You may have observed that one of the big books last year was “Younger Next Year“–changed my life.
Every day I feel the tug of oldness at me –and if I hesitate, I feel eve older.
But when I get up and move, eat less and no crap dead food, and connect with someone–I have a little kick in my step.
Today is this hot, humid, pasty day.
I feel like laying in the cool.
But a short run, lifting and a bit more running–I am set.
Yesterday I came to midafternoon and did not want to work out or run–just wanted to get a beer and coast toward the end of a good day.
But often now I refocus on the “against the tide” reality presented in “Younger Next Year” and I get up and go.
It was a grind. I ran without feeling like it. I ran a couple of miles, then did a mile of sprints, setups, etc. at the track. Then to Refinery in Champaign for weights which were hard to complete. Then ran a mile home. It all took about 1.5 hrs. Good workout.
Today I fell like going again and this happens every time.
This morning while rereading “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren, I came across the old Martin Luther quote. “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”
I love keeping moving, shaking off the stiffness and doing new things, pushing back against the tide.
It is a key part of pursuing “Your Best Third Third“.
I am headed for that 50 miler at Run Rabbit Run again in 11 months–and I am going to better my time! Reasonable and healthy goal.
It’s a bit of a grind but I am headed back to Run Rabbit Run.
I am an athlete.
A few days before the Run Rabbit Run 50 miler, I called my brother Dick in Albuquerque.
We laughed about how I have this personal affirmation that I mutter to myself as I run, “I am an athlete”. I mean we laughed and laughed—a sort of goofy holler that a few of us Hensleigh sibs got from PW Hensleigh.
Anyway it is funny because there is not a one of us Winchester Kansas Hensleighs that you ever think of as an athlete. Personally I never scored a basket even though I loved basketball and followed it avidly. I never made a tackle or caught a pass even though I was on the field a fair bit. I never scored point at a track meet or even ran on a relay. We had a decent track team and an excellent coach but it did not effect my performance.
My other bros and sisters were about the same–known more for music and achievement tests than athletic ability or performance.
Regardless, for me to understand that I was created to move and perform as an athlete is not just true, it really helps when I face one of those 12 mile days with 95 degree weather. And it has helped me immensely to get a vision for my Best Third Third as a fit and active old guy.
You see to run that 50 miles, I had to have the qualities of an athlete–training, finishing, using my strengths, joy.
I thank Bishop Gwin at Love Corner for pointing out from the Bible that we are athletes, and for the Younger Next Year guys for writing a simple inspirational guide that I use every day.
We laugh about the idea of being athletic around the old Winchester, Kansas Hensleigh clan. With a few momentary exceptions, there were none of us eight kids of Paul and Aletha who showed any skill on the field or ran with any quickness on the track, or made even one basket in a game.
We played horns, read books, cooked up science experiments and did farm work.
But now at age 66, I feel most comfortable as an athlete. Usually I work out almost daily, I run some 20 -30 miles per week, and thrive when I am in shape. Beyond this I am able to avoid the old Wheeler/ Hensleigh bugaboo of depression when I am very active and eating well. This is huge–I have spent too many days since age 18 under the rug.
The “Younger Next Year” idea has lodged in me.
So I ran (or walked) this 50 mile race in Steamboat last year– the Run Rabbit Run .
Running on the Oaxaca coast–I am also a traveler….AuthenticmexicoTravel.com
And I think I will return at age 66 and see if I can set a respectable mark–like under 14 hours- for that age group.