Not As Young As I Used To Be

At least my joints certainly aren't!

I bet we all feel that way sometimes, right?  Remembering things we used to do frequently that seem like youthful foolishness, or even difficult, right now?

I probably sound like I'm 60 years old, starting off like that, but I'm learning the hard way that my knees aren't as young as they used to be.  And the culprit is youth basketball.

One thing we are working on more with the 5-6 year old league is proper defensive positioning, which includes the "chair" position and shuffling from side to side.  I've been happily demonstrating this at practice for some basic drills, but last night, they set up a full offense vs. defense comprised of the different coaches.  I was on defense, up at the top in our 2-3 zone.  I was back and forth and all over the place, pestering this guy I was guarding who was a good foot taller than me.  It was fun!  I was in the zone!  Quick!  Aggressive!  Like I was 17 again!

Until I stopped moving and walked with my team back over to our basket (with Katie VERY proud of me for being a good example for the kids).  Then my left knee started to lock up a bit.  It's the same knee I wear the brace on when I run, but not thinking, I hadn't been wearing my brace to basketball.  I need to start.  The doctor wants me to keep wearing it so I don't hurt myself on lateral movements, and here I am, lateral movements all over the place.  Flash back to college and it was basketball that injured that knee in the first place.  Oh, Megan.  Will I ever learn?

I came home and had some ice and ibuprofen.  I slept it off, and with some stretching and a little more ibuprofen, I wasn't feeling too bad today.  I even ran my scheduled 4 miles over lunch!  A little slower, but with the brace holding my joint in place, I didn't feel bad at all.  I've iced more tonight and am trying to rest it a bit.  Tomorrow is a cross-training day on the schedule, and instead of doing my Jillian DVD, which is kind of hard core, I think I'm just going to walk.  Walking counts as cross-training, and I think that will be better for me.  Keep the knee moving, but with less strenuous work.  I should be ready for my 5 miles on Sunday.

So.  As much as I hate admitting that my body is older now, I need to do a better job of knowing my limits.  I don't want 5-6 basketball to keep me from my goal of a successful 15K race!