OK, maybe the title of this post should have an asterisk next to it. A more accurate statement would be that I’m running faster than ever before— since I started running almost every day at the age of 65, 8 years ago.
I didn’t predict this would happen. When I decided in 2016 to start running on the dirt roads by my home, I was terrible at it. I couldn’t run up the first hill. After a few months, I could. My running slowly improved, and it eventually became an activity I no longer dreaded.
After a few years, the speed at which I ran my hilly, 2-mile route almost every day plateaued. I assumed that was it.
And I was OK with that.
Running faster than ever
Yet, recently, for some mysterious reason, I’ve clipped what for me is a significant amount of time off the route I’ve been running for years.
Running my 1st hilly mile in ten minutes is an excellent time for me. The best I’ve ever run it was nine minutes and 40 seconds. Yet, somehow, the last four times I ran the same mile, I took nine minutes and 30 seconds, nine minutes and 15 seconds, nine minutes and 20 seconds, and nine minutes and 25 seconds.
I didn’t even think I was running fast.
I don’t compete with myself (or anyone else). Sometimes, I take it easy by walking some of my route. At the end of last year, I twinged my knee and for six months ran slowly and gingerly. I wondered whether the warning pain would ever go away. Eventually, it did.
Running on dirt roads rather than smooth surfaces, and cutting way back when I feel twinges or pain have been helpful strategies for me.
Being OK with what happens next
I’m writing this post as an observation, not a cry of triumph. At 72, I’m well aware that if I’m not careful, my daily running could be cut short by a trip or stumble or just the slow inevitable deterioration of my body as I age.
Still, it’s encouraging that I can run a route that I’ve been running for five years at my age faster than I ever have before. What’s important is for me to be OK with the fact that my running is not going to continue to improve forever. It might be brought completely to a stop at any time. If/when that happens, I want to be OK about it.
For now, I’ll marvel at what my body seems to be able to do and enjoy, in the moment, my daily run.