Everyday heroes, Part One

There's this woman of indeterminate age in my neighborhood. I think she has Down's syndrome; I'm not sure.

I see her out walking just about the same time every day, no matter what the weather. She is not a small-framed woman, but she's out there getting her walk on just the same. She wears a Walkman or a Discman, and from what I can tell, she's out walking for more than just a walk around the block. Either that, or she walks a certain area a few times a day before calling it quits.

I admire the hell out of her. No excuses--she's out there walking.

There's also this really old gentleman I see when I'm on the NCR trail. I'm not on the trail as much these days, but I bet he is. He's got to be at least 80 if he's a day, maybe even 85 or so, but damned if he isn't out there running like clockwork. He's not a fast runner, of course, but damned if he isn't a steady one. And, he's out there. He's not using his age as his excuse to sit around and play canasta in a retirement community. If he does play canasta, it's either before or after he's out there running.

I read an article some months ago in either the Baltimore Sun or the Washington Post where this 91-year-old man said, "I run to beat time." He began running during JFK's presidency, and he's still going at it. If memory serves correctly, he was going to do a half-marathon that month.

Shit. I'd be glad to walk a half-marathon, and I'm in good physical condition. I've gone about 10 miles in one day on the trail, and have been nice and wiped out for a day or two afterward.

Sometimes, when I'm tired and/or cranky or just being plain-old lazy, and I'm really not in the mood to walk or exercise and looking for a handy-dandy excuse to sit, I think of one of the three of them, or all of the three. And I get up off my ass and go exercise.