"Welcome to middle age."

While visiting with the doc today, I had described how my injuries occurred, and he commented on how intense group exercise classes can cause a lot of problems when the group sets the pace rather than each individual.  I told him I had thought I was ready to push myself as much as I was, but it strained me, then I pushed myself another way during my own workout a few days later, and bam: mess.  I said I'm usually pretty cautious and ease into things, but it had been a while since I'd worked those muscle groups.  Turns out he says I'm doing all the right exercises to strengthen the right areas, but I needed not to push myself so much so fast.  I said I had thought I'd been doing really well but just got a little ambitious and would have to be a bit more careful.  Then he said it.

"Welcome to middle age.  As you head into it..."

I kind of chuckled as I missed the rest of his sentence because my immediate, initial reaction was to think, "Ha ha, doc, yeah that's a funny jo--..."  Immediately following this interrupted thought was the next one which interrupted it: "Oh @#$%.  That's not a joke.  It's just true.  I'm heading into middle age."

Fortunately, I'm probably in as good a shape as I've ever been, and I feel good and am apparently still attractive enough to capture the attention of those to whom I'm attracted and energetic enough to play "war" with the kids and spry enough to keep up with twenty-somethings on hikes, so I've got that going for me.  And we're in a time when thirty is the new twenty, so that's fun.  But now I'm even beyond that age people need to comfort themselves about by saying it's the new twenty.  Hmph.

As I related this exchange with my doc to some friends tonight, one of them choked and said, about himself, "Crap, when did that happen?"  Ha ha, can't fight it, so I'll accept it.  Bring it on, middle age.  Let's have a ball.