Saturday, September 10, 2005

I know two (exceptional) fifty year-old men who once jogged eight times around the park, so I felt a sort of obligation to be able to pull it off. In fact, I told myself that I would achieve it sometime in my life, but never did I let it become an obsession. At least, I didn’t think I had. Well… yesterday I felt the urge to give it a shot. I loaded my iPod Shuffle with my favorite rolas and jogged to the park.

The first lap seemed pretty long. (In fact, they were all long!) I hadn’t jogged in one or two months. The last time I jogged I had only done three laps, so a question mark hovered over my head all along. On the second lap I felt a slight pain on my thighs. On the third lap the discomfort transfered to my ankles. By the fourth lap I thought, “I’m barely half-way through?! O-kay, time to go!” It was also at that point when I felt a blister developing on the underside of my right foot. Lap number five came, and things started looking better… but now I felt like using the restroom — badly!

On lap number seven I took a step toward my house, but then I thought, “Ah, fuck it!” and kept on running. Everyone was passing me at the park ’cause I was jogging slower than a one-legged grandma, but it didn’t matter. I felt proud enough that it was my seventh lap non-stop. It was already dark; I must have been one of the four people still at the park (not counting the hobos who were probably pointing at me saying, “What a loser”). I was hoping that there wasn’t a sicko on the loose because at this point I could have been knocked down even by unfavorable wind; it was momentum that kept me going in the right direction. But hey, I pulled it off… I jogged to the park, did eight laps, and jogged home. It took me an hour and a half of non-stop jogging (about eight miles). A personal record! Oooh, the way my legs felt once I stopped. (Prior to this, my longest non-stop jogging session lasted about 40 minutes.)

Of course, there’s a side-effect to this stunt. It’s been almost 24 hours and I’m having trouble walking. I won’t be able to go play soccer this afternoon, but I knew that would be the case even before I took the first lap. It’s worth it, though… and I’ll give it another shot on my fiftieth year alive. At that age, I’ll call six laps an achievement. (I get easily tired. When I play soccer, I move so little that I should be dressed in black and handed a whistle. Throw in some dark glasses, a cane, and a guide dog for blind people and I’d be fit to ref in any CONCACAF soccer match! 😀 )

Current Weight: approx. 165 pounds

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