ULTIMATE

posted Friday, 30 September 2005

Those of you who know me well, know that I have a passion for ultimate frisbee. I play pretty much all year round:
• Summer League - coed teams that play locally, in mercer county park, in the summer
• Wicked - my women's club team that travels for tournaments
• Pickup - Buccleuch pickup all winter long - even in the snow (mercer in the spring/fall)
The last time I played ultimate was June 29. I am in serious withdrawal. Summer league is fun and I still went out to the fields...though it was awkward to explain why I wasn't playing, since I didn't look sick or injured... my women's team is more hard core. Practices most weekends, track workouts, mental toughness training...
I finally got the ok from the dr to play 2 weeks ago and decided to give it a shot at Sectionals. At sectionals, we play mostly college teams and the games tend to be quite lopsided, in our favor, so I figured it was a safe environment in which to get back out there. How fantastic did I feel, actually playing a role on the field and not just one the sideline? We shut out 6 teams with a score of 13-0 and won the finals handily 13-3. One thing for certain... boy was I tired! I am so out of shape (to be expected, of course), but just running around felt almost normal! It was wonderful! Now, I had told myself that I would "just take it easy" and "not take any risks" or "push it too much"... But at one point, I had just gotten a beautiful run-through "D" and had cut deep to receive the disc in the endzone. My teammate ran up to the disc and put it up to me... but overthrew me. Normally, I would chase it down and "lay out", diving horizontally through the air to catch the disc that was just out of my reach... my teammate and dear friend Bonny saw that look in my eye and screamed from the sideline "Linda! Don't lay out!!!" I don't know what took over me... my head said "don't tell me what I can or can't do" and I took off after the disc and launched myself into the air. It was at this point that I realized that I was going to land smack on my breasts, one of which was still sporting an incicision that was still draining puss (of course, it was covered in gauze, but not well protected)... in a split moment, I curled up in a ball (still in mid air) and fell straight to the ground with a thud. Don't worry, nobody got hurt, but it was not pretty! The disc feel to the ground right in front of me.
I guess the lesson is to be thankful for what I can do and not try to rush things or try to be a hero and do too much. But, ah! To feel normal again for a day... it was sheer bliss!
This weekend is Regionals. The top 2 teams move on to Nationals. We are definitely one of the top 3. We'll just have to beat another one of the top 3 to move on... wish us luck! Visist www.upa.org to find out more.


MOM MADE THIS COMMENT,