Pace

I was under the impression that you had to slow down as you got older. Your bones and joints would wear out.

The saying is out there. Too old to do that. I can’t do that like I used to. Those days are over for me.

I discovered that it’s not true. In fact, the opposite. If you think you are old, you get old. Self fulfilling prophesy. Mentally, to stop doing something because I think I am supposed to tone down was a big mistake.

So I changed my thinking. In my early years I took very big risks because I didn’t know what risks were. You do things and survive and later learn that others did things and died. That is called wisdom.

I used to run a lot when I was growing up. At the age of about thirteen years old my mom called be a “butterball”. Dad discovered the day old bakery and brought home oodles of bread, rolls and sweets. One of my favourites was white bread smeared with mayonnaise (only). I think that is how I became “butterball”.

There was one neighbour who looked to be a professional runner. I would see him from time to time. A real athlete. Had the right attire, looked like a runner and looked very concentrated in spite of the fact that I stood by the side of the road looking at him as though he were about to cross the finish line.

I wanted to be like him and that stuck with me for a long long time. When I joined the Navy that’s just what I did. I ran and ran. Every country we visited from Japan, Philippines, France, Spain, Greece, Italy, Egypt and others I got off the ship and ran.

After the Navy I also ran, but not as much. Eventually got into weights and somebody told me that running was not as good as weights and unfortunately I believed them.

Over the years I had a few missteps that caused aches and pains here and there. From smashing my foot against a stump while kicking a soccer ball to straining my arm climbing an anchor chain. I had back pains, hip pains, foot and shoulder pains. Others were on their way. I still had the pains when working with weights.

I though my running days were over and I should stick with the weights. Bad and misguided idea.

My foot and toes ached when I walked a distance and my shoulders hurt. I couldn’t scratch my back. As the theory goes. Old, now so cant do that.

Pandemic. So I started running again. I ran and ran and ran. First two to three kilometers a day and gradually up to ten. After each run I would do two hours of “Antagonistic” exercises. Doing curls, bench and pressure stretches with arm against arm.

I can scratch my own back. No pains at all. No foot pains, no back pains.

The trick is PACE running, not jogging, but running. I don’t land on my heals nor flatfooted. I spring on my forefoot. Like shocks on a car the spring action protects my joints from impact.

I eat, run and exercise with a certain pace. The aim is to work every muscle again and again. I do mostly pace and intermittent sprints.

The pace needs to be frequent, no long days of rest. Just once a week. I use my running time to think and reflect on what I am going to do. I manage to solve problems better while running and thinking. The constant flow of blood opens up the tiniest of veins and feeds the whole body so parts unknown can be renewed.

There doesn’t seem to be any other exercise that does so much as running does. I’ve tried many things. Tennis, squash, racketball, basketball and TV.

My sister always measured her food. I thought it was an overkill. But she was right. There is no such thing as portion control which is calorie intake control if you don’t measure. So my hat off to her.

I eat three meals, but with measured portions based on a protein cup. My rice, lentils and other dried foods are measured this way. The greens are based on what I can fit on a small plate. Oh. No sugar, no sweets but once a week I get apples and some other fruit that lasts just a few days.

Don’t buy anything you will regret eating. There is no such as thing as resisting temptation. I cant. Fortunately, I am too lazy to go to the store and cheat. So I just eat good food as an alternative.

It works. I can feel the fat burning right off of my body. And I don’t feel any hunger pangs.

I think I can apply PACE to other things in my life. But for now, the goal is to be healthy.