Antiques Road Show… Running as you get older

Antiques Road Show…     Running as you get older

I used to think that all of the hullabaloo about master’s running was just a crock of poop. I mean come on, Carlos Lopes won the 1984 Olympic Marathon at 37 in a new Olympic record.  Before that there was Miruts Yifter (aka Yifter the Shifter) who cleaned up at the 1980 games in Moscow… and he was at least 40… some say as old as 42. I’d throw Haile into the group but after a few bad races I think his age is finally starting to show.

But when you looked at those guys they proved that running can be just as great as you get older. You can really just keep doing what you’ve done, but in a new way that works with your changing body.

This is a giant lie!!

You will, over time, fall apart. The small stuff, whether you sweat it or not will begin to become big stuff and you’ll start to slow down. This does not mean you should not keep trying or that you won’t be Yifter-eqsue, but it means the game changes. I have been trying to get my sorry behind back into gear since after Berlin last year.  This attempt has failed as a nagging adductor issue will not go away, because it is caused by a weak glute that I do not have time to strengthen (see here whiny excuse number one from guy who seems to find time to write these blogs). The butt being weak means I cannot storm up hills, roll down them or sprint when it matters. Basically it means I can run sort of steady on flat even terrain if there is a tail wind and the sun isn’t too bright. (the bright sun hurts my eyes… excuse number TWO)

It means running fast* takes a place in my life I never thought it would, it moves to a part of the life I lived and not the defining factor of the one I am living. Which I am kind of trying to be okay with, but failing horribly. I still wanna be the fastest kid on the block, I still wanna win races, and still want to be defined as FAST (in some aspects of my life not so much). The thing is I no longer find the time to do the extra things that requires. I have not done a drill in a decade, weights… in 8 years (hard to believe with my ripped upper bod), a push-up in 6 months (I was outsourcing these overseas before the dollar tanked). I just don’t have the drive and desire one needs in the pursuit of greatness, but I also lack the ability to give up the dream.

And so this I know, tomorrow at 5am I will get up, I will lace my shoes and run in the dark and dream of faster days. But as I get older I wonder if those are dreams of the future or simply the faded pages of days long passed.

I guess only time will tell…

*Some may argue the fact as to whether or not I ever ran fast so please it is all-relative.