MUSINGS version 6.0

2 years ago, I was in the best shape of my life. I had quit smoking,was  eating a healthy diet, running 5K a day, working out 6 days a week. I was still hovering around 200 pounds (on my 5'9" frame) but I had lost my belly (mostly), had toned and sexly arms, and felt fantastic. However, one day, while doing flies, I re-injured my right shoulder. I had torn the rotator cuff a few years previous while conducting Fiddler on the Fucking Roof, and never really had time to let it heal properly. (Still, on occasion, when I do helicopter arm swings, you can hear "clickclickclickclick") So I took a few weeks (months... years...) off of the gym, lost the momentum, and haven't really returned. Nevertheless, I'm in better shape than I was 10 years ago, perhaps a bit rounder in front, but fitter and more toned. 

All this to say that right now, I am in so much damn pain! Yesterday, a bunch of us from the msPS went to a waterfall in Fiji where there was a rope swing. In recent years as I get older, rather than becoming more cautious, I have become fearless. I think it's probably because I feel the need to show the young whippersnappers who are my friends that even this middle-aged portly gentleman (as my bass player called me) can do everything they can. Well, it turns out I can't. It takes me much longer to recover from my shenanigans than it does the average 25 year-old.  I probably swung off that rope about 20 times, and it was awesome. But I paid for it today. I can't straighten my left arm. My bicep is bunched up into a a tiny knot of excruciativeness. (On the plus side, my guns look fantastic!). I can barely get my arms above my head. I couldn't wash my back in the shower this morning, and I decided not to wear socks with my runners not because it was stylish, but because I couldn't get them on my feet. Granted, I really pushed myself, and I have absolutely no regrets (Non! Rien de rien!). But shit, I could barely play the piano today.  Why don't they tell you this in the manual? "After the age of 35, if you are a portly gentleman, you may experience crippling muscle spasms following unusual physical exertion".  

So what now? If I had yesterday to do over again, would I do the same? Yes, absolutely; except for the time where I tried to swing of the high perch and almost crashed head-first into the rocks below. I might have brought the Ben-Gay with me though. Or at least a gay Ben.