I overheard the three runners talking right when I hit the eight and a half mile mark of the race. They were young, in their twenties. They were on the tall side, slim and fit. They sported crew cuts, and they had good running form. They were talking about me.
"We can't let this guy get past us," one of them said. And then I realized. He hadn't said "We can't let this guy pass us," He had said, "We can't let this old guy pass us."
That was all I needed to hear. I checked my watch - I was already back down to a 6:18 pace, and there was just one mile to go in the race. I didn't say a word.
I would let my legs do the talking. I would pick it up a bit.
This book is about more than running...
It's about what I call "The Lifestyle": Creating
a strong foundation for success, no matter what your age-to keep active and fit
and healthy, not just physically but mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well.
The challenge of life is to learn how to keep growing to keep getting better and
not peak too soon. Not in a way that is measured by times or records or statistics,
but by how you feel about things that really matter, like friends, family, career.
Life.
I'm not claiming to have all the answers-I'm still working a lot of them out myself-but at least we can have some fun asking the questions. And maybe, just maybe, we can make some of those young people sweat a little harder to beat us at the finish line.
Who knows? Maybe we'll be the ones who win.
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