It was nice to get out of the house, to have more people around.
I feel like I haven't been really social in a while - oh, I see people, but it feels more functional than social.
We played six games in three days, 50 minutes each game. It was a lot of running, especially since we were used to playing on astroturf, but were instead playing on grass fields. It's a very different style of play, and a lot harder on the body. Calves were definitely twinging by the end of it, quads and butt were sore. Luckily there were a couple of sports physios there to help untwist things, so that helped between games, especially on Saturday when there were three games from 9am to 3:30pm.
Mind you, the fatigue builds up. By the last couple of games, we were absolutely shattered.
We lost our game on Friday, 1-0, against a team who regularly played on grass fields. That was mostly due to our amazing goalie who just kept keeping them out.
We lost our three games on Saturday, too, even as we improved our grass-field skills. A lot more bouncing, a lot more lifted pushes of the kind you don't want to do on turf. A lot more chasing down the ball because it's not going to run out the backline.
Mostly the teams were pretty nice - good opponents, who were trying to win but weren't being nasty about it. The exception was a team from the town where the tournament was being held, where the umpire was firmly on their side (to the point where the umpire on our side was apologetic about the situation), and the captain was a bitch.
But we were getting better, even if we weren't scoring goals or winning games. And it was fun, working out how everyone played, how to be in the position that someone could or would pass to.
And then in our first game on Sunday we scored a goal! And there was much rejoicing.
We won that one, managing to keep the other team out (our goalie again), and we had multiple shots on goal. I also had a weeping meltdown after getting hit on the foot. Missed so many shots or couldn't get the ball in, and I felt really emotional. Limped off the field sobbing - it wasn't the foot, it was just feeling like such a failure. The coach and the team-mates who were on the field were really good and encouraging though.
Our second game was definitely a 'fun one'. The team in question were wearing bumblebee headbands - the ones with the bobbly antennae. There was a lot of giggling on their part and ours, and one of their team did an impressive stack that she tucked into and rolled back up to her feet to do a "ta-da" kind of pose. And we all applauded.
We ended up winning that one - 2-0. And I scored the 2nd goal! It went through my team-mate's legs-and-stick where she was in front of the goalie, landed at my feet on the far side of the goal, and all I had to do was put it in.
Anyway. It was a good weekend, but I am SORE. So many shades of sore.
One of the things we did on Saturday night (before going out for dinner) was an "ice bath" in the pool. Oh. Hem. Gee.
It was cold. SO COLD. Absolutely freezing. (Okay, fine, for the Americans: "freezing".) Ten minutes in there and we were well-numbed. I think I managed about 7 minutes. But after all the running around of the day (three games equalled three hours of nearly non-stop running, with very little standing still), it was WONDERFUL. And then a lovely hot shower afterwards.
Five hours drive home. Someday I think it would be nice to take it a little slower, perhaps. Anyway, today I booked a physio appointment to get the muscles loosened and also to check everything's still going.
I feel like I haven't been really social in a while - oh, I see people, but it feels more functional than social.
We played six games in three days, 50 minutes each game. It was a lot of running, especially since we were used to playing on astroturf, but were instead playing on grass fields. It's a very different style of play, and a lot harder on the body. Calves were definitely twinging by the end of it, quads and butt were sore. Luckily there were a couple of sports physios there to help untwist things, so that helped between games, especially on Saturday when there were three games from 9am to 3:30pm.
Mind you, the fatigue builds up. By the last couple of games, we were absolutely shattered.
We lost our game on Friday, 1-0, against a team who regularly played on grass fields. That was mostly due to our amazing goalie who just kept keeping them out.
We lost our three games on Saturday, too, even as we improved our grass-field skills. A lot more bouncing, a lot more lifted pushes of the kind you don't want to do on turf. A lot more chasing down the ball because it's not going to run out the backline.
Mostly the teams were pretty nice - good opponents, who were trying to win but weren't being nasty about it. The exception was a team from the town where the tournament was being held, where the umpire was firmly on their side (to the point where the umpire on our side was apologetic about the situation), and the captain was a bitch.
But we were getting better, even if we weren't scoring goals or winning games. And it was fun, working out how everyone played, how to be in the position that someone could or would pass to.
And then in our first game on Sunday we scored a goal! And there was much rejoicing.
We won that one, managing to keep the other team out (our goalie again), and we had multiple shots on goal. I also had a weeping meltdown after getting hit on the foot. Missed so many shots or couldn't get the ball in, and I felt really emotional. Limped off the field sobbing - it wasn't the foot, it was just feeling like such a failure. The coach and the team-mates who were on the field were really good and encouraging though.
Our second game was definitely a 'fun one'. The team in question were wearing bumblebee headbands - the ones with the bobbly antennae. There was a lot of giggling on their part and ours, and one of their team did an impressive stack that she tucked into and rolled back up to her feet to do a "ta-da" kind of pose. And we all applauded.
We ended up winning that one - 2-0. And I scored the 2nd goal! It went through my team-mate's legs-and-stick where she was in front of the goalie, landed at my feet on the far side of the goal, and all I had to do was put it in.
Anyway. It was a good weekend, but I am SORE. So many shades of sore.
One of the things we did on Saturday night (before going out for dinner) was an "ice bath" in the pool. Oh. Hem. Gee.
It was cold. SO COLD. Absolutely freezing. (Okay, fine, for the Americans: "freezing".) Ten minutes in there and we were well-numbed. I think I managed about 7 minutes. But after all the running around of the day (three games equalled three hours of nearly non-stop running, with very little standing still), it was WONDERFUL. And then a lovely hot shower afterwards.
Five hours drive home. Someday I think it would be nice to take it a little slower, perhaps. Anyway, today I booked a physio appointment to get the muscles loosened and also to check everything's still going.