I have beaten the ever living sh!t out of my body over the years. I knew what I was doing and knew there would be a price to pay. However, I probably could have mitigated that damage especially the last six years or so.

My body feels pretty awful most of the time. I have lots of pain, but I don't go around complaining about it to everyone. I try to live by the motto my wife instilled in me "Happiness is a choice." Even if I'm in pain, I just try to put the best face on it I can.

If I had advice to give my younger self it would be "Don't let things get too far." When something starts nagging a little, get it taken care of. The funny thing is I did that more frequently when I was competing. I surmise it was because I wanted to compete at the top of my game. What I took for granted was that I felt pretty good.

As it has been some time since I have competed on a high level I don't see "Professionals" as often as I did back then. Guess what, I haven't felt that great for a while. Now there is a lot of built up issues that have to be resolved so they will take longer to fix.

Get yourself and keep yourself feeling well and never take feeling good for granted.