One Day

Getting old is…well, it’s getting old.

Actually, I don’t consider myself old, yet. But I can see that at some point in the future I’m going to have to consider it. No, I’m not old but my body can’t do all that it used to so I’m making adjustments.

For the last month, as I prepare for my weekly long runs to train for the upcoming half-marathon, I’m paying close attention to my diet because without the proper fuel (balance between protein and carbs) I “hit the wall.” That is, my body literally runs out of energy and I can’t keep going. My running partner, who is my son in law …. exactly half my age, isn’t so cautious, but he doesn’t need to be.

Concurrent with this nutrition focus, we at work are preparing for the upcoming pecan harvest. I regularly remind the men that we will be putting in 12 or 13 hour days, six days a week for eight or nine weeks. I remind them because mental preparation, in my opinion, is key to physical stamina.

Then I realized that the similarity between my running and my work is staring me right in the face and the link between the two is that we work six days a week… not seven.

The one day that we cease our work is actually the fuel necessary to keep us going during harvest! Not only does it give us an opportunity to recover physically but mentally as well. Long distance running is as much a mental effort as it is a physical one. Long distance working is exactly the same thing.

So, I love that one day. Not because I don’t work but because it prepares me to do what I love for the next six days.