I've had recurring knee trouble for the last few years. The problem is exacerbated by excessive squash play, so I cut down on the number of days I played squash in a week. But more recently, my knees would be sore after every squash match, and I half contemplated getting an MRI to get my left knee checked out. A few days ago, I was stretching in the kitchenette at work the morning after an intense match - my knees were still sore - and a colleague happened to see me wince as I went through the stretches. She asked about the soreness, told me that she started out as a personal trainer, and then gave me a tip - hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
I've known for a long time that I don't drink enough water during my matches. Call it superstition, call it foolhardiness, but I feel if I drink water, my body will cool down and I will lose my edge. I didn't realize the edge came at the price of my joints; you see, hydrating sufficiently before, during, and after a match keeps your joints lubricated so that the constant motion doesn't cause too much friction. I was skeptical at first, but since her advice was so easy to follow, I decided to "water" up before and during all my matches this week.
The results - it's too early to say but the soreness has reduced substantially. I played for a little over an hour yesterday, during the course of which I consumed almost a litre of water. I had a couple glasses of warm water before the match, and a few after, and I didn't feel any of the aches I had grown accustomed to over the last two years. The hydration theory isn't a silver bullet; it's not going to protect me from my own stupidity. If I play longer than I should, I'll definitely be sore, but if I stay within limits, the prognosis is positive.
I've been having some weird dreams of late. Some of them centre around the hullabaloo that's going to be the November wedding, while others briefly touch upon my future. I woke up in the middle of the night earlier this week because I couldn't stop coughing. Now what would a normal person do? Get out of bed, walk over to the medicine cabinet, pop in the cough medicine, and go back to bed. Not me... All the episodes of House, M.D. that I've been watching have made me a faux diagnostician. My first thought was, is the cough due to environmental reasons, like for instance the pillow cover, the bed-sheet, the comforter I was wearing. During this process of diagnosis, I started coughing, and felt a tingling in my lungs - that's about when I passed out again; couldn't muster up the strength to look up what the tingling indicated. Yes I know, I'm nuts.
It's 9:20 on a Friday morning, and I want to be in at work before 10am. Have a great weekend...
weak knees?
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