Fifty-one years ago today, a bright-fresh faced recent high school graduate raised his right hand swore to support and defend the Constitution. Then I flew in an airplane for the first time that day enroute to Cape May for ten weeks of fun in the summer sun of New Jersey. A life changing experience if there ever was one.

Ah to be seventeen once more and know what I know now. I believe just about anyone who has made it this far in life, often looks back on those days of naivety and wonder, then say those exact same words.

Oh well, enough of the dreaming of what can never be…

I did run today.

Though I didn’t have any real plan about what I would do until I saw how the body responded to my gentle reminder that it needed to move. Since it was raining the treadmill was my weapon of choice. It ended up being a little harder than I have been doing lately, and the body was strangely cooperative.

When I finished 15:00 minutes at an easy pace, I was feeling good so I kicked it up a couple of clicks for another 5:00 minutes. Nothing was bothering, I was still able to hold a conversation with the guy beside me without sounding like I was going to heave out a lung or anything. While doing that slightly faster pace, I decided that 1:00 minute repeats with 1:00 minute recoveries were not going to kill me or at least that was my plan.

I got to 19:00 minutes and pushed to something somewhat faster, but nothing stupid (like I’ve said before, I am trying to be smahtah). I did five by 1:00 minute repeats in a .1 for three and two at .2 increases in speed. Nothing hurt, though the left calf, which has plagued me since last November, decided it was time to warn me about being stoopid on the third repeat. Nothing serious, just a little reminder that we have been arguing for far too long. If it had gotten any worse I would have stopped (smahtah), but it quit complaining or at least I didn’t notice it and kept going.

Then I pushed it up to what used to be my recovery speed on the treadmill for one last repeat. Yeah, the ego still don’t like the idea that my fastest pace now is what not that long ago was my recovery speed. Oh well, I’ve sort of accepted it, but it still doesn’t mean I have to like it. Though I know that I need to keep my ego in check, otherwise running won’t be happening and walking will become difficult.

My official time for the run was 3.0/31:09, not super fast by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, I made it through with out breaking anything, nothing complained during the cool-down and as I write this post I feel quite good.

Oh yeah, to celebrate my return to the blog, with some of the Father’s Day gift cards, I found a great deal on a pair of Craft Pacer 1’s and they will be here Saturday. Especially, since I haven’t purchased a pair of running shoes since last September — I truly think that is the longest I have gone between new running shoes since I wore out a pair of Brooks in 1978. Personally, for me there is nothing like a pair of new running shoes to motivate me to run just a bit more seriously than I have in a while.

I even found my old Garmin and will start wearing it once more to see if my love/hate relationship with it continues or if I just stay with the tried and true Timex Ironman that is no fuss, no muss.

While I can’t have my youth back, but I can enjoy what I do have now. Who knows maybe if I can continue to be smahtah, I might even have fun with my running again. One thing that I do know is that I am more comfortable in my own skin now than I ever was then. There is something to be said about this getting older stuff, but the physical diminishment… well that plain old sucks.