No Pain, No Gain

I've often wondered what that statement means. It applies to a lot of situations in life, but two stand out to me today.

I've been going to physical therapy for the past two weeks. First visit: nice...did a little stretching and then got the "shock therapy" massage. AHHHH... Second visit: got in the pool and did a nice little workout. Third visit: PAIN!! I exercised a bit and then Kurt (the PT) decided to go to work on my IT band (this is the large band that goes from your hips to your knees on the outside of your thigh.) It was so sore and tight, so he "massaged" it into submission. I had racing stripes in the form of bruises down my legs almost immediately. (Still there one week later!) This week I went in the pool on Thursday and then more pain yesterday.

You see, it turns out that my body has been doing the exact opposite of what it's supposed to do. My hip flexors are practically non-existent and getting them to engage has been one of the most painful and exhausting things I've had to do. My "interesting" body make-up has caused my other muscles around my pelvis to overcompensate for my lack of muscles in my pelvis area. I have great abs (most of that comes from playing wind instruments) and decent thigh muscles, but in between is not so good. So, we're strengthening them. Slowly and painfully. I hurt so bad right now.

We have our first marching band festival today. It's early for us, and we started school later than usual this year, so we've been under the gun since day one. (that rhymed....tee hee) Last night we didn't have a home football game so I called an extra practice to make sure we were more prepared for today.

All season long the drumline has been whining to me about their music. One of my former students wrote more challenging parts for them, and all I hear is complaints. The music is great, and adds so much more to our show than the original parts.

A couple of weeks ago, we were getting ready to perform the third song at a football game, and the drummers came to me and told me that they didn't know their music. I copied their music (shrunk it down) so that they could read it while marching and they just basically stood there and performed. They hated it, and so did I, but the show HAD to go on. In retrospect, I shouldn't have "saved" them, because they tried telling me the same thing last night. THE DAY BEFORE OUR FESTIVAL!

I lost it. I got angrier than I've ever been. Why do they get a different standard than the rest of the band. If anyone in the wind section didn't know their music, they didn't get to march. I told them to get down to the field and play their parts. They proceeded to try to reason with the drum major, who was caught in the middle. I got on the loudspeaker and told them that I am the band director and I want them to get on the field and play. I also told them that the disrespect I was feeling from them was unacceptable. In the six years I've been teaching high school, I've never had this happen.

Was it easy for them to get out and march? No, but they did it. We're not a band without every member--especially the drumline. Why should the entire band suffer because they didn't take the time to learn their music.

ARGH!

Anyway--here we go. Will it be our best performance? Probably not, but it will be good for us to get through it.

No pain, no gain!