3.2 miles. That is the distance of my wife's little walking excursion. Up our street, down Veile Road, enter Lakewood and make the Northgate Crossing loop. Then home again. 3.2 miles of up and down hills, automatic lawn sprinklers and barking attack dogs.
I know all of this because I finally went on the walk with her. I had dreaded the journey, but once I got started, I felt a lot better, in fact, once I got started, I wanted to beat her. Instead of worrying that she would leave me in the dust, I wanted to end the walk just about ten feet in front of her.
Well, it could not have gone any better. I walked the flats and jogged the hills and waited for her at the top. I think I totally exhausted her. I was proud of myself. Maybe I still have it. Whatever "it" is.
Well, a couple of days ago, my wife is out of town, [story of our life the last eight years] my wife is out of town on business and my 23 year old daughter wants to take me on the 3.2 loop. Ok, I am in. It is another opportunity for me to show my prowess as a new member of the Olympic track team. She never played a lot of sports, so I should have this in the bag.
Off we go, walking at a brisk clip. I keep waiting for her to get tired. We come to the first hill. I have warned her that I jog the hills. I take off. 3/4 of the way up the top, I am out of gas and I quit. I hear a noise behind me, Jenny is still running. She says, Dad- if you are going to jog the hills, you have to jog to the top.
Well as you can imagine, the rest of the 3.2 loop was pretty painful with 55 year old me trying to keep up, and unsuccessfully trying to keep up with my 23 year old off spring. Only the price of life kept me from throwing in the towel and begging for a break. We arrived at home and I crashed.
Here is the moral of the story. There are many races in life that you may feel afraid of at first, but once you get started, you will feel a lot better about it all. Just don't try to race someone that is 30 years younger than you are.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
2 comments:
Cheering you on from the galley. This is great news, especially in this hot weather. Running is one of great antecdotes for stress.
Ooops, I meant to say walking (or running) is great for stress. And Jeff has his share of the stress word. Keep up the good work, and the one more way to have quality time with family.
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