i am back in the game.

and as jason would incorrectly interpret, no i'm not looking for a girlfriend. i started playing tennis again on a regular basis. i signed up for weekly drills every wednesday. i have gone to two in a row so far and i feel great (mentally). but very very old.

i went to drills all the time during high school, and the harrassment, the blisters, the blood, the laps... all gone forever now. now i am in a drill with working/retired/stayathome people. quite the different experience because now, i am older than the coach (or at least the same age). he can't yell at us, he has to be very supportive. i remember during high school, we'd get pegged by tennis balls if we didn't do something right... that or run laps, pushups, etc. now it's, "um, sir, we still have about 12 balls left before we- oh okay... sure, get as much water and rest on that bench as long as you need." yep, that's what happened today. some old guy who is well past social security age decided to try it out today and couldn't handle it.

last week was my first time. me and a few of my friends decided to try it out, and we were absolutely dying. i seriously contemplated faking cramps so i can catch my breath. i'm not kidding.

i'm probably the best in the wednesday group, but that means crap when you are walking to the end of the line and the coach has to slow down for you since you can't even run for 4 minutes straight.

i was so sore last week, it was just down right embarrassing. my soreness in my fingers and toes finally went away last Sunday.

back in the day, you had to hit the ball, run to the other side of the court and pick up the balls you hit, put it in the basket, and run back in line. if the basket ever became empty, it meant we had to run suicides. today, you have to run around these cones and that's it. but i don't even do that. i kinda jog back in line taking the shortest path possible - even if it means getting brushed by someone else's tennis racquet while they are swinging. needless to say, my favorite part of the drills is when we get to pick up balls.

but despite my outright pathetic showing on the court... it hurts so good.