on (the subject of) my knees
i'm wearing my knee brace today, for the first time in nearly a year. you see, between the extreme cold and the header that i took into the concrete steps at port authority last week, the knees have grown a tad stiff, recalling ghosts of old injuries. and injuries aplenty have i racked up in my time, having at one point been a fairly athletic person. none of them have been serious, but there have been enough of them that i suppose i'm fated to feel them until the thaw comes. a brief rundown:
1993: the aspiring track star catches her back foot on a hurdle, falling face-first into the sunbaked autumn dirt track, splitting open her chin and knee, and twisting the knee very badly in the process. recovery is swift, but the hurdles never quite hold the same appeal.
1993-94: i was a ballerina. twelve hours of class a week. that should really say it all.
1994-95: the cheerleading year. due to the fact that i was bigger, sturdier and stronger than all the other girls on the team, i frequently found myself at the bottom of the stunt pile, throwing the other girls around so that they could execute the crazy airborne aerobatics. statistically speaking, if you do this five days a week, you will at some point injure yourself. which i did. several times. and yet, strangely, the fact that i was so frequently injured really had very little to do with the fact that i failed to pursue cheerleading beyond this one year.
1995-98: musical theatre madness. yes, i was one of THOSE people, the lerner and loewe-spewing fanatic types. the number of times i would drop into the pit or take a header into the scenery or fall off my heels during a dance number are not to be believed. as always, the knees paid the price.
2002-03: kickboxing. if you've ever accidentally hyperextended your knee during a side kick, you understand.
so yes. i'm looking forward to spring, if for no other reason than that at the age of 23, there really ought to be more distance between myself and the hobble i've been sporting of late.
grumble grumble grumble.
Posted by shivery at février 2, 2004 10:20 AM
