Probably not. But that's the thinking that I've got associated with the new decade in front of my age. "50" seems old, even in my own head.
I was born in the 60's,the sandwich generation. The product of an era that thought 21 was old. Anyone over 30 was from another age, a generation gap that was a point of pride. "We" did things that were cool. "They" did things that were establishment. We never wanted to grow up, never wanted to be mature. Live hard and leave a good looking....
Oddly enough, all that shit lives on, in how I see myself, how I see my generation, and how I view my place in the world.
I want to feel young, I want to continue to feel active, to feel vibrant, to feel relevant. And for some insane reason, I've chosen running as a way of doing that.
So i've been running over the last 4 years, I've gotten 3 marathons in and countless miles of training, so by all evidence, I've got this. I can get my ass in shape for the next race I want to run. 50 is no different then 49.
But I still had to prove it to myself, and today was the day to do it.
And I got in my longest run of my 50's. 15 miles After 50!
It was an amazing day in Santa Monica, it was cool and crisp, and getting out there at 6:30 meant that the sun was just peaking over the horizon. I got the see the whole stretch of Santa Monica to Venice almost by myself, most of it before 8AM.
I got to find a pace appropriate for my age :) pretty much 11 minute miles for training is where I live now. I got to prove to myself that I can still do this, and I got to get home and rested before football starts at 10AM.
All in all a pretty good effort for an old man on a Sunday. An affirmation that my perceptions of myself as "Old" aren't necessarily reality. I can still move, and can still contribute, I can still get out there and do a little damage.
To be continued...
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