I started keeping this blog at the beginning of the year, and I titled it "Run to 50" in anticipation of my turning 50 and thinking it'd be interesting to metaphorically run my way there.
Well? Today's the day I turn 50. It's a sobering milestone. 30 didn't bug me. Even 40 passed by me without a care, even though by then my fitness was fading. I didn't start feeling old until I was halfway into my 40s as I grew frustrated with how sedentary I'd become. I was starting to get stiff, creaky and just generally low in energy.
Here I am at 50 now, and I've been "in shape" for almost 2 years. I may not have turned back the clock on my mortality, but I've reconnected to the old active "young Bob" that I used to know. Age has taken its toll and I'm not as spry or quick as I once was. It takes longer to recover from injury or from intense workouts. And I know that somewhere in the not too distant future, my performance gains are going to meet the falling ceiling that is inevitable with aging.
But rather than just wait for that ceiling to come down to me, I'm going to climb to meet it and maximize what time and this entropic universe have left in store for me. One of the exciting things about turning 50 is it moves me into the next age division, where I might find I have more competitive advantages and could, maybe, challenge for some higher race placings as my abilities improve. It also moves my Boston qualifying time from 3 hrs 30 minutes to 3hrs 35 minutes. That may not sound like a lot, but it's a difference of about 10 seconds per mile in pacing. That's pretty huge.
So, goodbye to my fifth decade here on earth. That's a half century of living. No time to dwell on it. Time to look ahead and "keep moving forward." I guess I should close out this blog and switch to another one with a new, more appropriate title: "Run to 51 ".
