Into the Wind at 53

Yesterday was my birthday. It was also Thursday which is the day we run. Earlier in the week, on our Tuesday run, I barely made it. Weather was beautiful, low humidity, NO wind. But I finished 4 minutes behind my niece when we usually finish within a minute of each other if that. When she passed me on the way back with a look of concern on her face I shrugged and shouted that I didn't know what my problem was or why I was so slow. By the time I made the turnaround and came back I felt like my legs weighed as much as Apollo Ono's (without the strength) and that I was having a pretty good asthma attack (and I don't have asthma!). That night I self-diagnosed myself with the onset of bronchitis. BUT I didn't want to go to the doctor because they would tell me (like they did last time) NO running for 7-10 days. WELL that is not a possibility as this Saturday is the last run in a SERIES of three. And if you run ALL THREE you receive the shirt that says you have completed the trail run. I have completed one that was in the rain (the entire race) and the other that went straight up the mountain out at the spillway and yes if you are running along with 60 or more people up a rocky incline that is only about 2 feet wide IT IS A MOUNTAIN!!! So there is NO WAY I am not going to FINISH and that is what a doctor's visit would amount to. Well I felt better the next day and not so bad Thursday. BUT, as we were running yesterday afternoon, I felt that old familiar leaden feeling settling in and breathing was a problem. NOT TO MENTION that yesterday the winds were out of the south (which is the direction we run for the first 2.5 miles) at TWENTY MILES an hour. I freaking hate the wind sick or well. But as I decided that I COULDN'T do the full run, I realized that I had turned 53 that day and being out on the road AT ALL was huge and that I needed to finish if for no other reason than it was my birthday. And the best gift I could give myself was to finish the course. And I did. Not as slow as the previous run but not as fast as normal either. Sort of in between. Which is where I feel like I am right now in my life. In between. Not old but certainly not young. And every day I feel as though I am pushing into the wind. But if I learned anything yesterday, it was that no matter how hard the wind of your life is blowing, if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and your eye on the finish line, you can do it. I did!!!