After the Maine Half Marathon, Greg and I were talking to a woman who had run the half marathon at 7:45 pace and was about to hop on her bike and ride back through the course to see how her son was doing at the marathon.
She’s 50, came in 66th woman overall, placed in her age category, and was hopping on a bike to go check on her son.
Do I think this will be me in 18 years? No. But it does make you think about your long term running goals, doesn’t it? Speaking with her is additional proof that it’s possible to be extremely active and healthy for decades to come.
It means that I’m doing all this running not just for my immediate future and this race, but so I can settle into a pattern of active enjoyment that will get me to the starting line of half marathons when I’m 50, and hopefully even 60 and beyond.
It’s very possible. After all, I’m training hard and still can’t keep up with experienced runners in their 60s. This isn’t demoralizing, this is AMAZING.
I won’t pretend that aging is going to be easy just because I plan to stay active and remain a runner, but knowing that if I remain a persistent runner I can be able to run 13.1 miles for many more decades is awesome.
If you can run 13.1 miles, you can probably get down on the floor and play with your grand-kids, or chase them around the yard, or make it through a full day-trip without feeling exhausted to the point where it’s unenjoyable.
It’s not just about the 13.1… it’s about what your body is capable of handling if you’re in that kind of shape. That’s something I want for decades to come.
So when I think about my long term running goals, I realize that I just want to keep running. It’s fun to have a pace goal for Chilly this year and work hard towards it, but it’s more fun to realize that I’m doing enough just by getting out there and not being discouraged that I’m towards the back of the pack.
Sticking with it even if I never get much faster will still yield me the health benefits I’m looking for in the coming years.
When my kids tell their friends at school that they’re busy Sunday because Mom’s running another half marathon, do you think those kids are going to be like “well, how fast?”
When I line up at the start line of my 23rd half marathon at age 50, do you think I’m going to even remember the results of this next half marathon, or will I just be glad I kept putting in the miles, and am the grand-mother-to-be who can outrun most of the nation’s teenagers?
I think I know the answer.