Art and Adrian. It was crazy—I was getting significantly winded without doing much at all. This is definitely the aftereffects of COVID. Hopefully, my lung capacity will return to normal soon.
I went on to play games with René and Rick with various partners. The games were fun and I was playing ok considering I had a two week layoff.
Tanya
I played a game with Rick against René and Tanya. René wanted “girls against boys”. Tanya was Rick’s partner from a tournament in the last few months. Tanya is tall, maybe 5’11”, and dresses/looks very much like a tennis player. The first rally in that game was a blast, it was maybe 20 hits with lots of dinking. Real pickleball. Tanya is a good player. Rick and I won the game by a very comfortable margin, but there were good rallies in that game.
Most of my games today were pretty good, although there were a handful that were not thrilling. Like the game I played with all beginners.
A particularly fun game was me and Mike D. against Rick Abend and Jason. It was a close game, but Mike and I lost. The loss was very much mostly me, though Mike wasn’t perfect. Midgame, after I blew a shot, Mike kidded, “Are you going to stop messing around soon?” I guess I had minor consolation that the game ended on a shot that Mike hit into the net.
During my last game by right knee started to hurt, so I decided to call it a day.
It was 3:20 p.m. when I left. All the permanent courts were still full as well as 2-3 portable nets. The courts are still pretty darn busy which is amazing. A far cry from the old days when we had a few players stick around and use the courts until about 1 p.m. then everyone would be gone. The courts are getting used almost all day these days.
The clouds are darkening and rain is expected tonight.
Ow.
I stopped by my parents to drop off some extra COVID tests. When I got out of the car, nearly my entire body hurt. My lower back hurt, my right knee hurt, my legs hurt, the bottom of my feet hurt . . . everything hurt. So bizarre. More COVID effects, probably.
Tuesday, December 27, 2022 (No Play)
Today was a workday for me. Back to the grind after missing a ton of work. It was raining and club play cancelation notice was sent out by someone.
I am sore. And I mean sore. Back and legs. And right knee a bit. My feet are mostly better, but still also a little sore. Getting up and down in a chair is uncomfortable. Boy. I didn’t think my body was that out of shape. Maybe between tweaking my knee, rain, COVID, I just haven’t played that much compared to my regular routine.
I visited the county parks & rec web page for Brommer. They have a very old photo. One that shows two tennis courts and no pickleball lines. That means this photo is older than I’ve been playing. I started playing just about six years ago now and even then, the courts were striped for pickleball too. And the courts were in fairly poor condition, so I’d estimate the photo is at least 8 years old.
The need an updated photo!
Wednesday, December 28, 2022 (No Play)
This muscle soreness is astonishing. I can’t remember my legs being this sore after pickleball. Sitting down this morning took some willpower, as my thighs really hurt. It got better as the day went on, but still . . . boy.
It’s looking like rain but a break is expected on Sunday, thankfully.
Thursday, December 29, 2022 (No Play)
My body is getting better, but my lower back is still pretty sore. I’ve been a bit concerned that I might still be sore on Sunday, but this has been the longest week ever. I only worked Tuesday and Wednesday and today is only Thursday, but it feels like it’s been forever. It takes some effort to lean over through the pain and pick up something off the floor.
Drill Video
So this video is nearly identical to the drill Terry Long taught at a local workshop about 4-5 years ago. The drill that Eric and I use every time when we drill.
Number of days on a court: 567
Number of total hours: 2,540
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