[at-l] But how old do you FEEL? was Let's hear from Solar Bear

[tmcginnis@ucclan.state.in.us (Thomas McGinnis)]

_____DEAD RUNNERS: I APOLOGIZE FOR THE CROSS-POST, BUT THE CONTENT SEEMED TO 
                   BEG FOR IT. CARPE VIAM! 
_________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: [at-l] Re: Let's hear from Solar Bear
Author:  Cybrwallz@aol.com at ima
Date:    6/15/99 11:41 PM

<SNIPPAGE>
But hey, at least I got carded...and given I'm old enough to have given birth 
to some of you young whippersnappers, I think that certifies my hiker babedom 
for now, eh?
     
Cheers, Navigator

     Sloetoe respondeth suchlike:
     I've got to admit, as I contemplate and lightly sample The Dating Game 
     again, after XX years of monogamy, some of the "babes" to which 
     *might* be attracted could conceivably (oh PARDON the pun) qualify as 
     my daughters! Jeeeeez!
     But I don't FEEL that old! My general mentality just eeked out of 
     18ish into early20s-ish. Yesterday, I did a noontime run in 17:55, of 
     a route on which my BEST time seven years ago (when I thought I was in 
     pretty good shape) was 18:25. That's pretty good, without counting the 
     fact that three days prior I ran a marathon on 90 minutes of sleep. 
     (We can all thank DATTO998@YAHOO.COM for that one! But that's another 
     story, eh.) Yesterday's run was a gentle "recovery" run. Wow!
     I don't know...physically...mentally...I just...I have ALWAYS been bad 
     at judging *others'* age, and now it's true for myself, too. But think 
     about it: any time hikers get together -- Trail Days, Gatherings, on 
     the AT, or on the AT-L(!), the "old folks" among us have (generally) a 
     quality which suggests THEIR minds are "young" or at least "ageless" 
     too! Someone said recently that those types of seniors are the model 
     by which they wish to age -- and I guess that goes for me, too.
     
     So how old do YOU feel?
     
     Me? I'm rockin' and loving it. Youth isn't wasted on the young, it's 
     apportioned to make up for the wisdom part. Churchill said 
     (paraphrased) "They who are not liberals in their youth, have no 
     heart; and they who are not conservatives in maturity, have no 
     brains." Me? I'm loving middle age.
     
     Sloetoe



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