Golden Age

It came and went pretty quickly, but I sort of celebrated my 45th birthday last Friday. It wasn't like I was dreading it or anything. I just happened to be in Tampa for work and had no time to really contemplate it until later in the day when we were done at the convention center. After getting in a run on the hotel treadmill, I met up with a couple co-workers at an outdoor bar, where we had to wait out a thunderstorm before we could go get dinner, which we didn't eat until around 10 p.m.

One constant reminder of the occasion was my phone, which buzzed every time somebody wished me a happy birthday on Facebook. That's one tangible benefit of FB; you never forget somebody's birthday (if they reveal it) and you always get the gratification of many birthday greetings throughout the day. And honestly, when you get to my age, that's pretty much all you need. It was great to come home to birthday greetings scrawled in sidewalk chalk by the girls and homemade cards and a cake.

Other than my hair getting grayer and thinner, I'm holding up fairly well physically for my age. The injuries tend to nag a little longer, which is why I dropped down from the full marathon to the half at this Sunday's Smuttynose Rockfest. I got about 10 weeks into my marathon training, but the long runs were miserable because of the heat and humidity. And my left heel started developing plantar fasciitis, so it seemed smarter to dial it back on the mileage. When I did Reach the Beach, it was really bothering me on my last run, but it feels a little better now. After Sunday, I need to focus on getting it better.

It's a little hard to believe I'm halfway through my 40s, but I'm okay with it. Definitely snuck up on me, though. The important thing is to continue kicking as much ass as possible.