It’s time for something drastic.
I’ve been dealing with a pulled groin muscle since the middle of December 2022. That is now over three months. The reason (I hope) that I’m still dealing with it? Despite my claims to do otherwise, I have not been able to stay off the board for more than 10 days since it happened. So, it’s never fully healed-up. Once I start skating again, it regresses a bit. I stop skating for 5 to 7 days, it gets somewhat better, then I go skating again (“I’ll just have a mellow session”), it gets worse, and the pattern starts all over again.* Yesterday was actually the most vigorous session I’ve had since this mess started, and things don’t feel that much worse today, but they are worse. I’ll state the obvious: I have no self-discipline when it comes to staying off my skateboard. So, it’s time for drastic measures.
I disassembled my two boards. I put all my wheels and hangers into a small plastic bin. On Monday, I am dropping that bin off at a non-skater friend’s house…who lives an hour away. I told him to not give it back to me, until he sees me run/sprint for at least one block. This should keep me off the board until I’m fully healed-up. Because of this lingering injury, I haven’t skated on my regular basis (3x a week) since December. That sucks. I want to make sure I am good to go by the time the weather starts to get nice (prolly another 3-4 weeks), so now is the time to act.
I have done things like this before. I am old enough, and experienced enough, to “know” that the fastest way to skate again, when injured, is to rest/stay off the board. That said, it’s really, really, really hard to do sometimes when (a) it’s only a “small” injury, and (b) skating is a major stress relief for me, (c) I always need to doing something active, and (d) it’s just the most fun thing in the world.
*A similar pattern happens with shinners and shin guards. I can’t count the number of times I’ve publicly stated, “I’m never skating again without shin guards.”
