Palpitations

On Friday, Margaret and I went out to dinner and a movie. While we were at the restaurant, I felt my heart start racing, but didn't feel light-headed or anything, so I just ignored it. Later on, at the movie, it started really going--enough so that when I put my hand on my chest, I could actually FEEL the pounding up out of my chest! I told Margaret to feel it the next time it did it, at which time she got all worried. I can tell you that there were lots of things going through my mind during that movie--not many of them were about what was on the screen. I swore I'd give up caffeine, since I thought that's why my heart was racing. I wondered if I had on clean underwear, in case I had to go to the emergency room (thanks, Mom!). I was glad that we'd just paid up our life insurance policies. But through all this sense of impending death, I was perplexed at why I didn't feel out of the ordinary. Then it hit me... on Thursday, I'd started a new chest exercise and had really worked my pectoral muscles. Evidently I'd strained them more than I'd thought. What I was feeling wasn't my heart at all... it was my muscle spasming! Whew!

I celebrated my new lease on life with some sweet, sweet caffeine that I was so willing to forego just a few minutes prior. (And by the way, I DID have on clean underwear.)