See that person carving up a wave in the photo above? That MIGHT be me one day if all goes as planned. I just reserved a week at the Kalon Surf School in Costa Rica. I will turn the big 50 my second day there and my goal is to learn to surf during the week. Yet ANOTHER reason to get my butt in shape. I need the strength and stamina to spend 4 – 5 hours a day in the water and let’s be honest, I want to look good doing it.
One minor thing has been holding me back. My shoulder has been killing me for a while…..actually for years. I learned to live with the pain, I gave up swimming and like an absolute idiot, I would “work through the pain” at the gym. In fact, I am working with my current trainer because he approached me after I winced in pain during an overhead press exercise. He convinced me that it really shouldn’t hurt like that and I should likely go to a doctor. Did I mention that getting old sucks?
Actually, I had been to a doctor and he prescribed an MRI. After one failed attempt that involved a broken panic button and an unresponsive technician, I did what any intelligent person would do: I waited 2.5 years to see if the aforementioned plan of “no pain, no gain” would help. Fast forward to January of this year and we are back to the new gym, the new trainer and a new prescription for that damn MRI.
I may do a separate post, or even blog, on claustrophobia. I have it, as the orange one says, “BIGLY”. I can’t get into the third row of an SUV or the back seat of a coupe and crowded subway cars are the fodder of my worst nightmares. So the idea of an MRI freaks me out. Let’s just say Valium didn’t do the trick and I had to go back a third time to go fully under to get the pretty picture above.
You may be asking what the hell this has to do with me getting into shape or learning to surf in a Central American country. Right now, I can’t swim without severe pain. And if I can’t swim, I can’t learn to surf. And since i just paid for my all-inclusive SURF vacation, I am getting the damn thing fixed on March 28th. Nothing too major, a little clean up here, a minor repair there and I should be good as new in a few weeks.
After that, I have no more excuses. I will be #FitAt50 (and maybe a novice surfer with a killer tan).
