Chris won his age-group in the marathon, I was happy to finish respectively.
Running is a peculiar thing, breeding euphoria and complete misery all in the time it takes to say the alphabet. The running gods have toyed with me for many years. When I’m lighter and better conditioned, a run can make me feel unencumbered and my mind runs free. I have also felt otherwise. The other side of the story likens to trying to move through quicksand or if you haven’t ever experienced that, than maybe we can compare it to Friday traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway. Maintaining my persona as an athlete has become more difficult as I age. If there is an injury, I’ve had it. If I were to tattoo a star on every body part that has had an injury, I would make a pretty cool constellation. I have learned the pitfalls of letting an injury get the better of you. When you have had an injury long enough to name it like one of your children, it’s easy to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Parking it on the couch with you buddies Ben and Jerry sounds like a nice option till they steal the remote. For two years I had planter fasciitis. At 40 I was going down a slide that was too steep to get back up. I decided if I were to fit into my jeans or be a true mentor to my Go Far kids, I would have to get creative and exercise with new purpose. I would have to work around the injuries and make no excuses. I would find myself at the gym trying it on like an old familiar pair of shoes. I now prioritize exercise because I love the calm I get from it. I do more than just run. I bike, swim, do tapes like Insanity and P90x, jump rope, hike the dog, lift weights; geez I’ll even vacuum if it burns a few calories. It all gets you to a better place. The struggles that come with exercise are justified by the positivity you reap. I just got home from running the Providence half-marathon. I ran injured blaming my 110-pound goliath dog for tearing my calf muscle 2 weeks ago. If felt good to race despite the fact that I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew getting to thirteen miles painless would be a stretch. At 10 miles the twang in my calf was playing like a good country song. Even as I finished with a hobble, I knew I would need to get creative again to maintain my fitness as I otherwise heal. Tomorrow is a new day and exercise will have to take on a new persona. Who knows what the fitness god’s will dictate for tomorrow? To Go Far in life, we need to explore every avenue. I am determined to do just that.
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