Recovery Week

Finally - eleven months into the year and I catch a break!  My races are over, field hockey is over, and I can relax.

Since my half marathon I've run one time, and that was with the local lululemon group last Friday.  Lululemon Athletica is a ridiculously priced athletic wear company that mainly caters to women.  I own maybe four pieces from lulu, and two of them I wear all the time as they are both comfortable and functional.  Some of the pieces, especially the tops, look like they are too much work to put on, not to mention their tops run a little small and I really dislike tight shirts.  Louisville has a lululemon showroom meaning it's not a full-scale store and they put on little events here and there like what I did last Friday: a run RAVE!  We met at a local bar, put on lots of glow in the dark gear, and did an easy three mile run around the neighborhood.  One of my Bourbon Chase teammates, Sara, met me there and it was good to see her.

On Sunday, I headed to Lexington with my field hockey team to play in a tournament versus some college club teams.  We played three shortened games in a row: 40 minute game - 5 minute break - 40 minute game - 5 minute break - 40 minute game.  Needless to say, it was exhausting!  We played on University of Kentucky's intramural fields which were very, very fast so we ran a lot more than normal.  Despite having just run a half marathon, running in a field hockey game is very different: sprinting, quickly changing direction, et cetera. 

Our first game was against UK's club team and they beat us pretty badly...it was something like 5-1 or 6-1.  We had not been able to warm up prior to the game, and UK had subs while we didn't, so their victory was to be expected.  We had not lost a game all season so it was disappointing, but we figured that the next games would go well since the first game warmed us up.

Our second game was versus Transylvania University which is a small liberal arts school in Lexington.  They are Division III so we played their actual team.  I don't remember the score, but we won despite a hard fight by TU!  Some of their players were big and scary and hit the ball insanely hard. 

Our third and final game was versus SLU's club team with SLU standing for St. Louis University.  They looked like they would be pretty competitive, and they were, but we beat them either 5-3 or 6-3. 

I played midfield the entire time, as usual, and among all the games I had at least three assists and one goal!  For some reason, I had not scored the entire season so when I finally got a goal in our last game versus SLU it was bittersweet.

So now that the season is over, I cannot stop thinking about field hockey!  My attitude about the sport has changed so much since high school.  When I played in middle school and high school, I was very intimidated, not very aggressive, and I never took it that seriously.  When I got to college, I relinquished my spot on the team because I had little desire to play.  Looking back, I wish I had!  However, if I had played, my best friends from college might not be the same girls now and I wouldn't want to trade that EVER!  Fortunately, I do have this league to get my hockey fix.

I'll leave you with a YouTube video of a great goal during a men's Olympic fh game.  There is some animation in there is that is a little bizarre, but it's a great goal nonetheless.