Game 18

I woke up early and felt every single muscle in my legs complain as I climbed into a warm bath after breakfast consisting of 2 weetabix and 4 slices of wholemeal bread toasted. My whole lower body is feeling the pace because of the constant jarring as I run on the ground which is harder than it usually is at this time of year.

Despite losing a considerable amount of weight in the last year, the battering my hamstrings, calves, pelvis and feet have taken has been unprecedented and has contributed to a decision I made after this morning's game. I am taking a break from all training for a couple of weeks. I have a game on Wednesday, another on Thursday, another on Saturday and finally another on Sunday which will take my number for the season to 26 including my non-competitive games. It took me 3 weeks longer to get to that number last season and 6 weeks the previous season.

I am hoping that the break from training and the break from games in two weeks when we attend a friend's wedding, will allow me to mentally and physically recuperate. The mental side is just a break from the routine of training, meeting, training, instructing, training, game and another game I have been running through for the last two months. With the prospect of no breaks from work until Christmas, the wedding couldn't have been better timed.

I've just booked another break when buying some tickets for Glastonbury 2010. Having not attended the Leeds Festival this year, I was beginning to suffer from canvas withdrawal symptoms! In June next year I will have 5 days in a tent at the 40th anniversary Glasto!

So to today's game which was in the County Sunday Cup. The secretary had struggled to get directions to me as her map wouldn't copy into an e-mail and her letter had gotten lost in the post. I phoned and asked for directions and was given the name of a pub local to the ground. What she failed to tell me was that I was actually going to be changing at Bradford Park Avenue and the game was on a field backing on to their stadium!

The field was freshly cut but the mower had chopped up quite a few drinks cans and bottles, leaving the surface dangerous for the players. I spent a good 15-20 minutes picking up pieces of debris and the home manager made a wry comment about my hard work before kick off. As for kick off, we had to have two attempts as the ball was played backwards on the first attempt.

The home team seemed to settle slowly and the away team pressed them hard which was surprising bearing in mind their current progress in their relative leagues. Suddenly within a 15 minute period, the home team had struck three times to establish a solid lead. Frustration got the better of the away team right back and he made a reckless challenge, jumping into the tackle and collecting the game's first caution. He argued his case and I was grateful for his captain's unsolicited intervention who helped to calm him.

Within a minute, the home team's right midfielder made an almost identical challenge and showed no surprise when he collected the game's second and final caution. His manager wasn't as understanding until I spoke loudly to the player, explaining that his challenge had been identical to the previous one which was cautioned. He then, a little reluctantly, acknowledged that I was demonstrating the one thing that many club officials demand ... consistency.

I had three more incidents of note. The first two came when I awarded goal kicks to the home team and the away team claimed they had deserved a corner. The third was when I was convinced a corner had been conceded by the away team and signalled the same. The players however turned around and set up for a goal kick. It reminded me of the need to wait and see instead of firing from the hip. I'm not convinced I could have worked harder as I was already inside the penalty area for all three incidents.

With little more to talk about in the first half I went to take my drink, which I'd left by the away team's club officials. While there I heard a female spectator complain that the home team were getting a lot of help and she made a stage nod towards me ... gave me a chuckle.

The home team were slow out of the blocks again and then they struck twice more, the second of which was a double deflection own goal. With the game completely beyond their grasp at 5-0 some teams would have wilted, but the away team put up a spirited fight but conceded another 2 goals. I found the pace of the game was slowing but with no training this week, I kept pushing myself to get into corners, penalty areas and to chase down through balls so I could be convincing when awarding goal kicks or corner kicks. At the final whistle, with weary limbs, I accepted the thanks from both teams and hobbled off to the shower. Calories 1366, max hr 89%, average 73%.

This is my 6th straight game which I have really enjoyed. It balances out the difficult game I had before this run.