Number 11 - Exercise more!
Check.
Today I walked about 3 miles. It's a start. Actually better than the start I had back in 1982 when I first had the wild idea that I wanted to run. Unathletic me who had two small children set out to run for exercise for the first time and to build up until I could participate in some road races. It was a long, slow process.
The first race I went to I was going to participate in the fun run only (1 mile). Well, due to some mix up on the starting time, I got there just in time to run the 10K, which I did! Mind you, the longest distance I had run at home so far was maybe 2 miles, and here I was trying to run 6.2 miles. Yes, I did it! I ran all the way! In under 60 minutes too! That was the first of many races for me. A couple of weekends after that one, I ran a 5K (3.1 miles) and placed in my age group! Wow, was I ever surprised and pleased! As I came to learn though, it all depended on how many people of your age and gender run that determines how you place; you stand a much better chance in the smaller races. But I did earn quite a few medals over the years from racing. I still have them on my bedroom wall (Is that too prideful?). Maybe I need to remodel my bedroom. 
In 1986, I ran the Blue Angel Marathon (26.2 miles) in 4 hours, 8 minutes and 15 seconds. Ran all the way! When I first started training for it, I said "I'm going to do this even if I have to crawl part of it." Then I began to think "Oh, I might have to walk a little bit, but I can do 26.2 miles if it takes me all day." I "hit the wall" at about 18 miles and thought I was going to die! But I kept putting one foot in front of the other and at the finish line I couldn't believe that I had actually run the entire race. Whew, what a high!
There's nothing like the runner's high. What a glorious feeling! Man, I want to do that again!
So today I am starting the process to eventually be able to run races again. Will my old body let me do that at retirement age? We shall see. I'll keep you posted.
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