Feeling Old On Monday

Colonel was complaining about his hip.  It'll have to be replaced eventually, and he's not looking forward to it.  He told me about the long recovery he endured when he had the last one replaced.  I believed him.  Yet, he's a tough guy.  I heard him tell Alan "push me, even if I complain about the hip". 

I certainly felt like an old woman today.  I've been feeling like that most days for the past few weeks.  I've been fine in the morning, but dragging by the time afternoon rolls around.  I usually walk home from my job at church.  Halfway to the house, I'm plodding along as if I'm walking in mud.  Once I get home, I'm ready to go to sleep, and I often have a hard time keeping my eyes open.  If I do take a nap, I'm up most of the night.  Today in the mail was an advertisement for a book to help women who are going through perimenopause like myself.  It talked about fatigue, insomnia, and stubborn pounds not wanting to go.  "Hmm. . .sounds just like what I've been experiencing," I thought to myself.  The other night, I woke up to find my T-shirt was drenched in sweat.  Neither the radiators nor the space heater was on, and I was sleeping under a heat blanket that was not turned on.  I concluded that I had experienced night sweats.  It might be time to look harder into some herbal remedies to soothe some of the change-of-life symptoms.

Alan asked me if I wanted to spar, and I told him, "On Wednesday."  He sparred with Eric, who hit him pretty hard several times.  Leon came in and sparred with Professor, and Oscar sparred with the Colonel.  As I watched them, I kept wondering if my left knee will hold up when I get into the ring later this week.  It felt fine as I did stretches today, but I wasn't too sure.  The right knee took somewhat of a hit also back in January when I nearly ended up under the wheels of a car.  Both knees may fail me at the wrong moment in the ring.  I overheard Colonel talking about the arthritis in his knees.  I could sympathize with that, as I moved slower than usual around the heavy bag. 

The Change?

Carlos and I sparred yesterday, and this time, I actually covered up when he threw shots to my mid-section.  If only I had covered my head as effectively.  I did one round with him, then Alan asked me to step out of the ring, so Jamil could get in.  After Jamil was through, I went back in with Carlos for a second round.  "Do you use batteries?" I joked with Carlos.  "I don't think I expend that much energy because I'm trying to gauge how the other person is punching and moving," he grinned. I was leaning over the ropes, breathing hard as Alan removed my gloves.  "You okay?" he grinned.  "I'm an old woman," I gasped.

Alan sparred with his son Matthew, who is on holiday break from military school.  I thought the two were going to kill each other.  Matthew was throwing some hard shots.  He and his dad had numerous clinches against the ropes and in the corners.  They kept throwing punches even then.  "Break!" I called out once when they were grappling on the ropes.  "Aw, let 'em go," Carlos said.

"Matt was doing the MMA stuff at home and he caught me with some moves.  My wife was screaming that we were tearing up the house," Alan said later.  Manny was in the gym, and he was showing Matthew several different wrestling moves that looked very aggressive.  Matthew told me that he hasn't done a lot of boxing at his school, but he's been wrestling quite a bit. 

On the way home, I teased Alan again for stopping the fight between Meg and I.  "I'll never hear the end of that.  Know that I did it out of love," he said.  "I know," I chuckled.  "No fighter wants a fight stopped on them," he added. During that fight, I did lose my balance a couple of times.  Lost of balance is a sign of perimenopause.  My skin feeling itchy and "creepy crawly", which it has been for some time, is another sign.  So is not being able to get to sleep and stay asleep.  It's almost 4:00 AM as I'm typing this entry.  Maybe I'm entering "the change of life".  I'm certainly old enough for that to begin to take place. If that is what's going on, I wonder if it will have a negative affect on me boxing.