I'm 25, halfway to 50 or better yet, a quarter of a century old. That being said, I heard something this morning in a men's locker room that made so much sense. "My 40 year old body should stop listening to my 15 year old mind". Let's dissect that for a minute.
I had just finished throwing up in a trash can and felt like I was about to pass out. I thought I had prepared fairly well leading up to the 45 minutes I spent trying to get my "sea legs" legs back out there on the ice. I thought that Jillian Michaels was going to take better care of me after 3 levels of home work outs, but then again, I probably can't hold her accountable for the Caramel White Mocha's from Starbucks that are a million calories each. Or the Cheesy Gordita Crunches from Taco Bell that comes with a side of "You're Going to Regret This Someday" either...So there I was. Light headed, but freshly showered as I had been the first off the ice.
The gentleman that made the comment was almost twice my age and by the sound of his phone calls, probably worked in construction. Out on the rink, he played well with fast and heavy strides, a good shot and what seemed like plenty of gas in the tank. I thought to myself, "This has to get better." You see, I walked out on hockey during my junior year in high school. I wasn't getting the ice time as a rookie on a team full of senior players. If you don't already know, hockey is probably the most expensive sport to play for kids and adults alike, so I figured I'd save myself the frustration and my parents the money and throw in the towel to pursue a love of music and play in a band. That was it. My pads stayed dormant for years while a thin layer of rust would accumulate on the blades of my skates. I had turned a corner and wouldn't circle back to that street for a long time...
So that was vintage me. Circa 2002-2003. This is 2011 and the slightly heavier, certainly fluffier, more hair in stranger places version of me feels like the bottom of my skates: dull and rusty! Today was the first day I'd played organized ice hockey in over 5 years (a brief skate in college in 05 barely counts). It was almost like riding a bike. The smells, the atmosphere in the locker room brought back that old nostalgia of my memory as a 15 year old. Forty five minutes later came the reality that my 25 year old body was trying to sync with it's memorial pal which wasn't quite working. A year ago, I joined an inline hockey league here in Nashville. I don't know if that really helped me or hindered my play on ice. First of all, that style of play is 100 times slower. You physically can't do anything as hard as you can on the ice. Once I slowed my expectations to let my muscle memory come back, I did alright. I made some nice defensive plays, and assisted on a goal. No rookie of the year, but like I said, I held my own. I'm really looking forward to getting out there again and playing a little harder and little longer. I'll get it back. At 5'6" I'm no future NHLer but I hope at age 56 the hockey in me is still burning just as strong.
Hockey at 6am: $10. Tape for stick: $4. The realization that your body doesn't just take care of itself: priceless.
