When I am Your Age

I know time is passing by much too quickly these days. I am reminded of this anytime I run into someone I have not seen in awhile and see the passing of years in the way they look. Whether it is someone that I knew when they were an infant that now towers over me, or someone that I went to college with that I barely recognize because time has not been kind to them, I see the effects of time all too well. I remember when time seemed to pass so slowly. It does not see that long ago, as a child waiting for the summer break from school or as a young manager waiting to have enough years of experience to get the job that I wanted, time used to crawl. Now looking back, the reality is that it has just flown by, and now I find myself in the “when I am your age” group.

I learned this for the first time as I was recently competing in a triathlon. The only thing I do not like about triathlons is that fact that your age is plastered on your leg for all to see. So, when you breeze by the “30 something” racer up a hill, you feel great, but likewise, when the “70 something” racer speeds by you out of transition, you begin to wonder where you went wrong.

In a race recently I had a younger triathlete pass me on the bike portion of the race who said “I hope when I get to be your age I am as strong as you” while pumping up a hill, she went on to say “I am just a beginner at triathlons…” Somehow I think there was a compliment somewhere in that comment, but I did not hear anything after “when I get to be your age”. As I glanced at the young biker’s age on her leg, she was 39. Ugh. I thought to myself, I was just 39, then looked down at my leg and was reminded that 39 for me was over 10 year ago. How does that happen?

In every race that I compete in, there are always – still – several people competing that are older than me. So, I too can say that I hope when I am their age…
But maybe not for long, as time continue to pass by, much too quickly. I am just glad that I am still out there, hopefully an example for some young beginner runner or triathlete as I get to be the ages of the competitors that I now look at and think “I hope I can look as good as they do when I get to be their age”. I remind myself that we will all get there someday…if we are lucky. And, I would much rather be in the race than not.