(scroll down to the bottom if you just want the song!)
My plans for the summer took an interesting turn this week. In March I started a workout program called P90x. They call it, “extreme home fitness.” And it is! Tons of pull ups, push ups, abdominal exercises, dumbbells and core training. Most of the workouts are about an hour long and then three days a week you add 15 more minutes of ab exercises, the yoga video is 90 minutes and you do this 6 days a week. On the 7th day you can either rest or do the hour long stretching video.
It’s a very difficult workout but the results have been or at least had been wonderful. I had just started my 10th week and I had lost quite a bit of weight and trimmed off a lot of body fat. I was continually delighted and surprised that each week I could lift more weight, do more reps and do more push ups and pull ups than I could the week before. In short it works and I highly recommend it! If you do what it says and keep doing your best, you will get in great shape.
However…..I guess I got a little extreme with my “extreme home fitness.” I found out Wednesday morning that i have an inguinal hernia. I know I’m certainly not the first person to hurt myself working out but it’s disappointing to damage my body doing something that was supposed to be good for me. But it’s not all that surprising. I had a doctor tell me during a physical years ago that I had some inherent weakness in this area and that there was a pretty good chance that I would have this problem somewhere down the line. But that was years ago. I had forgotten about it and I was busy pushing myself and since I kept getting stronger and leaner, I just kept right on going.
So now, not only do I have to give up P90x just 2 and half weeks shy of completing the program, an inguinal hernia doesn’t heal on its own and requires surgery to repair the tear and then about a 4 – 6 week recovery period with no lifting or strenuous activity. Bummer!
Certainly not the summer I imagined! I was super excited about our first summer in Duluth, spending tons of time outside, chasing Eric around the yard and around the various playgrounds. Hitting the bike and running trails and of course a busy summer of outdoor music.
Now what? Basically, I don’t know. I don’t know when I’ll have the surgery nor do I know what I’ll be able to do afterward. I know I won’t be able to lift much. I’m not planning on canceling any shows. I’ll use my little baby Bose system as much as possible (Bose L1 Compact) I might have to sit down and play and maybe get some help with set up and tear down but I’m hoping the shows will go on!
In thinking of all this it dawned on me that it is a perfect time to share this new song I wrote a couple of weeks ago. It’s called, “Rolling Along,” and it’s about realizing that things that seem bad can turn out to be good and things that seem good can turn out to be not as good. It’s about realizing that not everything needs to be judged and put into the categories of good and bad and sometimes it’s best to just roll along with life and accept that things are the way they are.
Hope you enjoy it! Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.
-Matt
