I'm Out of Shape and Sore

This probably doesn't come as much of a surprise to any of you, but over the last several years, I've done a lot more watching of sports than playing. I've logged countless hours in front of the computer or TV, and not enough outside. As a result, my weight has gone up, my stamina has gone down, and the occasional physical push gets me winded.

This week I had a chance to break out of that funk a bit, playing in my first softball game since who knows how long on Thursday, and hitting the bowling alley yesterday. Yes, this is what it's come to - I actually find leisure sports like softball and bowling strenuous. Go figure.

Thursday's softball game saw me go 2-4 with a double and a single, a fielder's choice and a foul-out. Despite the fact I was stranded on base all three times, twice on third, our team won 12-7. I also didn't make any mistakes in the field, which was the low bar I had set for myself. Still, the mere act of swinging a bat again, running the bases, and chasing after flies or line drives in the field reminded me of muscles I haven't used in a while, especially the next day.

Yesterday I played two games at the bowling alley, tossing a 118 (in our warmup game) followed by a 178, a score I liked a lot better. I'd expected to be in the mid 140s, given that's the score I achieved the last time I went bowling, and the two scores averaged about that.

Now, my fingers I use to place inside the bowling ball are swollen. The leg I use to push off in throwing is sore, and I'm whining about being out of shape. Maybe I'll do something about it, and maybe not.

I've even taken to wearing a pedometer I picked up at a trade show which counts my daily steps. I was told that you should try to get 10,000 steps a day to be active, and I kid you not, in the month-plus I've been wearing it, I've never gotten there. The most I've achieved is around 8,000 and a typical workday's efforts is a lot more like 2,500 to 3,500, with the occasional jump to 5,000. That's clearly not getting it done. Maybe I heard wrong on 10,000. Maybe the pedometer is undercounting my steps. Or maybe I should just admit that sitting in a cubicle and going to meetings isn't considered cardiovascular exercise.