Earlier this week, I decided to run to North High School early in the morning to get some sprints in because it was 9 degrees outside. I get to the indoor track, and the basketball team is practicing, and an old man in walking. After stripping down out of my outdoor running gear, I run a few warmup laps, and then stretch for my sprints. I ran a 200 meter, and as I was walking back to the line, the elderly gent walks up to me and mentions that he use to do what I was currently doing; worked at it. He claimed he was 81 (I told him he didn't look older than 70), and shattered his hip in 2001. He went without surgery for a decade before getting it fixed. He claims his doctor is an idiot who can't figure out how the man is still alive, that he was born with a heart condition, his father was an acrobat associated with Turner Hall, and that he walks 60 minutes and stationary bikes 70 minutes daily.
The thing is, I believe this guy. He made comments regarding form and made mention of achilles tightness and shin splints in a way that persuaded me to think he had gone through it and discounted standard running as an exercise for himself. He was old, slow, and hunched over, but lively.
It made me wonder what I'll be like in 60 years...
(Written 11/22/15)
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