RANDOM #24

I will be turning 48 at the end of this month. If I am going to live until 90 then I will be more than halfway that age. Reaching this age in an excellent health condition is quite an achievement.  My lab tests results are normal. The same with my BP and target heart rate. My weight is ideal based on my age, body frame and height. Since I started monitoring my runs last March 2014, I have already covered a distance of more than five hundred kilometers, consisting of fifty runs with an average pace of 6 minutes and 24 seconds. I have established my personal bests in some of my runs; 25:49 for 5K, 55:50 for 10K, and 2:11:14 for 21K (half-marathon) considering that it was only last December 2014 when I started running again. And these runs will continue not only until I reach my goal of finishing a full marathon but until my body runs out of steam.

Now the question is, what made it possible for me to do this? The answer is perseverance and discipline. Perseverance because I have to push myself beyond what I thought to be the limits of my physical and mental strengths. I have to relive within me the competitive spirit to challenge what I am capable of. I have to accept that body pains including injuries are parts of the process to improve what I do.

Discipline, on the other hand provided the means for me to put everything in order to accomplish what I want to achieve. I need to reduce my weight and then maintain it to an ideal level to improve my runs.  I was overweight by eight kilograms when I started running again. Discipline made it possible for me shed that excess weight only after a couple of months.  There should be a program that I have to start with and continue doing on a regular basis. Bad habits are to be avoided and replaced by good ones. I should be consistent in doing my health promoting routines and activities; and be extra cautious of what I eat and drink.

Mine is not a perfect template to achieve a healthy lifestyle. This is one thing that I want to emphasize. I still have some lapses when it comes to proper physical conditioning and maintaining a healthy diet. But what I did and still doing right now has brought me to a level of physical and mental comfort. That is to me is more than enough.  The lapses are there to remind me that learning to be fit and healthy is a continuous process. That I can still push myself a bit farther and harder to be more productive and enjoy this gift of life.

At 48, I am also in the point of my career where I have to start again and revive the same competitive spirit in a totally different environment. Unlike in running where I am totally in-charge with the goals that I want to achieve, this time I have to deal with situations that are way beyond my control. Looking at an unfamiliar route, I have to make sure that I have the required tools, expected skills and the right attitude to conquer my fears and eventually finish the race.

Running might be a different pursuit compared with the career that I need to reestablish at this age but the principles for thriving are just the same. Perseverance and discipline will also make it possible for me to reignite the fire of enthusiasm and let it continue burning within me until I finally reach a certain degree of comfort and security. Finally, I can still make use of that obsession I have with running; redirect it towards this unfamiliar path and then secure a space where I can start to work on chasing that elusive dream.

RMP
8/16/2015
Winnipeg MB Canada