Went to a Happy Hour with my wife last night — one of the groups she belongs to had a holiday get together at local bowling alley.
I haven’t bowled in more than 15 years, and didn’t intend to last night, but things happen, and the next thing I knew, I was wriggling into some rental bowling shoes and picking a nicked and gouged ball off the rack.
When I was a little kid, I bowled a lot. My grandparents were bowling fanatics, and Grampa taught me a five-step approach to the line. Those five steps are short, mincing little steps, and as a grownup, I feel like an idiot when I roll a ball that way, so I decided three long steps would be the way to go.
I picked the spot on the lane where I intended to roll the ball, and began my approach. Left, right, left — rightleft! That five-step move I had learned so long ago wouldn’t go away! The additional two steps automatically happened. I sailed the ball down the lane as I tried to catch my left foot from crossing the foul line. BRAAP! The foul alarm blared. The newfangled electronic scoring thingy flashed FOUL! in big red letters. And I grabbed my left hamstring.
Holy cripes, did it hurt. I pulled something back there. The combination of trying to check the two added steps plus rolling a 16-pound ball and trying to look graceful while doing it (Who am I kidding? I never look graceful at anything) put my leg in an awkward position and caused the muscle pull.
It was still sore this morning when I got up. Mrs. Noob wanted to go for a ride, so after some chores around the house, we saddled up for a jaunt to the Veloway. Not too bad, except for a stiff wind that almost knocked us off our bikes a time or two.
At the Veloway, I took off for some quick laps. Pat held back, fighting the wind. I could feel the hamstring, but besides a little soreness, it seemed okay. No doubt the exercise was warming the muscle and making it feel better.
Pat decided to do only one lap, and I caught up to her after I finished two. We headed home with the wind mostly at our backs this time. I stretched and showered, and wow! does that hamstring hurt.
I’m walking around the house like an old man, kind of hobbling. I know it’ll work itself out in another day or two, but I really can do without this kind of strain. I think I’ll avoid bowling from here on out.
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