01.07.12
Ouch!
Today, I finally went for a 5-mile run, but no luck. I was doing great all the way out and up the hill and back down, and OUCH!, the knee seizes up and I have to walk the distance back to the starting point. Disappointed? Yes. But, I have a plan. Plan A: Check my benefits to assure P.T. coverage, and go for it! Plan B: Drop down to the 5K and work on increasing my time. Plan C: Start swimming laps again. Plan D: Run smaller distances until you feel better. Yes, I refuse to stop. There is no need to stop. Stopping means getting old before your time. The pains will show their ugly face soon enough, so Go! Go! Go! while you can.
The best news is most of my life, I have remained active. That much I know is true. Ok, I haven’t been like you, Janie, you who could be found running up “Buckhannon Mountain Road” at any time of day, even when you were running on the corridor between the interstate and the connecting freeway (!) or you, Becky who with your husband and my cousin Brad, skied until the morning light, making sure no one was left behind before you took your E.M.T hats off and actually enjoyed skiing down the mountain a time or two under the full moon, or you Kathy O. who ran the canyons and guided canoes across the ancient “ponds” of previous mountainous glaciers, and now delivers body parts across the world, and you sister Hope and nieces Stephanie and Erin who hiked the canyons of Utah, and my daughters and their husbands who ride their bikes with their children, pulling the littlest ones in the trailer so they too can enjoy the ride and learn positive choices, and let us not forget Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Bill who in their late-70′s still skied Snowshoe Mountain even with Uncle Bill’s brand-spanking new artificial knee, and Mark who rides his bike to work every day, and he and Carla who create beautiful gardens each year and spend hours canning the bounty of their labors, and of course, my brothers David and Bill who were and remain my heros in all aspects, physical or oracle. And, absolutely, there are many more of you to honor, and forgive me for my oversight.
And yes, the pains will become more intense, our hair will turn more gray, our wrinkles will no longer “become us” and our mirrors will no longer be able to lie, but we shall survive. We are all survivors. That’s why we’re still here. To enjoy, to embrace, to try, to fail, to push, and push and push away the inevitable and have fun doing it. Some of us are fast and some of us are slow, but we’re out there doing it, and that’s a big HOORAY for all of us!
My life surprises me a little bit every day. You think it’s that, but then it’s this. You think you’re winning and then you fail. Your heart is breaking and then your dog climbs up on your lap and starts licking your face until you fall out of the chair, laughing, as you try to stave off the slobber that continues to help the wet kisses along. You wake up worrying before your coffee has been poured and at the end of the day you are free of stress and ready for tomorrow. The anniversary of your mother’s death arrives and instead of crying, you celebrate! My, how things change.
“Everybody’s going somewhere, ridin’ just as a fast as they can run.” (Jackson Browne)
So let’s GO!
Peace out!
