Saturday Redoux

This could be the last Saturday of the season for both of my children. It is certainly the last Saturday for my son as his season ends today. My daughter could play next Saturday if her team is successful in the tournament. We shall see how this plays out in the coming games but for the most part it is has been a great season for both of them and it is hard to believe I was just signing them both up a little over two months ago; where has that time gone. That time has been a great deal of fun as I have been involved with my son’s team and watching my daughter has been a blast as well. I think the break between this season and the upcoming spring season is a little over two months which will go quickly with the holidays and all.

I was awake very early this morning as has been my routine during the season. It was very much like last week where my daughter’s game and son’s game were virtually at the same time. I made my way to the gym and as I entered I noticed a sign informing of the new hours of operation. Over the past 7 years this gym has been open 24 hours so the hours of operation have been very simple. I do remember when we first moved here it was not a 24 hour a day operation and opened at 5:00 am during the week and I also remember a few of those days when I arrived at this hour only to wait for someone to open the gym. Apparently the economy has caused the gym to cut back the hours of operations and we are back where we were 8 years ago.

My internally reaction was very funny and I could feel myself drifting back into my old mentality. At first I was upset it was no longer a 24 hour a day operation and was offended that the weekend opening times posted were 7:00 am. I make it a point to get to the gym well before this time so I could spend the rest of the day with the family. A case in point was this morning where I arrived very early which worked great for me. After thinking about it more I realized it is just something I will adjust to. The opening time during the week has no bearing on my schedule only the weekends. I am sure I will come up with another alternative and life will certainly go on!! In the past I would obsess over these extremely trivial matters and thankfully in recovery and experiencing all that comes with recovery I had to laugh at myself.

I got in a good 16 mile run and it is so interesting how these runs vary from week to week. Last week I ran 14 miles on Saturday and felt as if I could run another 14 more. However; this week I struggled reaching mile 14 and had to really focus on the last few miles because my legs were tired. There weren’t any significant differences in my training over the weeks it was just my body responding differently. I was able to run with my IPod and my new earphones. I must have a smaller right ear than my left ear because even these earphones which fit much better than any other earphone I have tried fell off in the first few minutes. I made a few adjustments to secure the earphone and they were okay for the remainder of the run.

I returned home where we went through the Saturday morning ritual of gathering the needs for the day and after breakfast we were out the door. We did just what we did last week going to my daughter’s game and watching them practice along with the first batter in the first inning before we made our way to my son’s game. This was great timing because my daughter was the first batter of the game and I did get to see her. She did strike out but she was facing the best pitcher in the league and she did hold her own fouling off a few pitches before swinging at a high strike. With this my son and I headed over to his field for his final game.

Yes, it has been a very good fall baseball season and today the two “main” coaches were absent due to prior commitments which left me and another coach the only coaches at the game. I know my role in most things which is why I left most of the decisions to the other coach who plays a more “vocal” role in the game. This worked out well and even though the final score wasn’t in our favor the boys on the team did very well. My son has returned to hitting the ball and hit the ball in all four of his at bats reaching base three of those times. I had the video recorder with me as I coached from third base and hopefully I got some good video of my son swinging the bat. I could see some hesitation in his swing and maybe seeing this for him will help but that really doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that we all had a great time this season and now it is over.

As the game neared conclusion my wife and daughter arrived. My daughter’s game was over and she was a bit upset and the first thing she said to me was “we lost because of the dumb umpire.” I had to stop her there and ask what the final score was and she replied, “10-0”. That was all I needed to hear and I had to explain (rather firmly) to my daughter that I doubt the umpire caused all those runs and caused your team not to score once so can we please start over. She seemed to take this very well and explained the game which seemed filled with errors. Thankfully it is a double elimination tournament and they have one more game to redeem themselves which will be on Tuesday. This means there is at least one game remaining for my daughter and my schedule does allow me to attend.