...or Not

It's kinda fun to play tennis on Ken Caryl's "Center Court". Makes me feel like my game has reached the big-time. Dazzling lights, spectator seating, and an immaculate surface -- they all drive the imagination to dream of acing serves against Lendl or Nadal (or one of them other tennis-playing commie jerks) at Wimbledon. It's a nice venue.



Unfortunately, my skill doesn't quite measure up to center court expectations. And if you want to get technical, the so-called "Center Court" at the KC Ranch House is actually at the far end of the complex...nowhere near the middle...so it probably doesn't deserve the name, anyhow. And the only reason that our informal league gets to play there is that, well...it's wintertime, and all the sane people have taken the sport indoors until next May.

Nonetheless, I played three sets last night. Because I was feeling peppy after my string of successful running workouts, I was looking forward to testing my quickness and agility on the court. Unfortunately, I didn't win the match.

Victory is always the goal, of course, but getting to a tie-breaker with someone a couple of decades younger isn't such a horrendous result that I'll spend the rest of the week whining about it. What I might whine about, though, is the fact that my hamstring did NOT appreciate one of my lunging returns. It was barking at me throughout the last 6 games.

It's not an "injury" -- merely an irritation. But having it happen the day after I had proudly bragged about my fitness and vigor seems suspiciously like some sort of Karmic backlash. And then when I was as agile as a bag of rocks at swim practice this morning, it made me wonder how I'm going to fit enough "recovery" time into my training plan. I need to work out more to achieve my fitness goals...but I need to rest more after hard workouts. The math is not working out in my favor. But there is a solution: Lotto tickets!

If I had enough money, I could work out all I wanted, and then spend the rest of the time either relaxing in a hot tub or getting a massage. Or napping. Without having to work for a living, I could find the perfect balance between exercise and recovery.

Of course, I'm also open to solutions outside of state-sponsored gambling (which I've heard referred to as "a tax on people who are bad at math.) Wealthy benefactors, corporate sponsors, and a joint checking account with Mila Jovovich would also be considered.

Let me know if you can provide any of those. In the meantime, here's a tennis-related puzzle for you. Find the connections between these two panels:





That's all for now. Have a great day!