Sunday, September 8, 2013 - Chicken Walk
(Note from Jan: I liked “Sunday Afternoons with Fred” so much that I’m afraid to write another story. All well, feel the fear, do it anyway, and carry a pillow for when you fall flat on your face! :))
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I’m an absolute walk-a-holic.
That sounds rather ridiculous. How can something that is so good for you be bad for you? Well, for a variety of reasons my mental and physical health hinges on me getting in at least two hours a day of fast walking or the equivalent (such as Zumba.) I think that’s called addiction.
Whereas some husbands look at their wives and say, “Honey, you look like you could use a glass of wine…” my hubs says, “Jannie, you look like you need an hour of walking!” And he’s always right. And he’s always hoping I won’t drag him with me.
He can’t say that he wasn’t warned. When he first met me I was 18 years old and 25 pounds thinner than I am now. And I walked or cycled everywhere. The first time I invited Laurie (Laurence) to my apartment for a veggie-filled meal, I also took him for close to a four hour walk. I asked him what he remembered about this afternoon and he said, “Trying to find a bathroom as fast as I possibly could!”
It is possible to die for love! Or come close to it.
He should be happy that I’ve aged enough over the past 38 years that now two hours of fast walking will do it, and I normally only drag him for one hour of it.
He should also be happy that I’m not a runner. I WANT to be a runner. I have the soul of a runner. I think how nice it would be to run to grocery store or the public library instead of drive. But I do not have the body or the gait of a runner.
There have been many times when I have decided to let my inner runner, run free. The last time I went to the shoe section of an athletics store for help. In order to find the best shoe for me, the young lad said, “Show me how you run.” So I did. And I guess I looked rather like a chicken trying to learn to fly. He smiled at me and said, “Seriously, now.” (He thought I was kidding.) “Nobody runs like that. How do you really run?”
What could I say but “Like that, really.” We decided on a walking shoe, and so ended my running career for the next few years. But, I haven’t given up hope completely. I’ve heard of people who run their first marathon in their 80s. Gladys Burrill, affectionately known as the “Gladyator” ran her first Honolulu Marathon in 2004 at age 86. She finished in 8 hours 36 minutes and 25 seconds.
By age 87 (year 2005) Gladys had inspired so many people in the community that they often stopped her for hugs and photos along the way. But in the 2008 marathon, she said she wouldn’t be stopping for anyone because she wanted to focus on breaking her record.
Interviewed at 90 years old, Gladys said, "I do a lot of walking. Sunday, I did 20 miles…” And here my hubs is complaining about a mere hour of forced marching.
How does she do this? Said Gladys, “I just don't think about my age. God and I have a lot of strong connections and I try to take care of my health; and it's important to be positive."
At age 92 (2010) she was declared the world’s oldest female marathoner. And she has a male counterpart. One hundred and one year old runner, Fauja Singh, who is Sikh, stated, “The first 20 miles are not difficult. As for last six miles, I run while talking to God.”
There is a certain group of Faith-filled runners at the Boston Marathon who hold as their mantra a Christian scripture that states, “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (This is taken from “A letter to the Hebrews.”)
I asked my hubs – who will be age 96 when I am running at 92 – what this statement means to him. He responded, “Getting to the toilet in the nursing home as fast as I possibly can!”
Some things never change.
____________________________________________________________________________
I’m an absolute walk-a-holic.
That sounds rather ridiculous. How can something that is so good for you be bad for you? Well, for a variety of reasons my mental and physical health hinges on me getting in at least two hours a day of fast walking or the equivalent (such as Zumba.) I think that’s called addiction.
Whereas some husbands look at their wives and say, “Honey, you look like you could use a glass of wine…” my hubs says, “Jannie, you look like you need an hour of walking!” And he’s always right. And he’s always hoping I won’t drag him with me.
He can’t say that he wasn’t warned. When he first met me I was 18 years old and 25 pounds thinner than I am now. And I walked or cycled everywhere. The first time I invited Laurie (Laurence) to my apartment for a veggie-filled meal, I also took him for close to a four hour walk. I asked him what he remembered about this afternoon and he said, “Trying to find a bathroom as fast as I possibly could!”
It is possible to die for love! Or come close to it.
He should be happy that I’ve aged enough over the past 38 years that now two hours of fast walking will do it, and I normally only drag him for one hour of it.
He should also be happy that I’m not a runner. I WANT to be a runner. I have the soul of a runner. I think how nice it would be to run to grocery store or the public library instead of drive. But I do not have the body or the gait of a runner.
There have been many times when I have decided to let my inner runner, run free. The last time I went to the shoe section of an athletics store for help. In order to find the best shoe for me, the young lad said, “Show me how you run.” So I did. And I guess I looked rather like a chicken trying to learn to fly. He smiled at me and said, “Seriously, now.” (He thought I was kidding.) “Nobody runs like that. How do you really run?”
What could I say but “Like that, really.” We decided on a walking shoe, and so ended my running career for the next few years. But, I haven’t given up hope completely. I’ve heard of people who run their first marathon in their 80s. Gladys Burrill, affectionately known as the “Gladyator” ran her first Honolulu Marathon in 2004 at age 86. She finished in 8 hours 36 minutes and 25 seconds.
By age 87 (year 2005) Gladys had inspired so many people in the community that they often stopped her for hugs and photos along the way. But in the 2008 marathon, she said she wouldn’t be stopping for anyone because she wanted to focus on breaking her record.
Interviewed at 90 years old, Gladys said, "I do a lot of walking. Sunday, I did 20 miles…” And here my hubs is complaining about a mere hour of forced marching.
How does she do this? Said Gladys, “I just don't think about my age. God and I have a lot of strong connections and I try to take care of my health; and it's important to be positive."
At age 92 (2010) she was declared the world’s oldest female marathoner. And she has a male counterpart. One hundred and one year old runner, Fauja Singh, who is Sikh, stated, “The first 20 miles are not difficult. As for last six miles, I run while talking to God.”
There is a certain group of Faith-filled runners at the Boston Marathon who hold as their mantra a Christian scripture that states, “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (This is taken from “A letter to the Hebrews.”)
I asked my hubs – who will be age 96 when I am running at 92 – what this statement means to him. He responded, “Getting to the toilet in the nursing home as fast as I possibly can!”
Some things never change.