Running to basketball

OK… so I am not running much lately… but I am still active. That is why we run anyway isn’t it? So we can do the things we want to? I admit, that I do miss running… and I will make time for it soon… but right now I am just enjoying going to the gym with the family and playing in a basketball league for the first time in decades.

I love running… sure… but basketball was definitely my first love. Unfortunately I was neither tall are very athletically gifted… so my basketball career peeked at JV #2 for one year in high school. Ouch. I could always shoot though. I can remember shooting socks into a hamper in the hallway while listening to Blazer games on the radio. Then one Christmas I got one of those stand up basketball hoops for inside the house. Boy was that heaven. I shot and shot and shot and shot. Before practice in my JV #2 days I hit 50 free throws in a row. Shooting… I could do… the rest of the game… not so much.

When I was a kid I dreamed of having my own private indoor gym where I could shoot all day long. I remember when my grade school had open gym on Saturdays… I would go and play my heart out. The sound of sneakers squeaking… echoing of the gym walls… with wide open indoor space with huge ceilings… I just loved it… and dreamed of having a gym where I could play and shoot and listen to the Blazers on the radio.

Flash forward to 43… the skinny body is gone, but the kid is still in there somewhere and likes to go to the gym and shoot. It is obvious that my mid life crisis is to try all the old sports I used to play. I played on an adult baseball team, softball, racquetball, soccer, and now basketball. Of course I fit a marathon or three in there too.

There are a lot of 40+ year olds that just don’t have the bodies to be able to get out there actively anymore. I don’t want to be one of those people. Running certainly helps me in that department… and each year it gets harder and harder to be active without getting hurt.

I can remember when all the professional athletes were older than me. It seemed like they always would be. Now the 3rd oldest player in the NBA is 36. Thirty six is OLD? Now… I remember when 15 was old 20 was old… 21 was prefect… 30 was old… and 40 was ancient and another older was just inconceivable. I am in that range now… and though my body is certainly feeling the weight of the years… inside I am still the same kid that fell in love with sports. There is no reason to let that die. As long as I am blessed with a body that can move and stay in one piece… I will try my best to enjoy the gift.