NOT Lance


Sometimes it's difficult to let go of the past, and the older one gets, the more "past" there is to let go of. I've oft been quoted (mostly by myself) as saying, "The older you get, the better you used to be." This is an unquestionable fact proven every day and night in bars, rec leagues and man caves throughout this country, if not throughout the world. Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" should be, like, the pregame music for almost every athletic activity not involving professional athletes. I should get it on my iPod and play it over and over and over, ad infinitum. But guys like Jeff just won't let me fade into the sunset.
Lance Armstrong had barely finished this year's Boston Marathon when Jeff alertly emailed me to note that my Boston marathon time was far better than Armstrong's and implying that, if I really wanted to, I could pound Lance into the pavement. Comparing my Boston time on 1984 to Armstrong's this year is a bit like comparing a Sopwith Camel to a Stealth bomber: both good in their time, but which one would YOU select to stand behind?. I mean, I was the male athlete of the year a total of...NO TIMES, compared to Lance's seven. I've seen crows but never dated anyone named "Crow" (or Sheryl, for that matter). I survived a tonsillectomy, six knee operations and an aneurysm; he almost died of cancer. Still, times don't lie, and the distance remains the same over the exact same course...it makes me wonder...
On the other hand, here is the final word on the recent "race" in which I competed. After all the results were tallied, I finished 3rd among males in my age group (55+). To add more humble pie to the mix, I finished behind a total of five people in that category...by several minutes, at that. Truly humbling. Momentarily, thanks to my buddy Jeff, I thought that if I started training NOW, I could beat a couple of those old-timers NEXT spring...providing no newcomers jump into that age group. After all, who wouldn't want a sweet medal in the shape of a phoenix for his or her chest?
Of course, if I don't tell anyone about the others, I could claim to have won the race in record time, (instead of missing a PR by more than 10 minutes!)proving that I CAN get better as I get older.
Glory days, indeed. Thanks, Jeff.