Day 65: For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, a physical therapist, a trainer or licensed in anyway as a medical professional. More specifically I am not YOUR doctor, physical therapist or trainer. This is just my blog, not advice.

This weekend was Nashbash 27 a massive Rugby tournament in Nashville, TN. I was in Louisville for work and my brother was playing for Purdue and... you can't get away from this sport. And as my dad always said, "You can't play if you don't bring your stuff." I packed the car and went.

Despite some bad Plantar Fasciitis from St Patty's day. And walking around all day at a Truck Show certainly didn't help a single thing.

I watched a few games and made the decision to play. I warmed up by doing some child's pose in yoga. Bending the knees fully, plyometrics, and shuffling. Everything felt solid. For mental assurance I put a wrap on it (you can't wear any hard braces in Rugby).

I went around to a few teams and finally found one that short of subs. Saint Louis Royals showed up with 16. I went in about 10 minutes into the second half and ended up playing around 20-25 minutes. I was put out on the wing where I couldn't do too much. I only touched the ball twice and I don't think made any tackles.

And then we drank and then it rained. And it rained some more and we drank some more. All said the 200 people that were left because the rain was too wet floated 32 kegs in a little over 2 hours. And there was dancing, and slip and slides, and there were zulus and singing. And it was a Rugby Social. Comparable to no sport I've ever played, seen, heard even heard of.

Sunday I got in about the same amount. Except I went in at Flyhalf, many many rookie mistakes from just being out of touch with the position (I haven't played it in over a year and I really don't like it either.) Made a few tackles, made a few runs. Sprinting, turning, running, after about 10 minutes in and being caked with mud I forgot all about my knee. I was still a bit guarded going into tackles and avoiding taking them when possible.

Today I woke up sore, sore everywhere except for my knee. My thy was bruised, my pinkie toe was stepped on, my shoulders ached, my hands were stiff and my quads were tight everything I'd expect from a game of rugby except neither knee bothered me.

I was out of shape. Walking way more than I should have been. I shied away from some tackles I would have taken or made previously, but as I've said before, now it's all mental. Convincing your brain that your knee can handle something after being on crutches for .. well 2 days is hard to do.

Today in the gym with the silence of everyone else lifting I had some extra motivation. On leg press it was:
260x10, 280x10, 300x10, per leg. Now don't go comparing this to yours because the 'gearing' on this one I think is a bit different. But the last set, the set of 300, on my right leg I was taking pauses everyone after 6. The sweat started down my face about 7.

When I stretched between each set (Lat machines are excellent stretching devices. Set the knee pad to the highest setting and hold on to the top (after selecting a weight >= your own)) my quads were the tightest part of my body no longer my knee.

Thanks again St. Louis Royals!