Just a Thought

So many people running up and down the lake front which is great except for how many of them pass me but that's ok. I'm getting faster. Last run I had this bit of a thought.

Why do we run? There are a number of reasons I'm sure. To lose weight. To be healthier. To challenge yourself. To race. Combinations of these and others and their all legitimate. But I don't think you should run so as to live longer.

I know I don't. There are too many variables to living longer. You could be a 3 hour marathoner and get hit by lightning. You could run every day and then run in front of a car. Some diseases can sneak up on you whether you're in great shape or not. Running won't help you then.

Lately I've been spending time with my 93 year old dad. I've finally gotten him moved into an assisted living place where he can get. . .well, assisted. My dad can barely walk across the room. He has trouble getting up (he has a lift chair now). He has a wheel chair but not the strength to push it around. What's his particular ailment you might ask? For what ever reason he's spent the last several years sitting in his chair and watching TV. He used to golf, walk, work in his woodshop but as these things got harder to do (we're not sure what pains he has or from whence they come) he never looked to get things repaired (doctors are bad) or to simply challenge himself to keep a-going. He just began removing things from his can-do list until they were almost all gone. He resorted to the chair and over the course of years he has naturally gotten weaker and weaker. He puts it down to getting older and certainly that's a factor but that's not really why he is in SUCH a weakened condition.

He has a therapist now who is putting him on an exercise schedule. Why? Because if you use your muscles they will strengthen even if you're 93! My dad has lived to 93 and I have NEVER seen him run anywhere! He made it to old age by shear genetic luck (and a martini or 2 every night) and good for him. But now his day is a chair and the TV. That's it. So. . .

I don't run to so as to get older. I run in CASE I get older.