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9:43 a.m. - 2006-03-09 At the age of 13 I was 5" 11" so I thought I would be a natural at basketball. Wrong. I tried out for the 8th grade varsity team and got busted back to 6th and 7th grade JV. I ran, I dribbled, I shot, I went with the coach to the shoe store to get a brand new pair of sneakers because my feet were too big to fit in to the standard hand-me-downs the team already had. The next week I fell during practice and ripped some muscle in my back never having played in a game. Thus came the end of my basketball career. Roller-skating was next. I dreamed of becoming a Roller Derby Queen...does anyone remember the movie The Kansas City Bombers? Long story short, while at a school sponsored skating party I slipped and fell going into the bathroom. Only I could manage to jamb my right index finger into the door hinge and nearly cut it off at the first knuckle. The freak mishaps continued through high school until I finally surrendered to the idea that I wasn't cut out to be a jock. It was there that I discovered a talent for baking bread and putting together lovely dinners and singing an occasional sweet melody. Although, there was one run-in with a Crisco can lid in the home-ec lab that resulted in a trip to the emergency room and 10 sutures in my thumb. I pretty much kept away from all things athletic for the next 25 years and stayed fairly healthy until last month. That's right...I decided that tadpole #4 and I would make lovely tennis partners and signed us up for lessons. We did OK and the coach put us in a group of 8 or so women and we play for an hour and a half every Saturday. On the third Saturday of play I hit a nice forehand and felt a deep, burning pain in my upper right thigh. I told the coach and he said that I wasn't used to using my "stopping" muscles. He told me to apply heat and rest for a couple of days then stretch before play next week. So began the painful leg cycle. I'd play tennis on Saturday then limp for two days after. Then what did I do? I added a second tennis clinic on Wednesday evenings. My leg didn't even twinge last night but now I have tennis elbow. I looked it up on the Internet and the website said that it was caused by "poor form" and "weak wrist strength." That made me feel good. It also gave a schedule for 8 weeks of strengthening exercises. Geez. It's hell to be a total klutz when you want to be a super star. Ed and I are going to do a 5K walk/run on Saturday then a 10-miler in April. I can't wait to see what deformity I'll manage on those. Life is good.
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