Training for the rest of my life

Today, Facebook greeted me with this:

Happy 45th birthday Bert & Ernie! Sesame Street first aired on this day in 1969.

Which of course slapped me in the face with, “Holy crap, I’m older than Bert & Ernie???”  When did that happen….

I usually don’t put much thought into aging, but something like this reminds me that I’m well into my 40’s.  I have the best friends who tell me how great I look, etc.  I don’t know how great I look, but I can attest to how great I feel.  And that’s what’s most important to me.  During this brief reflection on age, I also realize that the only other time I think about age is running related – you know, as in age groups.  I’ve celebrated a couple of age group placements over the years that are currently buried in my 15 minutes of fame bucket, but age groups have always brought my line of thinking to Boston Marathon qualifying times.  I mean, what a great way to embrace the march towards a new age group than to add 5 minutes to one’s BQ time! 

Lately though, I’m finding myself even less interested in qualifying for Boston (gasp!) and more interested in exploring new and different races.  A friend once said he was “training for the rest of his life” and that sentiment has stuck with me.  And as the age numbers creep upwards, the concept of training for the rest of my life feels more important than ever.  I want to stay healthy and fit when I venture into my next new age group.  I want to continue to meet new friends on this running exploration.  I want to visit new places (cities, trails).  I want to eventually place first in my age group because there are so few 70+ age group runners competing. 

As we find ourselves almost half-way through November, I’m hearing/reading a lot of expressions of, “2014 season is over” and “can’t wait to launch my 2015 training schedule”, etc.  True, my big A race for 2014 is indeed in the past and I have no races planned for the remainder of 2014.  But I believe the training continues even through the “off season”.  The training intensity may slack a bit and the holiday goodies may threaten the leanness so hard fought for during the year, but training for the rest of my life continues.  Through the Winter.  Through the Spring.  Through, well… the rest of my life.

Who's with me!