The chest was pounding.
The back was fine, though.
And that is what mattered the most for Black Sticks veteran Blair Tarrant.
The 29-year-old, who grew up in Dunedin, made his playing return in a club game for Howick Pakuranga in Auckland on the weekend.
He had back surgery in May and, after the best part four months on the sidelines, was thrilled to be striking the ball again.
He would love to be in Japan with the Black Sticks but it made sense not to rush back too soon.
He was initially named in the squad but withdrew as he felt he was not ready.
''I was not quite at the level I want to be so they said it was better for me to stay in New Zealand rather than flying to Japan,'' he said.
''But I played a full club game in the weekend, so that was my first game back.
''It went well. We lost but it went well.''
Tarrant had been in quite a lot of pain, so the break from the game was a blessing.
''Getting my body right has been a good thing.''
Tarrant, who honed his hockey skills at Otago Boys' High School, alongside international team-mates Kane Russell, Hugo Inglis and Nick Ross, is stranded on 198 caps for the national side.
Inglis has already reached the milestone but Tarrant is in no hurry to join him.
''Not really,'' Tarrant responded when asked if it would mean a lot to him.
''It means something to me when I play and get out there and try to do well. But it is not a numbers game for me. They don't mean much.''
The Black Sticks recorded a 3-1 win against Malaysia in their final round-robin game in the series in Tokyo yesterday.
Malaysia's Najmi Jazlan opened the scoring in the second quarter when he found the back of the net from a penalty corner.
The Black Sticks replied through Jared Panchia to go into halftime level.
Nic Woods put New Zealand ahead in the 39th minute of play.
And, with three minutes remaining, Sam Lane scored again.
The victory gave the Black Sticks an unbeaten record in round robin play.
They will face the winner of the India-Japan round-robin game in the gold-medal match today.
