Paying the price?

I spent the last two Sundays playing reverse coed doubles tournaments. That's doubles volleyball, outdoors on grass, playing on a women's net but guys have to hit behind the 10ft line and can't block. It's a game that's well suited to me. I don't have to block and I can hit most of the time instead of relying on shots. That said, it's still important to vary your hits, and have a variety of hits. I've been playing with my girl Svetlana, and she's a phenomenal offensive player. I mean, she's no joke: http://gwsports.cstv.com/genrel/121302aaa.html

We make a good team because I can complement her with my defense and hitting. I hit well enough so that teams are posed with a dilema as to who to serve. It's a pick your poison type of scenario. They try to serve her sometimes hoping to get her to shank a pass, but if she gets me a pass it's pretty much goodnight. Getting me to shank a pass is much harder, but they'll serve me and hope that she sets me poorly in which case I'm diggable. And even if she sets me well I'm still more diggable then Sveta on the net.

Two weekends ago was our first tournament of the summer, and we came in second, losing 15-13 to a tough team. But I didn't think we played well. I had a hard time setting her consistently and vice-versa. And even when she set me well, I felt like I was just banging away hard but predictable hits, and at that level if you hit at a good player you're gonna get eaten up. Even so we barely lost.

Last weekend though, we were on our game. Certainly having played already helped us get the rust off. Sveta was super efficient at the net. And my hitting was much better. I was able to hit with power down the middle and hit enough angles to keep the defenders from getting an easy read. Sometimes hitting it sharp angle, deep angle, or cutting it back across my body down the line. You know you're doing something right when they're swearing at you. In one game against my girl Tina I got an inside set and cut it hard down the line and Tina just yelled out "Fuck you Fabian!!!".

It was hot though, and endurance became an issue. I felt pretty strong pretty much all day. I was careul to drink tons and eat throughout the day. But in the semis against a tough team of Lee and Theresa I went up for a jump serve and I felt my left calf tighten. Oh oh. I've been having issues with my calves the past couple of years and it's a constant struggle to keep them healthy. Was it just a cramp, or did I strain it again? It's tough to be in the middle of a heated match and to start doubting your body. It was just a twinge, and the pain didn't worsen and I didn't cramp, so I didn't say anything and kept playing, silently praying that I had more left. Thankfully, Lee was also exhausted from a grueling previous match and we outlasted them to make it into the finals. Now I knew I had to play a whole other match against another really solid team of Ray and Jess who dominated these tournaments last summer. Throughout the match I got most of the serves and again I was scared that I wouldn't hold up. In my mind I knew that if it was a strain, playing on it would just make it worse. But I wanted that match, and hell, the next (reverse) tournament isn't till early August. I felt the pain a few more times, always when jumping. But I kept swinging and jump serving, and we were on our game. We served Jess most of the time and she was bothered by Sveta's block which made her hit some shots that I could dig up. We also served pretty well which is crucial in doubles. And we won! Pretty convingcingly too. It felt great, and I think we put on a good show for the people that were there. It was a relief to be able to finish the game. And $250 each for first place wasn't bad either.

But when I got up this morning my calf felt super tight and tender. The advil and adrenaline was long gone and I hobbled out of bed. Aw man. I still can't tell if it's just sore, or if it's a mild strain, but this isn't good. A strain could keep me out for weeks. I might have paid a big price for that W. But man I just didn't want to lose!