I have a wonderful trainer who is focused on keeping me running into my 90s and beyond. I love her enthusiastic optimism, especially when I'm feeling the aches and pains of being my current age.
I sometimes wonder if she has expectations related more to a younger athlete than a sexagenarian athlete. But she knows her stuff, is a runner herself and after 11 years of working together she probably knows my running mentality as well as, if not more, than my bestie Marky.
The current issue is I want to run without thinking about form, push off, landing, yada, yada, yada. All of that is important to keep me running injury free and I would have loved having that input in my collegiate and younger days. Now I just want to enjoy my body in motion, free thinking while I run, hit the running sweet spot of a 45-60 minute run when the endorphins kick in and high of running embraces the effort.
It's been a couple of years since I've been at that level. Currently, I'm seeing progress that I hope will get me back there. But the work it's taking is not enjoyable. I'll admit, I'm lazy, I'm impatient, I'm stubborn. Results now come more slowly than in years past. The work I need to do to make progress isn't what I like.
Much of this has to do with accepting my age. Things that were once easily done, aren't so much. Morning aches and tightness are frustrating. Mysterious pain is head scratching in trying to recall why it hurts.
The good is that I'm feeling better than I did a year ago, post ankle surgery. Overall, I feel myself moving better than I did a year ago. That's progress. I'm also running again, building my endurance gradually. I need to remind myself progress comes in stages and recovery takes longer now.
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