Running mishap
I have been running for a long time. Not today, but over the course of my life. I started when I was 12, and I am now 42. So I've been running 30 years. I thought I had experienced everything that could happen on a run. I was wrong.
Denis Jei was still in football season. What this means essentially is that my Sundays are shot. His games are often 45 minutes away. They are required to arrive an hour before game time. Games are an hour. And they stay after for team meetings. Add it all up and it's 4+ hours out of a 10 hour day down the drain. I would have a slightly different attitude if he enjoyed it, or got to play. But since neither of those were true it was just a pain.
So on game day I have my own little routine. I drive him to wherever he is supposed to go. I drop him with his team. Then I change clothes and go for a run. I have a good solid hour or more to run. Come back, change clothes, and watch the last few minutes of the game. It usually works quite well.
This weekend the game was way out on Beechmont. No worries. It has a huge hill that I like to run so it'll work just fine. I dropped Denis off according to plan then got out onto the road. The last time at this field I went to the left, so for a change of pace this time I started right. Turns out I was luckier last time. After a mile or so the sidewalk disappeared and I was running in the middle of a busy street. So I turned around and went back the other way.
I passed the fields then headed off for the hill. It was a lovely day. Clear and sunny, but cool. Very light breeze. Just a perfect day for running. I had my sunglasses on, and my (well, actually Liam's) iPod blasting tunes into my ear. Pretty much as close to running perfection as you can get. I was moving along at a pace that for me these days is considered cooking (probably 8 min/mile) when something caught my attention.
I was about to pass an apartment complex. I saw a woman walk out of the complex and get into her car. I knew she was about to head down the drive, so I looked to her to make eye contact so she would see me coming. Looking back, I'm glad she never did.
As I was intently focusing on her I passed a telephone pole. I never thought about it at the time, but in older neighborhoods telephone poles carry more than the phone signal. Many of them carry power lines and even cable TV wiring. Generally the cable wiring is stapled to the side of the pole, so all you see is a thick black line up against the wood. None of this crossed my wind as I attempted to pass the pole.
Notice the extra word in the sentence above? Yes. I gave it an effort. But I was unsuccessful. I was more than that, actually. As I ran I was forcibly lifted into the air and brought to a complete stop! For a minute I didn't even realize what had happened, It was such a shocking experience. What the f*** just happened?? Hell, at first I was just glad that I had landed on my feet. Once I got my wits I realized what had happened. You remember those cable wires? Well on this pole they weren't neatly stapled to the wood. No, on this pole it looped out about a foot or so from about 6' off the ground to about 3'. In other words, exactly where my arm swings while I'm running.
So what had happened was that as I ran I placed my arm in this little loop and it had brought me to a complete stop. Um. Ouch. I felt like a fish yanked out of a pond by a hook! Actually I am sure it was an equally jarring experience. I was just so completely in my little world that the shock of being stopped was akin to falling into a pool. Totally unexpected. Totally confusing.
I took a minute to survey the damage. My left arm hurt like hell. There was already a nice clear welt across it from the cable. I knew that would be a lovely bruise before long. Other than that I felt OK. So I started running again. It took about a mile for the pain to subside, but once it did I was back in my running world again. Only not so completely this time. Now I was paying just a bit more attention!
It is three weeks later as I write this. The welt turned into a nasty bruise, but now it is gone. The bigger issue is it seems I twisted my ankle when I stopped. So much for my pride at sticking the landing! I landed first on my left foot, and that ankle is still hurting. In fact, I haven't run in almost a week to allow it to heal. It is feeling a bit better, so it won't be long before I'm back on the roads. But you can bet I'll be casting a wary eye towards any malicious telephone poles along my path!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Amazing soccer season
Just as Denis' team did at age 8, Liam's team had an incredible season. They made it through their league without losing a game. Unlike Denis' team, they didn't win every game - they tied one team 1-1. But they played that team again at the end of the season and took them handily.
It wasn't until the season was over that I heard an impressive stat. That goal in the 1-1 tie? It was the only goal that was scored on the for the entire season!! Yeah. I guess that counts as a solid defense. And Liam can take a fair amount of the credit for that. He always wanted to play defense, and when he was back there it was rare for a team to even get a shot on goal, much less a score.
At the end of their league play they got into their league tournament. True to form, they won that too.
This took them further than Denis' team had gone. I'm not sure why they didn't go on, but they stopped at this point. Not so for Liam. They entered the SAY North tournament. 32 teams. 16 on their side of the bracket. And guess what? They won it again. They had some close games. In fact they won their last 2 games 1-0, once in the 4th period and once in overtime. Exhilarating to be sure.
Winning their bracket took them to the state tournament. It seems this is a pretty big deal. Teams really do come from all over the state to play in it. But our first match was against another local team, Some group from the West side that they hadn't had the chance to play yet.
The morning of there game was grey. But the time we got close to the fields it was already raining. About the only positive was that I was able to find a parking spot with a view of the fields. Of course I was in the Mini. And twice soccer moms/dads pulled up next to me in their humongous SUVs. Man I hate those things! I went over both times and asked if they could back up just a bit so I could see the fields. You could see in their eyes what they thought of my request. But none of them was rude enough to actually give voice to their thoughts. So they moved.
The first period was played completely in the rain. And I stayed completely in the car! It ended with no score. And as the period was ending they called a delay as thunder had been heard. Damn! So Liam and I sat in the car together. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep an energetic 8-year-old, who is in the middle of a very important soccer game, entertained in a Mini? No? Take a guess. Then multiply. Then you're only 1/2 off. It was crazy.
But the rain stopped and the game started again. It got through periods 2 and 3 with no score. Our team was creating more chances, but they just wouldn't go in. Soon after the start of the 4th period the game was delayed again fro thunder and lightning. So back to the car we went. At this point I told Mimi she should probably leave. I'm glad I did. We sat in the car for nearly an hour before the skies cleared. So we all filed out onto the field to resume the match. Only we didn't. The officials for some reason decided to cancel the entire day's games! Can you imagine? Teams drove from 3, 4, 5 hours away and they were turned away before even getting started. I was mad that I had spent 5 hours, I can't imagine what these people felt.
In any case our game was nullified. If we had scored a goal we would have been declared victors. Since we didn't we were told we'd start over the next weekend.
In the intervening days we got a steady stream of information from the coach. First was that we were going to play a 3-way match against 2 other teams. That was a little odd. Then it was just a re-match, at 8:30 in the morning! But eventually it ended up his team would play against a new team. One that was from outside Dayton. I immediately sensed trouble. A team doesn't drive 3 hours for a game unless they feel they have a solid chance of winning it. But I was in good spirits as the game time had been moved to 1:00 in the afternoon.
Game time came and the weather was perfect. Crisp and cool, but sunny. Great weather to be 8 years old and running around.
The first period was pretty even. Nobody scored, and both teams held the ball well. If anything, they looked just a bit better. Their defense did a great job keeping the ball on our side. It seemed each of their kids had as strong a kick as our strongest kid. So ever so slowly they seemed to be easing towards our goal. Then, midway through the second period it happened. They got a good chance and converted. And just like that, for the first time in 6 weeks, they had been scored upon.
To their credit they didn't fold. They must have known it was unlikely they'd come back. But they fought hard the rest of the period. In the third their opponents started pressing again and scored another goal. At this point the game was clearly over. We weren't getting good chances, and were now two goals down. About the only thing that could lose the game for them was not getting their subs in the game for enough time (there are rules about this, and I was the keeper of time). But in the 4th they got their weak kid in for plenty of time and the game ended 0-2 for them.
The kids were predictably bummed. There was some crying here and there. But the parents were all upbeat. They had a great season and shouldn't let one loss ruin it all.
And something tells me this won't be the last time they make it that far...
Just as Denis' team did at age 8, Liam's team had an incredible season. They made it through their league without losing a game. Unlike Denis' team, they didn't win every game - they tied one team 1-1. But they played that team again at the end of the season and took them handily.
It wasn't until the season was over that I heard an impressive stat. That goal in the 1-1 tie? It was the only goal that was scored on the for the entire season!! Yeah. I guess that counts as a solid defense. And Liam can take a fair amount of the credit for that. He always wanted to play defense, and when he was back there it was rare for a team to even get a shot on goal, much less a score.
At the end of their league play they got into their league tournament. True to form, they won that too.
This took them further than Denis' team had gone. I'm not sure why they didn't go on, but they stopped at this point. Not so for Liam. They entered the SAY North tournament. 32 teams. 16 on their side of the bracket. And guess what? They won it again. They had some close games. In fact they won their last 2 games 1-0, once in the 4th period and once in overtime. Exhilarating to be sure.
Winning their bracket took them to the state tournament. It seems this is a pretty big deal. Teams really do come from all over the state to play in it. But our first match was against another local team, Some group from the West side that they hadn't had the chance to play yet.
The morning of there game was grey. But the time we got close to the fields it was already raining. About the only positive was that I was able to find a parking spot with a view of the fields. Of course I was in the Mini. And twice soccer moms/dads pulled up next to me in their humongous SUVs. Man I hate those things! I went over both times and asked if they could back up just a bit so I could see the fields. You could see in their eyes what they thought of my request. But none of them was rude enough to actually give voice to their thoughts. So they moved.
The first period was played completely in the rain. And I stayed completely in the car! It ended with no score. And as the period was ending they called a delay as thunder had been heard. Damn! So Liam and I sat in the car together. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep an energetic 8-year-old, who is in the middle of a very important soccer game, entertained in a Mini? No? Take a guess. Then multiply. Then you're only 1/2 off. It was crazy.
But the rain stopped and the game started again. It got through periods 2 and 3 with no score. Our team was creating more chances, but they just wouldn't go in. Soon after the start of the 4th period the game was delayed again fro thunder and lightning. So back to the car we went. At this point I told Mimi she should probably leave. I'm glad I did. We sat in the car for nearly an hour before the skies cleared. So we all filed out onto the field to resume the match. Only we didn't. The officials for some reason decided to cancel the entire day's games! Can you imagine? Teams drove from 3, 4, 5 hours away and they were turned away before even getting started. I was mad that I had spent 5 hours, I can't imagine what these people felt.
In any case our game was nullified. If we had scored a goal we would have been declared victors. Since we didn't we were told we'd start over the next weekend.
In the intervening days we got a steady stream of information from the coach. First was that we were going to play a 3-way match against 2 other teams. That was a little odd. Then it was just a re-match, at 8:30 in the morning! But eventually it ended up his team would play against a new team. One that was from outside Dayton. I immediately sensed trouble. A team doesn't drive 3 hours for a game unless they feel they have a solid chance of winning it. But I was in good spirits as the game time had been moved to 1:00 in the afternoon.
Game time came and the weather was perfect. Crisp and cool, but sunny. Great weather to be 8 years old and running around.
The first period was pretty even. Nobody scored, and both teams held the ball well. If anything, they looked just a bit better. Their defense did a great job keeping the ball on our side. It seemed each of their kids had as strong a kick as our strongest kid. So ever so slowly they seemed to be easing towards our goal. Then, midway through the second period it happened. They got a good chance and converted. And just like that, for the first time in 6 weeks, they had been scored upon.
To their credit they didn't fold. They must have known it was unlikely they'd come back. But they fought hard the rest of the period. In the third their opponents started pressing again and scored another goal. At this point the game was clearly over. We weren't getting good chances, and were now two goals down. About the only thing that could lose the game for them was not getting their subs in the game for enough time (there are rules about this, and I was the keeper of time). But in the 4th they got their weak kid in for plenty of time and the game ended 0-2 for them.
The kids were predictably bummed. There was some crying here and there. But the parents were all upbeat. They had a great season and shouldn't let one loss ruin it all.
And something tells me this won't be the last time they make it that far...
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