The older I get the more I like to pretend I’m younger than I really am. I don’t do young things mind you. You’ll never find me at a club gettin’ low, nor will I be spending all my money on cases of beer and top ramen. I do, however, like to bask in the fact that I can still run fast, I don’t have to watch what I eat and I can take my shirt off without sucking my gut in. I know I’m not terribly old…but, I think I’m at the beginning of the end. I’m sensing it’s just around the corner.
The last few weeks, I’ve noticed a dip in energy every time I go to the gym or get out on the soccer field. Before, I never had to stretch or run or anything. I could just strap my cleats on and go play for 90 minutes in the sun…oh how things have changed. Now I like to sit on the couch and watch tv. The thought of getting up and running or lifting weights bugs me. Is that a sign of getting old?? My high metabolism and never ending stream of energy has begun to short change me.
Maybe it’s because I was pretty sick only a couple weeks ago…but I feel like this is it. This is the beginning of a long way down. In a couple years the gut will show, the younger guys will start passing me on the track and I’ll have to learn how to master the gut in-chest out move that older men still seem to think works.
I think what this really means is that in order to do those things I’ve liked to do for so long, the running, soccer, etc…I’ll have to do them more often…like not just for fun or for a physical training test. In order to be able to run for 90 minutes on a soccer field I’m going to have to run every day. I’m going to actually have to go to a gym if I want to continue to run with the 21 year olds. It’s either that or start buying bigger jeans.
Actually, who knows…maybe not. Maybe I can just start the butt imprint in the couch. Maybe I’ll sit around and read all day. I think I’d look pretty cool with a gut.
