Another Nice Run

Ho hum.
Another Saturday - another nice six-mile run.
Not really.
Running six miles is a pretty big deal for me in my advancing age.

I am now 66 years old.
This is hard to believe sometimes.
If anyone had told me in high school that at age 66 I would be running 6 miles even once a week (as currently is the case), I would have told them that they were nuts.
But here I am, doing it.

I have retired from running about three times.
Each time thinking that I was too old to keep running.
And each time I have started a walking program, considered more "appropriate" for old geezers such as I by "health professionals", I have found that it feels like a waste of time.
I do not feel challenged physically, and I finish each session feeling like I could do more.
This latest resurrection of the activity began innocently enough, trying to find a more challenging walking course, soon progressed to running up the one mile hill, and finally, about a month ago, just getting crazy and going for the whole enchalada of the six-mile Cotton Row race course (which, for some reason, I dearly love).
(see the full story in my blog of May 8, 2010)

So, today, after an amazing session last week (six miles - no stops), I did not feel quite as strong as last week, so my breathing was more labored than I would have preferred.
But I did not have to stop to walk, even though Runner and Running Central were having a discussion in mile 5 about just a short walk to allow my breathing to settle down a bit.
But by then, I was almost finished (within 20 minutes or less), and it was mostly down-hill.
So no stops were sanctioned.

And .... no body parts broke.
No ankle attachments or connections were unhappy.
Same for knees.
My hips like to whine a bit beginning about mile three, but this is usually such low-level mumbling that I cannot even discern what exactly is the problem.

I am wonderfully blessed.
For all my ratty, less-than-ideal genetic construction (I plan to talk to God about this in heaven), I have managed to run virtually uninjured for the last six years.
The same cannot be said for many runners who are much stronger than I.
So, I am again happy and enjoying another endorphin high.
.