Getting Real
I believe that aging and humility go hand in hand.
The fearless brand of swagger that we have as kids tends to taper off as we live more life. Not to say that we get that beaten down by life or that we basically just start running out the clock once we turn 40. But there’s no denying that certain experiences can force us to acknowledge that things are different when we are 45 vs 25.
Which brings us to the subject of knees.
Throughout my athletic “career”, I’ve been fortunate to have never suffered anything other than a badly sprained ankle when I was about 5 yrs old, and some stiff back muscles that take a bit to get warmed up. Thankfully, though, my “critical” joints – knees, shoulders, elbows, shoulders – have held up remarkably well, even though I’ve done things like swing tennis rackets, golf clubs and throw balls since I was a child.
Honestly, my injury-free status has been a source of a bit of arrogance.
Which is why, when I started feeling stabbing pains in my left knee back in October 2013, I panicked. “Great! Now, when I’m trying to work my way to a 30” vertical jump, my knees decide to start balking?”
The diagnosis was patellar tendonitis. Related to the condition known as “jumper’s knee”, but not exactly the same. Still, while it screwed up my timetable for Dunk45 (I’m pretty sure I spent my 45th birthday with an ice pack on my knee), I figured I’d be back in business within a week or so.
Oww.
October came and went. Knee was still sore. Ice and KT Tape were required to do anything more than walking around. A nuisance, but no big deal.
November…still wincing when I bent the knee. What is going ON?
December…no more KT Tape, but still not able to do any leg workouts. Is this something I’m going to just deal with?
2014 arrives, it’s cold, icy, and because of the miserable weather, there’s not much incentive to workout anyway. But I’m starting to feel like the range of motion is improving. Not back to “normal” yet, but humility is starting to whisper in my ear “Um, you’re 45 now. This IS normal.”
Finally, in February I was able to string together enough bootcamp and weight room workouts to feel like I could begin mapping out a regimen to get my dunk plan off the ground again.
After all, I’ll be 45 until October 13. I can still earn the “Dunk45” title…right?
This time, though, I’m taking a more moderate and honest look at what this will require. Brute force won’t work. And since wisdom is supposed to be one of the benefits of getting older, I’m going to have to get much smarter about my training for the next 7 months.