50

 On December 10th of 2020, I turned 50. I have to admit that his one hit me kind of hard. 

I am officially old and I started acting like it.

It didn't help that there was a pandemic going on and we were all trapped in our houses with nothing to do but watching Netflix and eating crap. I liked washing down that crap with an occasional beer. It also didn't help that I work in a dining hall at the local college and at this college they have an exceptionally good bake shop. As a manager in this location it is my duty (or at least that is what I tell myself) to sample the items that we served the students. 

I was also recovering from two separate injuries at the time, well not really separate, but the same injury in both legs. I am not sure what I did but both Achilles tendons felt like they might of been torn. Of course I never went to the doctor because I didn't want them to tell me I had to stop running. Because of the fact that I did not take the needed break to heal I ended up developing a massive pain in my foot as well. I still kept running, or at least tried to. 

In March of 2021 I came down with COVID, I am not entirely sure where I got it, I want to believe that it was from the local Walmart, but it was more likely from the local bar I went to to have a pint of Guinness with some friends to celebrate St. Patty's day. This is my wife's theory and she is usually right (I hate that).

The thing about that is, I was forced to rest. I didn't leave my room for 10 days and although I was blessed to have an extremely mild case of the virus, it helped my body heal. When I got back to running my legs and foot felt 100% better and was running with very little to no pain. 

Things were pretty good, until things got warmer.

When the heat and humidity started cranking up I noticed that I was having a hard time breathing, my heart rate started going up on even the simplest of workouts. My chest started to feel like it had a rock in it. I got to a point where I could barely run a mile without stopping. It was also showing up in my everyday life as well, if I exerted myself in any way. I would start to feel the symptoms coming on. Post COVID is no joke.

With everything going on from my birthday on, I gained over 20 pounds. I was at the heaviest I have ever been, I was about ready to throw in the towel and accept the fact that this was my life now. I was going to take pride in the fact that my man boobs were getting larger and that my belly was getting round. My golden years will be me being a fat old man reminiscing about the golden days and being tortured about what could have been.

Laurel Run 2021 in Silver Creek NY.
Definitely a low point in my running career

I was getting depressed, and was about to hit an all time low when my wife came to me about this program called E2M (Eager 2 Motivate), a friend of ours was doing this program and was having great success with it. It is a get fit program that concentrates on proper diet and exercising the whole body. I discovered that there are some co-workers, former classmates and other friends who are in this program as well. They are all achieving such wonderful results. We decided to join, and I am glad we did. After a rough first week, I am starting to feel so much better. Although I am still struggling to breathe at times, the symptoms  have been getting better. I am glad we joined and love the support we have been getting through the program from the coaches and fellow team members.

So I decided to start this journal detailing the good and the bad about being a runner on the other side of 50. I have decided to look at the experiences of the last couple years as way of my body telling me I need to refocus and start anew. I am looking forward to what this will bring me, I am setting new goals, meeting new people , reconnecting with old friends and most of all making my relationship with my wife an even stronger one. I am believing that some dreams that I thought were dead, are not. I will detail those dreams in some future posts. 

But for now, I am embracing who I am. That is a husband, father, brother, friend and runner on the other side of 50.