Thursday, December 17, 2009

Can This Sixty Three Year Old Learn To Run

I guess it really depends on “what is chasing you”.
I have decided that I want to run at least a half marathon, at best a full marathon.
I was actually pushed to this decision after watching The Biggest Losers run a full marathon following six weeks of training.
I last ran in high school and tended to stick to the middle distances, the 440 and at the seminary, the 600 meter run.
I was lousy at sprints and at any distance beyond the 600 meters, I died.
As an adult, Ihave tried to start running for “fun” but always ended up with shin splints and a lack of motivation.
But now something big and terrible is chasing me, the past and the future.
The past, something I am trying to leave behind, is there in the shadows hoping to reclaim me.
I smoked, was overweight, sedentary, short of breath and in need of some vascular re-plumbing.
I have now been losing weight, exercising regularly, attending Boot Camp, so why not start a running program?
It should keep me out of the kitchen and off of the couch.
It will be hard to get engrossed in television while doing roadwork.
It will add a whole new level of activity to a fairly complex exercise schedule.
It is also a good time to start as winter is coming and sweating won’t be a major problem.
The future is also lurking out there.
As I see it there are two possible futures.
I have an opportunity to pick one of them without violating a time travel paradox.
I want to pick the path “less traveled” as stated by Robert Frost in a famous poem:

Two roads diverged in a wood and I-
I took the one less traveled by

The road less traveled might in the end be filled with the most excitement and perhaps yield the greatest rewards.
This is not a given, but I have already walked pretty far down the other road.
It did seem like so much fun at the time but as a now infamous wag was once heard to say, “If I had known I was going to live this long I would have certainly taken better care of myself”.
I figure it is never too late to begin “taking care of yourself” especially when your walking down a strange road in a strange new land.
Somehow I don’t think the past is strong enough to come down this road.
Besides it is good to know I am now actually involved in making the future instead of just letting it happen.
So can this sixty three year old learn how to run?
Everything I am seeing says, “I’ll bet on it”.

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