Rollerblading with Delaney

I hobbled into work today, feeling every day of my 42 years. You see, I decided it would be fun to take Delaney out for a run with me on my rollerblades Saturday morning before heading out to a bowling tournament. As I started down the sidewalk I thought to myself "it would be fitting if I crashed and hurt my wrist or hand right before the tourney."

With that in mind we went on our adventure through the neighborhood. All was going well with Delaney was following right behind me, occasionally running ahead a little and circling me, until we turned back towards home. There was a slight downhill and I was coasting. For some reason Delaney got a little bit spooked (she doesn't like weird noises) and ran out in front of me. I realized we were going too fast and there was a 90 degree turn coming up in about 4 houses. I started to drag my right skate to slow down (I don't have brakes) and that noise freaked her out even more and she accelerated to full speed.

Now I've got to make a split second decision as my dog is running 20 mph towards a sharp turn dragging me along. In hind sight, I made the wrong decision. Something in my brain said skate into the grass. It was almost the right choice but I did it all wrong. I took 2 or 3 big steps in the grass and hit a driveway, at which point I lost the leash and went ass over tea kettle, landing on my hand (of course) and scraped up my knee and smashed my shoulder pretty good.

Delaney, now free of me but with a retractable leash bouncing behind her, freaking her out even more, bolted like she was breaking from the gates in the Kentucky Derby. By the time I got back to my feet (with a guy watching in amazement) she had turned the corner and was out of sight. I scrambled to the corner in time to see her cross one intersection and continue down the street. I took off as fast as I could go down the road screaming for her to stop. She didn't hesitate and raced down the sidewalk, crossing 2 more intersections at breakneck speed as I prayed no cars would be popping out. She continued on all the way home, turned into the driveway and ran right up to the door to the house where she sat, panting and waiting for me. It turned out ok but we had a long talk about not running away and we probably won't be doing that again. We had done it a few times before without incident so it's not like she was confused over the whole thing.

Anyway, back at home I showered and checked out my injuries. I knew the worst was to come as my body doesn't appreciate doing barrel rolls on concrete any more. My hand was not in great shape but I picked up a bowling ball and it wasn’t horrible, so I headed to the tournament.

It was a free tournament for everyone in the area that had bowled a 300 game. If you bowl another one in games 1 or 2 you win $10,000. Of course the lanes were shit and there was no chance anyone was going to get one. I had 2 splits, 2 washouts and missed 2 10 pins in the first game for a whopping 125. Followed up that with a 188, burying a 7-10 split on my last ball and called it a day. There was no reason to continue. At least I didn't pay anything for it and got a free shirt.

On Sunday I got up at 6 to go golfing. I could barely get out of bed. My shoulders and neck hurt so much I had to hang from a door frame to try to loosen up. I popped a few advil and headed out. In the parking lot we saw Green Bay Packer right tackle Mark Tauscher drive up. He ended up being in the group in front of us. We watched him play in the weeds, woods, high grass, the whole day. Good thing he's a better blocker than golfer.

I struggled to get loose but didn't play terribly. Ended up shooting 91 (48/43) with 6 pars. I did hit some very good shots but also had some bad luck with unplayable lies.

After I went home and showered and started to stiffen up. About an hour later I could barely move. My neck and shoulders were so tight it hurt to move at all. So, here I sit, 2 days later, in the same condition.

Good thing I just sit on my ass at work...