Today is not a good day. I just returned from the early morning start of the annual Imogene Pass Run. I wished Marathon Man Leonard a good race, luck, and fair weather on top. I know Imogene well, it is the 17.1 mile race I last participated in three years ago at age 59. 9, not to mention numerous other times preceding that.
So no, today is not a good day. It's not a good time to have an L-5, S-1 disc missing from one's aching back, nor the resultant withered-to-useless calf muscle... heel, knee and hip grief that stand in the way of the way I thought I'd be living out my golden years, which is on the run.
I'm having a pity party... feeling blue... straddling a razor wire fence between resentment, that I should be out there on the starting line with a number on my chest and adrenaline coursing through my veins, and graditude, for being alive and still able to plod and crank my way to heaven's wild flowered gate. Life teems with half-full glasses. Today, mine is half empty.
No sympathy here. I am 66 and have not been able to run in over twenty years. Hiking is getting very difficult too. Knees and hips do not like it. So now it is paddling and biking. Getting older and worn is part of the fun. The good part is that my body requires I try new things to stay active. Just keep adjusting.
ReplyDeleteDear Mark,
ReplyDeleteIf I weren't so far away I would come over with a 6 pack of cold Shiner Bock longnecks and join your pity party. Alas, I will just have to join you virtually. Here's hoping that by the end of the day you will fall off the fence and land firmly on the "gratitude" side. Hang in there.
Julie in Austin
(daughter of the crazy lady who approaches strangers in restaurants LOL!)
PS: Congratulations on the acquisition of Goldilocks. She's a real beauty.
A pity party is ok, as long as it is short-lived and then its time to get back out hiking, biking and camping.
ReplyDeleteMark, hope your pity party turns into a victory party with Leonard! Those are great photos! Get off that fence and embrace gratitude and your buddy Leonard. Maureen
ReplyDeleteHard to have too big a pity party when you are out hiking and biking throughout the west beginning in lovely Ouray!
ReplyDeleteI've never met you but I have a feeling you will bounce back very soon, if not already. From seeing all the recent hikes and trips you and Bobbie have taken, I am confident that you will be back out there feeling like you are on top of the world. And in a sense, you are!
ReplyDeleteGet well soon, Mark!
Sorry. Personally, I'd be standing on the corner of Horror (that someone would pin a number on me) and Relief (that no one pinned a number on me).
ReplyDeleteI remember your late entry to the big race back in 2009, and thought it was a little crazy to subject the body to such extreme elevation and distance. You can still have fun hiking the same route with friends. Great football today with Broncos/Stealers and QB Payton starting Denver to the Superbowl.
ReplyDeleteWould've loved to join you but knee pain made me retire my running shoes this year, still I miss it, pain and all!
ReplyDeleteAll points taken... thank you!
ReplyDeletemark