Horse and Auto Racing

February, 2009

I have decided that a little bit of snow, sleet, slush, and frozen mud won't stop my regular morning jogs. I've bought some fairly lightweight, waterproof hiking boots, with rugged soles for good traction, and every morning I'm bundling up to get out there and run.

I'm not going as fast as I was last summer, or as far, and my wife, who actually enjoys running and is a better runner than I am, is staying in bed until the good weather returns, but I'm getting out there. This past fall, I finally ran better than a 10-minute mile, and I don't want to lose that good feeling.

I know, it's pathetic. I'll huff, and I'll puff, and you'll just leave me in your dust.

But that doesn't matter. Since I've started running regularly, at least 3 times a week, I've been feeling better, my bad back has cleared up, and my doctor says that my heart and lung efficiency have improved, which, with my family history, is reason enough to keep running.

It's bitter cold today, and as I got started running, I could feel it biting the back of my throught. The cold, the snow, the slush, the sleet, and the occasional frozen mud don't bother me so much, but pneumonia would, so maybe I won't run quite so much through the winter.

I've talked here before about Dara Torres, who, at 40, was the oldest woman on the women's swim team at the Beijing Olympics, where she won 3 silver medals just two years after giving birth. I think she proved that age and childbirth do not signify the end of a world-class career if an athlete is determined enough.

Well, in case we missed the point, Sarah Shleper drove it home again.

She's not a household name, but she is a three-time Olympian, and a world-class skier on the American team. She recently skied in the Giant Slalom World Cup race in Aspen. She hoped to finish in the top 30.

She finished 13th, overall. Shleper was not a likely pick to finish so high in the standings: she's 29, the oldest member of the US women's ski team, and in the last two years she's had a career threatening injury and given birth to her first child. She was determined to get back in competition, though, and like Torres, set her sights on the Olympics.

I think we should watch her closely. Someone with that kind of determination is likely to work through mere physical obstacles.

I like competition, and I like racing, and I even like a fast-paced life, but sometimes, you need to stop and look around.

Last night was December 1, and there was a spectacular conjunction in the early evening sky. A new crescent moon, the planet Venus, and the planet Jupiter were clustered together about halfway up from the Western horizon. The moon and Venus were clearly visible from about an hour before sunset, and Jupiter became visible as the sun went down. It was amazing, to see the three brightest objects in the nighttime sky so close together.

Jupiter has been visible, and prominent, for over a year now, while Venus has been a brilliant evening star for the last several months. This conjuction, however, is only for one night, and when it's gone, it won't come back. At least, not for a long time. I'm no astonomer, so I can't tell you when.

What I can tell you, is that this got me to stop my evening ride, dismount, and take a look. I sat on a park bench for a while, and watched the sky. Sometimes, I wondered why I run so much, so fast, and so far. Mostly, I just took a break, and let my mind wander. The world is bigger than we are, and sometimes we need the reminder.

I have a little niece, she's 4, and we get along great. One of her favorite games is, "Come and get me!"

That's the game where we're walking along, and she'll yell, "Come and get me!" as she takes off running. Of course, she's only 4, so even a clumsy, awkward runner like me can catch her, but she gets away half the time. I hafta admit, it's a lot of fun chasing her, but even more fun watching her run. She holds her hands up, takes as large a stride as she can, and tries to go fast! Sometimes, she even does go fast.

I don't say that to knock her. Toddlers need to learn everything, even competition, and if they're learning competition, then it should be friendly competition. We need to teach them how to run, and how to compete, and how to want to win, without teaching them to sacrifice everything to set a record, beat an opponent, or win a race. Kids need to learn that competition is fun before they can learn that competition is serious.

And so, I chase my little niece. Sometimes, I let her win, and sometimes, I pretend that she smoked me. Either way, she giggles until she's out of breath, and says, "Let's race again!"