Wow, What A Joke!

Remember when I used to say that all the time?? Well it totally applies here! The schedule this weekend was relatively the same. Just a lot longer and crazier. Here is the abreviated version.

Left Edmond at 8:30am. Stopped in Salina, KS (4 hrs into trip, halfway) for lunch @ Subway. Arrived in Omaha at 5:00 pm. Checked in to Hotel, got settled. Went to practice at University of Nebraska at Omaha (which is kind of a creepy school at night, no lights and it is in a forest...) then came home and waited for the guys to shower before dinner. Went to Perkins around 7:30pm. Perkins is awesome!! I haven't been since MN/MI but it was bomb and I was SUPER hungery by the time we ate so it was even better. Went back, got ready for bed and fell asleep.

Wake up call at 5:15am. Then started the longest day EVER!! There were 30 schools (12 Division 1) at this tournament. 730 something wrestlers. 15 mats. 2 gyms. Kill me!! It actually wasn't that bad because we only brought 11 guys and there were 2 of us (I have a student helper) to cover all their matches so it worked fairly well. We were seperated a fair amount of the morning but then around lunchtime, we started covering everything together because some of our guys started getting eliminated.

What made everything even MORE fun was when I woke up, I started being really itchy all over my neck and realized that I had broken out in hives all over my neck and shoulders. I still don't know exactly why but I assume it was the hotel soap or something. Anyways, I took some benadryl because I had to stop itching. However, this made me SUPER tired. Around 1pm, we had a lull for a half hour and I completely fell asleep. It was awesome. I took the medicine around 6am... Fast forward to 10pm. That is when we finally finished all our matches (our best kid took 2nd in the amateur division) and loaded on the best. I popped another benadryl, ate some pizza and passed on that bus (Yeah, you read that right. I freakin slept the whole way home!!!) We stopped in Salina again on the way home to re-fuel and use the bathroom. I did so and then fell right back to sleep. We got back to Edmond at 6am. And yes, I did go back to sleep when I got home.

More of this story: take benadryl to sleep on buses. Also, don't use hotel soap. Yeah, that's pretty much it. Thank goodness for Thanksgiving so I get a week break from that bus! Then it's right back into it!

It's all in the life of an athletic trainer!

One Down...

So I survived the first road tournament! We only had one casualty also so I consider that successful.

We left Friday around 11:30am and pulled into the hotel around 7:30pm due to some construction and traffic. We got some time to get settled, which I used to do some rehab/treatments and then we met back up at 8:30 to drive up to the school for an hour long practice (where the guys worked out to drop weight) This time was spent doing some more rehab and hoping my injured guys did not hurt themselves before the tournament even started! Note: I am a worrier, wrestling and I are not necessarily a match made in heaven...

After practice we grabbed some Arby's (Ew) and went back to the hotel. I did another round of treatments and then crawled into bed around 11:30pm. I had not slept on the bus, despite my best efforts and being drugged (I am getting over an upper respiratory infection) so I immediately fell asleep.

Wake up was at 6:15am. The bus left for the school at 7:00, Weigh-ins and skin checks were at 8:00, wrestling started at 10:00. I was so tired and I wanted to cry. I entertained myself part of the time with a movie and then I called my Dad...I was mostly just bored. But then wrestling started and I did get a break until we left at 8:00. I luckily did get a chance to eat lunch this week though. Last week I wasn't so lucky.

We stopped at Wendy's after we packed up and iced up and then we started the drive home! I got back to my apartment at 2:00am this morning! I am still super tired because I can not sleep on that stupid bus to save my life but I am determined to find a way! I also plan on investing in a potable DVD player so I can entertain myself!

As far as wrestling goes, I am beginning to understand the sport and it's fun to cheer for all my guys! We will see how the rest of the season goes but for now it's not so bad. For now, my biggest problem is covering multiple matches at one time. We had ten mats going at once yesterday. But, I am superwoman so it's no big deal.

Just a day in the life of an athletic trainer. :o)

And They're Off!

Well it has begun. Wrestling season has officially started. We had our intra-squad dual on Wednesday night and it was pretty entertaining and went off without a hitch.

Tomorrow we have a tournament in OKC all day and then next weekend I will be traveling to the thrilling state of Missouri for a big tournament there. YIPEE! (note: that last statement was said with heaps of sarcasm)

We are currently wrestling at about 3/4 capacity. This week my second wrestler of the season is having surgery (torn labrum). I also found out yesterday that I was right, one of my boys does have compartment syndrome. It feels great to be validated but not at the expense of one of my athletes... Just saying.

Well there will be plenty more to tell everyone after next weekend when I get back from my first road trip. Can't wait. (more sarcasm) Now I have to go cover a basketball game for Simon. You SO owe me!

Just another day in the life of an athletic trainer! :o)