Pain - Your Body is Speaking but It May Not Be Saying Stop

Pain...we all feel it. For those of us over 40 we may feel it a bit more regularly than we did only a few years ago in our late 30s. A friend of mine told me that everything changes after 40. For me, that was all too true as I have explained in previous posts (back failure, teeth falling out of my head, and easy weight gain/difficult weight loss). After the onslaught of a few emergency-room-worthy experiences, and since attempting to remain active, I have had to take much more detailed evaluations of how my body reacts to the exercise I put it through. Before I made health and fitness an important goal in my life these evaluations were much too brief and shallow. What often resulted from not being very thorough was consistent and sometimes increasing pain. Pain made for a great excuse to stop going to the gym in favor of resting on the couch and taking the directed maximum amount of Anacin every day until the affected area was completely healed. In many cases it would take days before I would stop feeling any pain. Over the course of my recovery period my motivation to get back into the fitness groove became elusive.

Let me say that while laziness was about 80-85% of the reason I had trouble getting into a routine and sticking with it I was also VERY SCARED of having another disc explode in my back. I didn't like gaining weight, but I let fear inhibit me from doing what I needed to do to help my body recover from the trauma it experienced. At the time I didn't realize that there were many ways to exercise that didn't require lifting weights at the gym. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready to adjust my routine according to what my body was telling me. When enough was enough I finally decided to seek out something physical that was fun.

Online I had read a few testimonials about the benefits of stand up paddling for the back which helped rev my enthusiasm for the sport. When I first got into the sport I felt pain in my back. Rather than give up immediately I decided to investigate the areas of my back that were hurting and see what could be done about doing away with the pain without doing away with the sport. My symptoms were easily remedied when I closely examined what was happening inside my body, what I was doing to help and/or hurt it, and what could be done about making things right. I wondered: am I going too hard too fast? (Yes, I was  even though it was hard to tell because people were always so far ahead of me.) Am I using the wrong form? (Yes, and I still do to this day but it is getting better.) Is this bad for my back? (Yes and no are the correct answers, of which this information is based solely on my own data and observations and I am not a scientist, even though I am pretty smart at times.) My grandfather was a scientist so that must count for something...

The pain I felt from paddling instilled in me a fear that I would have to stop this sport and find something else as an outlet. I had already given up wakeboarding followed by skatebaording so fear was in full effect at the possibility of having to give up a sport that is very soothing and relaxing and one my mom could do. I did not want to give up stand up paddling so I did more research on WebMD, did Google searches for stand up paddling and back pain, then imagined what I would look like doing water aerobics with the ladies at William Hill Manor.

Most articles I found were all positive saying stand up paddling was very beneficial to those with lower back issues. My fears subsided but I have not always been a big fan of Google searches for trustworthy information but what else was I going to do? I had no plans to truck up to Johns Hopkins or Northwestern and hit up their medical libraries. I had to sift through and trust the information I deemed as most useful. One article stated that SUP is excellent for the back and the pain you feel in the early stages is from new muscles being exercised in a new way. Also, I watched videos on Youtube about improving my stroke using proper technique. Neil gave me the best piece of advice when he said that I should be able to flutter my fingers at any time while paddling. Not squeezing the paddle hard always makes for a more comfortable glide. I felt better. The information provided made sense. I decided to continue paddling and keep evaluating the effect it had on my back.

Over time the back pain went away completely. I decided to up the ante and entered the SEA Paddle NYC race. As soon as I sent away my entry fee and started raising money I began to have major pain issues in both shoulders. Luckily, this is when I had begun to study Dr. Maffetone's "The Big Book of Endurance Racing and Training." I skimmed to a section that dealt with sports injuries. This is when I properly learned how to do a thorough evaluation of everything that was going on when I started to have issues. Not only did I analyze my physical regimen but I also took note of everything else that I was doing, including eating, resting, drinking sleeping, and all other aspects of day to day living.

At this time in my training I had: bought a new paddle with a bigger blade and a shaft with a smaller diameter, started using synthetic proteins in shakes, begun Thai massage, and done away with all alcohol. In terms of the paddle, I was now squeezing too hard with my bottom hand to get the grip I liked and I was pushing much more water than I was used to with a bigger blade. Obviously these factors would increase stress on the shoulders. I added tennis grips and cut the blade down from 8.5" to 8". I cut out the protein shakes and got my protein from real food. I cut out stretching all together and (very hesitantly) went with Dr. Maffetone's idea of long warm ups and cool downs. I did continue to stay off the alcohol in the time leading up to the race.

After taking a detailed survey and applying some fixes I was healed well before the race. I barely had to take any time off from training. I also learned that I wasn't getting enough fat in my diet so I added avocados to all breakfast meals. Time off was necessary so I took two days off and just walked. When I got back on the water I trained at a very low heart rate so my body was never stressed and could continue to work on healing itself. I did not go to the doctor. I listened to my body and made adjustments.

Adjustments are not always easy to incorporate into a routine. Change is difficult for some. Do you think I enjoyed walking instead of running? Paddling at a low heart rate required incredible discipline. Sea nettles were moving faster than I was! At the time the adjustments made everything suck but for the long term the discipline paid off and I was able to paddle at full strength when the time came to go around Manhattan. Even though I did take some Anacin to help with the pain, I did heal myself by evaluating all the details in my life and applying changes that favored lower-stress activities and various recovery methods and let me just say ice baths are NOT FUN but they work! I will do a whole post on the beauty of ice instead of heat.

Over the last couple of days I have had to listen to my body again. Some pain crept into my back on the lower right side. I probably got too excited about the new changes in my life so I hit it way too hard and way too often at the gym. I added some new exercises to my routine but I think the biggest contributors to my pain are an old pair of boots that are very heavy and make me walk with a different stride. Also, I have not been out on the water since I got back form the Carolina Cup. Obviously some changes need to be made but stopping exercising would be disastrous. If the weather would get warmer that would help me out a lot but what can I do? I will make some changes and adjust to the weather and my surroundings because I will NOT lose momentum this winter! One thing I could do is man the F^@$ up and put on some wool with my wetsuit and go for a paddle. People are surfing on Lake Michigan right now so I have no excuse, except a big fear of falling in cold cold water.

The biggest thing I have learned is that pain does not always mean STOP. It definitely could mean stop but it just might mean ADJUST. I will suggest that if you feel sharp pain in the middle of movement then the pain stops when you stop then I would take this to be a pain that needs immediate rest and/or attention. But if pain is just there, kind of along for the ride, and your breathing doesn't change when you move you can still exercise but you should adjust and lighten your workout. Another good rule of thumb is that if you are in pain go for a walk, a long stress free walk. When it comes to the pain of being sick the best thing I read is that if the symptoms are above the neck you can still work out but if you have any symptoms below the neck ease off completely and rest.

Listen closely to your body and don't always reach for the Tylenol or Advil. A good walk is just as good if not better than a couple of anti-flammatory drugs manufactured by somebody who does not have an exact idea of what you are going through. You know what you are going through and you can probably make the proper adjustments to make the situation better.  One thing I did was make my own evaluations and prescribed remedies then discussed them with a family friend who was a doctor. When I gained confidence in my own diagnoses I no longer needed to fact check with a doctor. My fact checker was my body saying yes, that's good or no, that's bad. More often than not, after taking care of my own body's needs myself, I can get back to the gym and get back to feeling healthy and fit.  

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Are Decisions Sacrifices or Making Right Choices?

Getting healthy usually means giving up and letting go of certain aspects of our lives. When a thorough and no-holds-barred evaluation of the way we live our lives is undertaken, and if we see a clear picture of the results, we might be shocked by what we allow into our daily routines. I believe society's influence has caused a majority of the population to believe that getting rid of harmful areas in our lives is considered a sacrifice when making necessary changes is simply the right thing to do to better ourselves.

I used to think that NOT overindulging in: alcohol, tobacco, Breyers ice cream, Milky Ways, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, donuts, Tombstone pizzas, and 8 straight hours on the couch watching Swayze Crazy Saturday on TBS was sacrifice. Sacrifice means giving up something valued. Value means the importance or preciousness of something. Needless to say, my skewed beliefs belittled the true meaning of what it actually means to make sacrifices.

The way my mind works (now) I think that NOT eating ice cream in favor of obtaining better health is no longer a sacrifice. Putting bad ingredients in your body is harmful; therefore, letting go of doing harm should not be considered giving up something of value. Not going paddling in favor of spending quality time with my wife is. Paddling is healthy and necessary for my overall well being, but so is keeping my wife happy. Giving up an exercise session on an unusually warm winter day is hard to do but watching my wife smile because of a decision I have made is of a greater overall value. Ice cream brought me a lot of joy so ignoring the cravings for mint chocolate chip seemed like I was making an enormous sacrifice to get fit. After tipping the scales at 225+ not buying ice cream no longer felt like a sacrifice. It felt like I was making the right choice. Holding onto the belief that a little bit of ice cream isn't bad is the hard part, but after a few times it does get easier.

For people with busy lives making the "right" choice can be extremely difficult. When those with full time jobs, kids, night classes, sick relatives, and personal health issues finally have a few minutes of free time, choosing what to do with those precious minutes must be quite challenging. Throwing a Healthy Choice microwaveable dinner in for nuking rather than taking the time to cut up some vegetables and steam some rice can be a no brainer for those constantly on the go. Those 6 quiet minutes on the couch can feel like heaven when life is a riotous mess. Why sacrifice those few moments of peace to stand on already achy feet and work in order to eat something that, according to the manipulated photo on the box, appears very similar and comes ready to prepare? Go read the list of ingredients in a Healthy Choice dinner or a Lean Cuisine, truly discover what you are putting in your body, tell me what those big words mean, and evaluate your decision making process...does cutting up fresh vegetables from a market rather than eating chemically preserved food still seem like a sacrifice?

The same goes for one half hour of sitting on the couch watching television versus one half hour of walking. What will benefit you in the long run? When I was working as a lighting technician on movies and commercials I could justify any amount of time on the couch as "research" for my job. It would be a beautiful day in Oxford with a light breeze blowing on the river, 70 degrees, and I could talk myself out of any kind of exercise in favor of watching all kinds of garbage found on MTV, VH1, or AMC. I didn't feel the need to "sacrifice" my level of comfort to engage in any sort of movement whatsoever because my job was to help make television shows. After a week of lugging heavy cable through the city streets and up narrow staircases a nice 45 minute walk would probably have done wonders for my soon-to-be effed-up back. Instead, I slumped around on the couch holding my body in awkward positions for hours upon end. Foolish thinking, which I truly believe, helped prepare my back for disaster.  

Making the right choices for our minds and bodies must come from a proper perspective. I have spent years and years trying to get mine in order and finally feel like I am starting to get a better grasp of the difference between a sacrifice and a proper choice. Going for a walk rather than sitting on the couch when I don't feel so well will help me in the long run. I wished I had figure this out sooner. I might even be able to paddle faster today had I had a better perspective in my twenties and thirties. Gaining such a perspective comes from getting in tune with your body and mind, doing research to find the best fit for your future goals, then putting practices into motion that will reap positive rewards.

Another example is for years I never wanted to "sacrifice" my own freedom for the alternative - marriage. Again, more foolish thinking! Six weeks into married life and I already feel healthier than I did at any point between 18 and 42. Getting married wasn't any kind of sacrifice; it was the right thing to do. At least it feels that way for now...:)

It is important to note that implementing a good perspective for the decision making process, concerning health and fitness issues, will only come about when the decision is made on the inside to do so. People can tell you what you need to do to live a better life but until you decide for yourself to do so the fight is an uphill battle. I think living a healthy lifestyle is extremely difficult. My wife's family owns a damn bar. Delicious ice-cold beer is free for me. We live across the street from said bar. You want to talk to me about struggling with the difficulty of making right choices!!?? The struggle continues but making the right choices has gotten easier because I decided that being healthy was very important to ME. Until I made that decision I constantly became overwhelmed by the struggle.

What I hope for is that people I know and begin to work with develop proper perspectives when it comes to making healthier choices in their lives. I want to be there to help anyone who wants to take steps toward improving their overall well being. When one sees the true depth of and intent for the word "sacrifice" they may see easier paths down healthier roads when it comes to the decision making process in terms of healthy vs. bad, lazy, and detrimental. Getting the mind right will only benefit the rest of the body because when you really start to evaluate what you decide is best for your body and mind you may come to realize that you really aren't sacrificing anything at all.

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Advancing Health and Fitness - A Broad Stroke

If you are so inclined to improve your overall health and fitness I strongly suggest you get to know the teachings and philosophies of Dr. Phil Maffetone. Last summer I became a student of his methods as I trained to conquer the SEA Paddle NYC race and I continue to read his works as I attempt to get involved in the business aspects of stand up paddling, paddle fitness, and personal training. There is so much information to cover in any aspect of physical activity undertaken to benefit one's body. I am writing to pass along what has helped me. My intent is to help others. Take what you will from this; disagree with this; argue with this; just know that I am not trying to be an expert on anything to do with the body. I am just trying to do what I can to make people aware of some practices that might be useful to exercise, competition, health, and longevity.

First off, let me state this: success can be achieved if you decide to adhere to a training regimen derived from principles of Dr. Maffetone.

Last summer was my first summer of incorporating stand up paddling as part of my weekly workout routine and signing up to do some races. I knew immediately that I wanted to do something bigger than 6 miles and found my way into the SEA Paddle NYC event. I also knew that in order to do my first endurance event I needed help along the way, especially after talking with some more experienced paddlers. (Thanks again for your advice John Beausang and Westy!)

My research led me to "The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing." As a newbie to any kind of outing that taxes the body beyond imagination I decided to come up with a plan and stick to it. Success eluded me in the SEA Paddle Race but I did discover the benefits of training according to Dr. Maffetone's suggestions two days later when I raced in the Battle of the Bay in Ocean City, MD and placed 2nd Overall. At one point I was leading the race. This was achieved against a group of paddlers who had been consistently beating me by minutes throughout the earlier parts of the summer. Minutes in stand up paddling feel like eternities. While on Friday after the 26.5 mile race in New York I was stomping around Manhattan wondering why I ever listened to Dr. Maffetone's hippie-dippy mumbo jumbo by Sunday afternoon I was like - Holy $#!%, he's absolutely right!

As soon as I stopped training according to the principles adhered to over the summer my results dropped considerably. The podium was ever elusive after I took up my own training practices and scheduled time on the water and in the gym whenever I felt like it instead of according to a strict schedule. My dedication waned after the summer had ended but I still enjoyed padlding. I just didn't like paddling in a chilly breeze. Then there was the whole marriage celebration thing...the holidays...and did I mention the deflating chilly breezes?

I started 2013 in the gym first thing in the morning. My dedication to improving myself re-appeared after a several-month hiatus. I wanted to be a better paddler and a better person.

The Carolina Cup, scheduled for the end of April, is closing in fast. While in Chicago it may be that uninspiring time of the year known as Winter, in a physical reality April 27th isn't too far away at all. It is time to make up a new training plan of attack and a new schedule. My 2013 plan of attack will included some new additions to Dr. Maffetone's methods because as of late I have meet so many great people. I am learning so much from talking to and paddling with fellow enthusiasts and from reading another one of Dr. Maffetone's books called "The Big Book of Health and Fitness."

For instance, on my trip to Paddle Fit certification and the two races I competed in, I learned that if you are going to be on the water with Florida paddlers, that means you Dave Rose and Mike Lemus, you better be in tip-top shape to try and keep them in your sights. Those boys are fast! I learned that true dedication to improving your stroke is strapping on a wetsuit, a headlamp, and a leash and paddling in winter's darkness after getting home from work and changing your newborn's diapers. If you do that you can finish only a few seconds behind Dan Gavere in a big race, eh, Denny Grant? One of the biggest lessons I learned was to just find joy in what you take on, no matter if they give you a crappy rental car and a rental board without a displacement nose, find the positives in any situation. Thank you for that, Mark Bandy (I could always use a lesson in not getting angry in situations out of my control!).

Starting February 27th I am going back to a stricter training regimen and I look forward to blogging about the undertaking and seeing what the results are after racing for 12+ miles around Wrightsville Beach. There is so much that I need to apply to my own practices that writing it all down will, hopefully, make it stick.

My approach to health and fitness will not strictly be for the SUP folks; it will be for anyone looking to take positive steps in their overall well being. A lot of what I will do will be of great benefit to anyone. I know, because I have experienced the benefits, that walking is better for the body than running on the side of the road. Walking has greta healing powers when the body has been under a lot of physical and mental stress. I know that training according to a certain heart rate, one that feels incredibly slow and worthless, will benefit the body in the long run. This approach is not only about seeing acceptable results in the next few months it is about still being able to paddle, exercise, and race as long as my limbs still function. When I started to train for SEA Paddle my shoulders were ragged but after many adjustments were made the pain went away before the race (more details will come in a later post). I owe that success in letting the body heal its self to Dr. Maffetone.

I know some people will scoff at what I will write and people may even stop reading this blog thinking the practices that I will undertake to be a fool's mission. Such is life. My only hope that some people will start to re-think their own habits and do research on their own to come up with a plan that will best suit them as they try to improve their own levels of health and fitness. About .0035% of what I will write will be what I have come up with on my own. The rest will be information passed on from those I consider to be "in the know" when it comes to being healthy and fit and preparing for a long and active life.

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Date Day and the Preventative Pedicure...Ugh

This fall I could barely walk. I thought I had another case of the gout because the pain in the big toe on my right foot was excruciating. At this point in time I had not completely given up overindulgences in coffee, expensive beer, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and cake. For most of last summer I had been doing so well, especially after training hard for and competing in the SEA Paddle NYC Race. A few days after the 26.5 mile jaunt around Manhattan I got engaged. Getting engaged should only happen a few times in someone's life (tee hee I kid, Gracie, I kid) so I took such a special occasion as an excuse to party with friends and family. The great shape I had gotten in disappeared quick then the pain in my toe started. I feared the gout had set in once again.

I was wrong. All it was was an ingrown toenail. For a couple days I tried to poke and prod my way into feeling better but was unable to ease any of the pain. The Sandbridge Hei Hei race was not far off so I wanted to train hard but the pain in my toe was not allowing me to put a lot of pressure on my right foot. If you are a SUP enthusiast you understand how important toes are for support and balance. To rectify the situation I decided to check out an Express Care in Chesterton, Indiana.

I was the only patient at the Express Care so they brought me in as soon as I filled out the required paper work. The doctor was a young attractive blond and the nurse was pretty easy on the eyes as well. I didn't think the experience was so bad. Within 20 minutes I was out the door and on my way home to rest for a day before being able to get back on the water. I paid $250.00 up front in case my horrendous "catastrophe only" health insurance refused to pick up any of the bill, which I assumed would happen and it did.

In the middle of October I received a bill from Porter Regional Hospital for over $1100.00. Now, if you don't think the state of our health care system needs reform then go to an Express Care and have an ingrown toenail removed. I wrote Porter Regional Hospital a letter and asked them to explain how in the world a simple procedure such as cutting off the side of a toenail in rural Indiana could be more expensive than a root canal in downtown Chicago. I knew the cost of both because both happened to me within a 45 days of each other. I received a call from a nice lady who said someone would look into the matter and the bill would be adjusted. They knocked off around $200.00. Now I owe Porter Regional Hospital $778.00 for a procedure that I should have let Gracie take care of with a utility knife and a bottle of rail vodka, which would have only cost her family's bar, the Old Town Ale House, about $2.63. That bill I could have paid off in a month or two.

The point of this story is that I cannot afford to have simple health issues attended to by large corporations. I need to live my daily life taking careful consideration of how I treat EVERY part of my body. Back in September 2012 I found out how important it is for an athlete to have healthy toes, which leads me back to yesterday - date day.

Gracie took me to get my first pedicure ever at the nail salon next to the Old Town Ale House. I hate feet and I don't like to be touched and therefore I would hate for someone to have to touch my own feet. However, after having to go into more debt in order to pay to have an ingrown toenail worked on by a professional I decided that prevention was necessary.

Am I glad I did it...yes. Will I ever get a pedicure again...yes. Did I hate every second of it...yes.

Needless to say Gracie had more fun on our date than I did. I could hear her giggling as I constantly squirmed in my chair, but such are the sacrifices I make to make my wife happy. Insert very important slogan here that I have become all too familiar with as of late: happy wife = happy life.

The pedicure was torture, but I have never been able to cut my toenails in a straight line. The pedicure cost $30.00 including tip and I walked out of the nail salon feeling like I was walking on air. Today at the gym I felt no discomfort in my toes as I went like lightning on the treadmill. For the last two weeks I had been feeling quite a bit of discomfort running and knew I had to do something before having to deal with another toenail issue. I grabbed toenail clippers and thought about trying to take matters into my own hands but all my attempts to correct matters didn't feel like solutions. I needed professional help so I put on sunglasses, trench coat, and a fedora and slinked behind Gracie to the nail salon.  

I may not be all excited and jumping up and down about pedicures and trips to the nail salon but I like having happy toes. Toes are vital parts of the lifestyle I have chosen. Maybe my terrible toenails were the reasons why I fell so much in the Surf to Sound Race and the Orange Bowl Paddle Championships (or maybe it was just bad balance). Nevertheless, I must recommend the pedicure experience to anyone who has feet and wants to use them in athletic pursuits. If you have any discomfort in your tippy toes get thee to a nail salon. Do it! Luckily for me I think my wife enjoyed our date to the nail salon so much that she will be happy to take me for another date next time I feel the slightest tinge of discomfort in any of my toes. That will be $30.00 of my our money that I can stash away for another paddle!

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Working on Working

I've been studying the human system lately...

My own system has been in fluctuation and extreme disarray since I turned 40. What had once been somewhat of a fine-tuned machine, if I do say so myself, had begun to expand and droop in all the wrong places. Only within the last year have things begun to even out. As of late an arc, moving in a positive direction, has occurred when it comes to my own health and fitness. The reason for this more-than-welcomed and overdue movement in the right direction is 98% due to the sport of stand up paddling.

My cousin Neil first got me to try stand up paddling but I wasn't exactly thrilled with moving slowly up and down the creeks and rivers near my mother's house in Oxford, Maryland. I wasn't ready to give up more extreme sports like wakeboarding and skateboarding. Then after my fourth concussion wakeboarding followed by a nasty fall to the bottom of a bowl, all occurring within the years of being uninsured, I thought/discovered that falling off a paddleboard into the Tred Avon River didn't sound (or feel) too bad. It wasn't until August 2011 when Gracie and I went on vacation in Maryland that I really decided I would try to incorporate some time paddling into some sort of routine. She even tried it and liked it. Eli Mongrel and I tried it and liked it so my Mom said I should take the board back to Chicago with me. I did and I used it. Paddling on Lake Michigan without the threat of sea nettles made for some enjoyable time atop the water. 

Throughout the mild winter of 2011/2012 I found myself out on Lake Michigan quite a bit. I even got a brand new board for Christmas because I thought I would lean toward the surfing aspect of the sport. During this time of dipping my toes in SUP I have to thank Neil, Steve Dejter, and Ben Butterwei from SUP Annapolis for dealing with my countless questions about gear, technique, and more gear. I asked a lot of questions and took up a lot of their time as I was truly falling in love with the lifestyle. 

Neil suggested I think about entering a race on the Jimmy Lewis Albatross I was paddling at the time. I thought about it and started getting out on the water with hopes of having the 2012 Carolina Cup be my first race. I ended up getting some days working on a television show and therefore lost time on the water and therefore had to cancel plans to head to Wrightsville Beach in April. At this point I didn't lose any sleep about not making the trip because I was still trying to figure this whole paddling thing out. My favorite aspect about the sport was allowing myself a nip of Armagnac after any paddle in temperatures under 50 degrees. 

After a few more phone calls from Neil throughout the spring I decided to enter my first race in Ocean City in June of 2012. When I arrived and stepped out of my car, nervous as hell, the first person I met was April Zilg who explained that she had just driven up from North Carolina after racing the previous day. She quickly explained how much fun the whole racing thing was and how much she loved the people involved in it before hoping off to go say hello to another racer. The next person I met was Dawn Ehman Marohl who was in charge of the race. She was equally as welcoming and charming and helped ease my nerves as she handed me a bag of really cool stuff! Note: if you want a bag of fun goodies, enter Dawn's races!!   

Neil finally arrived and introduced me around to some folks after I had been pacing around in circles for what seemed like hours. Everyone was really good looking and in pretty good shape. I had slacked off quite a bit in my own workout regimen and decided I would NOT race without a shirt as people began to disrobe as the start neared.

Then came race time...I hadn't been that nervous since I had the lead in an Art House Live play. Seeing all these handsome fit paddlers was intimidating as hell. I jumped in the water to pee for the 75th time that morning before the start. When the horn for the start finally did sound I looked around to see what everyone else was doing and saw a lot of determined looks on a lot of peoples' faces as the water churned all around me. I paddled that Jimmy Lewis like I was trying to get off Hades and watched as Neil and many others just about disappeared from vision! When I did cross the finish line people were laying back on their board relaxing, some drinking beer, while I was looking for water and a medic. I think April had already loaded her board on her car.

Turns out I won the Surf category and got called up in front of the crowd, received 100 bucks cash and a few more cool bits of swag then had my picture taken holding a trophy for the first time ever in my life. I never knew how good it felt to get a trophy!

A day or so later I saw the pictures that were taken at the race. I didn't recognize myself. From the day I turned 40 I knew my body was changing, toward the negative end of the spectrum, but I didn't realize how much until I saw pictures from that race. Between 40 and 42 I had had a disc explode in my back while doing seated rows at the gym, a couple teeth fall out of my head, continued to smoke Camels, and found myself drinking before noon on some of those dreary winter days. Reality came at my conscience like an uppercut to the sternum as I saw that picture on Facebook and saw that all my friends saw that picture as well. Something had to be done. Racing rekindled a fire in my soul to and I needed to get it the F&%$ together.

A few days after the Ocean City race I went out and paddled with Boga team rider and Walk on Water co-owner Ron Gossard to try a couple 12-6 race boards. Feeling the difference between a race board and a surf-style SUP was amazing. We cut a deal and I traded in my surf style and used my remaining credit on an old Visa for a beautiful white 404 Monster. I bought that thing the day before the 2nd race I would ever do which was on Kent Island. I came in 3rd in that race and the hook was set. I became obsessed with the sport.

Between then and now not much time has passed but a world of beautiful changes have taken place in my life. I feel that I have found that physical regime that had been missing for far too long. My spiritual side and my belief in God, a caring (then) girlfriend (now) wife, and pizza delivery had been pushing me through some tough times. Stand up paddling provided me new challenges and a whole new realm of people to meet with more positive outlooks on life than my fellow day drinkers around Chicago. The world began to open up as I adapted my ways to a whole new lifestyle. 

My own evolution is still underway and I am continuing to work hard so when the time comes I can help others make changes and take on a more positive way to live their lives. For many years I toyed with the idea of becoming a personal trainer then came the years when wearing size 36 pants made me laugh at the thought. Now, my ways are different. My outlooks are different. The knowledge I seek comes from new places that are further up the mountains along the correct paths I avoided for so long. 

No longer is this blog going to be about me bitching about the state of things in this world; it is going to be about me passing on the knowledge I am discovering that can have positive impacts on peoples' lives. By the middle of May I want to be working with people teaching them Stand Up Paddle Fitness and offering up solutions to improving physical and mental health and taking clients to higher levels of health and fitness than they thought possible. I want to make a modest living out of impacting the lives of others. I know firsthand what taking on the paddling "lifestyle" can do and I have read testimonies and seen the results in the lives of others.

The Eccentric's Take will soon take on a new format and a new outlook.  My goal is to have many people nodding their heads in agreement as they read over knowledge that I will pass along during my own journey and new bonds will begin to forge with strangers that one day I will meet atop the water...

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