When I was in high school, I was the bomb at tennis. I kicked ASS. I even managed to get to state. I would have been #1 in my district if it weren't for those two pesky exchange students. (Seriously, exchange students in high school seem to come over just so they can wipe the floor with everyone else. I digress.)
The point is, tennis used to be my sport. Yesterday, I ended up playing for the first time since last May.
How ridiculous is that?
When we started playing, I started to get really depressed. It was because I was so weak. Part of the reason that I used to enjoy tennis so much was because I was powerful. I could control the ball. I could make my opponent run.
Now? I can hardly keep it in the court. This must be the same type of feeling for someone who stops running and tries to start it up again. It used to be so simple, so easy to go 5 miles. Now they're struggling with one. They don't want to try again. They don't like seeing how far they've fallen.
And oh, how the mighty have fallen. The worst part of it was my shoes. I have tennis shoes, yes... but apparently not at school. I left them at home. I wore running shoes on the court. That's as bad as the guy running on the treadmill in jeans. Maybe worse.
I don't want to be that sad person who stops doing something, tries to pick it up again and toss it after it's difficult. I need to get back into the swing of it.
...Not before I get some real tennis shoes back though. Heh.
Have you ever tried to go back to something that you hadn't done in a long time? What happened when you tried it again?
Oh yeah, I'm like that with running all the time. I train for a race, run it, and then stop running and I feel like I'm starting from scratch all over again!
ReplyDeleteThat story perfectly encompasses all of my fears about having to take a break from running for any reason. Which is why I just keep on going with the racing thing. I think it's so great that you're getting back into tennis though - it's hard to be separated from the things that you love!
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