I totally overdid it...
Well, it looks like I've screwed myself out of another weekend at BRF. This past Saturday I had a wedding to play for. I'd been practicing all week and thought I had built up enough stamina to do the gig. Unfortunately, there were a few factors I didn't account for. First of all, I wasn't cleared to drive, so I needed to get a ride to and from the church, which also meant that I was subject to the scheduling of others so that I really didn't have the option of coming and going as I pleased. I didn't see this as a problem, however, because I honestly thought I could play both the wedding at 3:00pm and the 5:00pm Mass since the wedding was only supposed to last for half an hour and the Mass would only run until about 6:00pm. I'd rehearsed for up to 2 hours at a time, so I figured I was OK. Secondly, the church is significantly larger than my practice room at home, which means I need more air to fill the space. Third, the piano practically drowned me out, even when I was mic'd, so again, I needed a lot more air than I'd used during my rehearsals. Lastly, I grossly underestimated how much playing I would actually be doing because I forgot to factor in the pre-wedding rehearsal and the quickie rehearsal right before Mass. So...
Ruth kindly picked me up around 1:45pm. We got to the church about 2:00pm and started playing. We'd done all these pieces together before, but it had been quite a while, so we ran through everything several times to make sure we had the right tempos, pickups, etc. It was at this point that I discovered I wasn't using enough air to be heard beyond the choir space, so I started breathing as if everything I played was supposed to be fff. All that stretching of the unhealed stomach muscles was unpleasant, but not particularly painful - at first. We stopped rehearsing aroung 2:40pm and started playing prelude music at 2:50pm. The wedding started a bit late, but it was very lovely. When the wedding was over, we had a small reprieve of about a half an hour before the choir members started drifting in for 5:00pm Mass. Ruth and I rehearsed with the choir from about 4:40pm until right beofre 5:00pm. Then I stayed upstairs and played for the Mass while Ruth went downstairs to the wedding reception (apparently she had received an invitation for the wedding, but I was just a hired musician, so I didn't think I should crash the party). I was still feeling OK until right before Communion. Then I started feeling really tired and sore. All that deep breathing in and out started to really take its toll. I got through the Mass, but I was exhausted afterwards.
At that point, almost all of my flute and recorder students came up to me and asked when we could resume their lessons. I can understand their anxiety; most of them have band placement auditions coming up in just a few weeks and they all want to make the top band. It's hard for flutes because there are so many of them, the competition is really fierce. Only the top 8 flutes or so make the top band. From there, they get distributed throughout the other bands until they reach the bottom. That's when you wind up in a band with 40 mediocre flutes, 25 less-than-optimal trumpets, 50 horrendous clarinets, and the dregs of whatever instruments are left over. Nobody wants to play in those circumstances, so I don't blame them for wanting to work on their audition material with me to improve their chances of getting to play in an ensemble that actually sounds like a band. I wish I could give them a firm lesson schedule at this point, but I really can't quite yet. I told a few of them I would try to get a ride into the church this week and call them to see if they could pop in for an impromptu lesson. Unfortunately, I am much more sore now than I was Saturday, so I doubt I will be able to entertain such an idea for quite some time.
I knew Ruth wouldn't be able to take me home because she was still downstairs at the wedding reception, but I managed to get a ride with the Urquhardts so I wouldn't have to hang around even longer until Carl was done puppet spotting. I completely crashed when I got home, thinking a short nap would rejuvenate me, but boy, was I wrong! It was going to take way more than a nap to undo all that I had done in such a short amount of time. I was really sore on Sunday and Monday, but it's slowly getting better. I'm still very tired and I feel like I've backslid a bit in my recovery. I wanted so much to return to Bristol this Saturday, especially since it's (unofficially) LGBT day and Jezzie has so many fans in that community, but I don't think that's going to be an option now. I'm totally bummed, but at least I didn't try to do a whole day at Bristol on Sunday like I'd originally planned (yeah, I thought I could do the wedding on Saturday and then turn around and go 10 hours at BRF only 2 weeks after surgery - probably not the best idea in the world, but you have to give me points for enthusiasm). At this point, I'm thinking I'll do well to get back out in the lanes by the last weekend. I certainly don't want to overdo things again, but I am determined that I WILL finish this season! Until then, I guess I'll just lay low and hope this setback doesn't get any worse.
Ruth kindly picked me up around 1:45pm. We got to the church about 2:00pm and started playing. We'd done all these pieces together before, but it had been quite a while, so we ran through everything several times to make sure we had the right tempos, pickups, etc. It was at this point that I discovered I wasn't using enough air to be heard beyond the choir space, so I started breathing as if everything I played was supposed to be fff. All that stretching of the unhealed stomach muscles was unpleasant, but not particularly painful - at first. We stopped rehearsing aroung 2:40pm and started playing prelude music at 2:50pm. The wedding started a bit late, but it was very lovely. When the wedding was over, we had a small reprieve of about a half an hour before the choir members started drifting in for 5:00pm Mass. Ruth and I rehearsed with the choir from about 4:40pm until right beofre 5:00pm. Then I stayed upstairs and played for the Mass while Ruth went downstairs to the wedding reception (apparently she had received an invitation for the wedding, but I was just a hired musician, so I didn't think I should crash the party). I was still feeling OK until right before Communion. Then I started feeling really tired and sore. All that deep breathing in and out started to really take its toll. I got through the Mass, but I was exhausted afterwards.
At that point, almost all of my flute and recorder students came up to me and asked when we could resume their lessons. I can understand their anxiety; most of them have band placement auditions coming up in just a few weeks and they all want to make the top band. It's hard for flutes because there are so many of them, the competition is really fierce. Only the top 8 flutes or so make the top band. From there, they get distributed throughout the other bands until they reach the bottom. That's when you wind up in a band with 40 mediocre flutes, 25 less-than-optimal trumpets, 50 horrendous clarinets, and the dregs of whatever instruments are left over. Nobody wants to play in those circumstances, so I don't blame them for wanting to work on their audition material with me to improve their chances of getting to play in an ensemble that actually sounds like a band. I wish I could give them a firm lesson schedule at this point, but I really can't quite yet. I told a few of them I would try to get a ride into the church this week and call them to see if they could pop in for an impromptu lesson. Unfortunately, I am much more sore now than I was Saturday, so I doubt I will be able to entertain such an idea for quite some time.
I knew Ruth wouldn't be able to take me home because she was still downstairs at the wedding reception, but I managed to get a ride with the Urquhardts so I wouldn't have to hang around even longer until Carl was done puppet spotting. I completely crashed when I got home, thinking a short nap would rejuvenate me, but boy, was I wrong! It was going to take way more than a nap to undo all that I had done in such a short amount of time. I was really sore on Sunday and Monday, but it's slowly getting better. I'm still very tired and I feel like I've backslid a bit in my recovery. I wanted so much to return to Bristol this Saturday, especially since it's (unofficially) LGBT day and Jezzie has so many fans in that community, but I don't think that's going to be an option now. I'm totally bummed, but at least I didn't try to do a whole day at Bristol on Sunday like I'd originally planned (yeah, I thought I could do the wedding on Saturday and then turn around and go 10 hours at BRF only 2 weeks after surgery - probably not the best idea in the world, but you have to give me points for enthusiasm). At this point, I'm thinking I'll do well to get back out in the lanes by the last weekend. I certainly don't want to overdo things again, but I am determined that I WILL finish this season! Until then, I guess I'll just lay low and hope this setback doesn't get any worse.