Here We Go Again

For those who are tuning in for the first time, this is the fourth name this blog has had. The first was "E-City Runners" when I tried to start a team at the school where I teach. Then I changed it to "N-City Runners" when the E-City team quit and I took a coaching job over at an N-City school. The third version was "No City Runners or Just Me" when I was fired by the N-City school and I was expecting this blog to then be about my personal running only. But now I am back at N-City and thus the new title (with apologies to the late John Updike).

This past week I stopped in at N-City. The AD had a sign-up sheet of 50+ names. And about 20-25 kids of both genders showed up at a brief meeting after school in the gym (why can't E-City kids be this enthusiastic?). There was only one runner from last year that I recognized. The AD handed out physical forms and told the attendees to get them back to him as soon as possible. The meeting broke and I told the AD to call me as soon as he had four runners with returned physicals. With four I could start practicing. If these kids are as bad as the kids in my school in getting physicals filled out, it will be another week before practices start at N-City. My previous prediction of 9/24 as the first day of practice could very well come and go. We'll see.

I also found out that the school day now ends at 3:35 PM (2:50 last year), so practices won't be starting til about 4:15 PM. That will allow me ample time to drive up there after teaching at E-City. It will also make for a shorter practice session.

In the meantime, while I wait for N-City to be ready, I've been working out my E-City softball team. Some of the regular freshmen from last year seem to be hitting the ball hard this autumn. A good sign. A few new sophomores have also come out for the practices. The highlight though is a transfer senior from Virginia. A large girl who will have to play first base, but she has a good bat. She has been playing ball since about the age of 7. But enough about my other team.

On the personal front, I've started running again. About 3 times a week, usually a very slow 2 miles. The aches and pains are still around but diminished. The hammy is still there too but I am able to run with it. In fact, I'm not so sure it is a legitimate hamstring pull. You would think that a hammy would heal after 4 weeks of non-running rest. I wonder (this is probably how "doctors" thought during the Dark Ages) if it could be a hybrid hammy pull. Maybe it's a mixture of a hammy pull and a touch of bursitis. Maybe the bursitis is the more dominant of the two and that's why it doesn't go away.

I could probably get some kind of answer if I asked the AD (who is also an athletic trainer and a Health class teacher). But if I did I would be subjected to a 40 minute talk about himself and his injuries. And then there wouldn't be an guarantee that I'd get an answer after listening to him for that long of a time. So I won't mention it to him.