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Tag Archives: Zumba

Middle Aged Prime

14 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Jazzercise, karen mahoney, symphysis, tiny dancer, WSJ, Zumba

I forget the context but a friend on facebook recently called me middle age.  Ray called me a couple of other things too which I didn’t debate but I did ask him to define middle age.  He responded over 40.  Hmm.  Then I read a story in the WSJ this morning on mid life crises and related nuances of my age.  What’s weird to me is that I just never feel it.  Of course I’m middle age but I don’t spend much time looking at myself and if it weren’t for the reminders like my symphysis pubis arthritis and friends like Ray, I’d be oblivious to it.

But now I’m thinking about it.  I guess that’s what you do with all the free time available to us pending seniors.  But Honey Badger don’t care.  Honey Badger don’t give a shit.  I find it ironic, and not the least bit vain, that Karen and I are in better shape than we were ten years ago.  That’s less true about Karen because she’s been good about maintaining her shape over the years.  She never let herself go as far as I did.  Friends and family constantly inform me that Karen looks so young for her age.  Perhaps because I tend to consider this a backwards compliment, I respond on how the 2′ x 7′ foot slab of double vanity granite in our master bath is a virtual shrine to the mid-life industrial complex.

With my preoccupation over the thought of middle age building, I did what any other average 49 year old with 4 wifi servers in his house would do – I googled middle aged runners.  I came across this cool blog that has a similar theme as mine but the writer probably does a better job at chronicling his races.  And apparently he runs faster than me.  But not by much and reading it motivated me to get in a good workout today.

I’m actually fine with the direction the second half of my life is taking.  I seem to be improving upon my areas of interest.  I’m reading more.  I’m focusing more on trading which for me is more about enjoying a hobby than about planning for retirement.  And Karen and I both are clearly putting much more time into fitness.  Karen doesn’t run, she’s my tiny dancer.  She likes to dance as an aerobics instructor.  This is not something one makes money at – trust me.  You can argue you’re not paying for a gym membership, but the appeal of teaching is that the time spent making a playlist, choreographing the routine and practicing serves as a much more intense and satisfying fitness experience.  Karen taught Jazzercise for over 5 years and has now moved on to teaching Zumba.  She compares them by describing Jazzercise as aerobics with a dance flair to it while Zumba is dance with an aerobics quality.  She favors Zumba.

So after having thought about what I’m doing in my middle years, I’m happy.  That I’m actually becoming more fit each year as I age is a blessing.  I feel fortunate.  The last few years of returning to racing and hiking in the mountains is like reliving the best times of my youth.  It’s a fantasy really.  I’m good with it.

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2011 Holidays

16 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Storytelling

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Christmas, party, Zumba

Wow, am I ever ready for the holidays.  Put a fork in me because I am done for the year.  I just finished for the day – it was supposed to be a half day but I couldn’t get it all done in 4 hours.  Now that I’m officially on holiday, I can sit back and get all introspective on 2011 and think forward to celebrating the holidays with family.

I’m sipping a Heinenken Light and watching Jim Cramer after having squeezed in a short run.  Soon, I’ll go buy some fondue dipping food for tonight’s Christmas party.  The beauty of my neighborhood parties is there’s no risk of drinking and driving, the women are all hotties and the guys can out-cook Emeril.

Tomorrow, I might put up some lights on the front porch.  I’ve never been this late before but work has been unreal.  You’d think a guy who works from his basement could get more done around the house.  I have a little more shopping to do tomorrow.  Karen and I will have to coordinate schedules because we’re down to one car.  Karen was rear-ended the other day so the Accord is in the shop.  The lady who hit her was in her 80s; Karen felt sorry for her because the lady was afraid she would lose her license.

I need to finish up mailing out Christmas cards too.  Karen got about half of them done.  She’s busier now because she started a new HR job last week.  And she’s dancing Zumba every day.  There should be plenty of time this weekend to get everything done.  We’ll send the dog to the ranch and line up a house sitter.  Monday we’ll head out, picking up Brit in Denver along the way, to Austin for the holidays.  Party on!

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Snow Angels and Blisters

03 Saturday Dec 2011

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Running

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Tags

blisters, gaiters, ginger snaps, molasses, waterproof, Zumba

While Karen was out dancing Zumba, Brie came to the door asking if I had any molasses for her sister Bella.  As a matter a fact, I do.  I handed her the jar and she was gone.  Not much more than a half hour later, there was another knock at my door.  I opened it to discover my jar of molasses and a plate of ginger snaps lying on my front porch.  After eating those for lunch, it was clear I would need to get out in the snow and 20° for a run.

It’s fair to say winter came in with December.  It snowed on December 1st with a cold front and hasn’t let up.  And I’ve been running in it but will admit to over-dressing.  By day 3 though I feel I’ve finally acclimated to the cold.  I wore shorts and felt good – there wasn’t any wind to speak of.  I might not have needed the running gloves but suspect they were a good call too.  I have fleece skull caps of various thickness and wore a thin one – again good call.  And the two long-sleeve shirts, one Under Armour Cold Gear and the other fleece – could not have been more comfortable.  But where I thought I was totally brilliant was in wearing the gaiters to keep the snow off my shoes.

After running a hundred yards or so on the snow, it occurred to me I should have worn my trail running shoes.  In addition to providing traction, they are waterproof.  I was able to accommodate my pace and footfalls to avoid slipping, but after a couple of miles I felt my shoes becoming wet despite the gaiters.  Had I worn my longer gaiters, they might have protected my shoes better.  They might have made my shins hot, those puppies are really warm, but they do a much better job of covering my shoes.  After 3 miles, I felt blisters forming on my arches.  It then occurred to me my biggest gear failure was in wearing cotton socks.  Critical mistake – I should know better.  This was my turn-around point on the trail, no choice but to run in blisters for another 3 miles.  Darn it.

Still, the snow itself was nice.  Four to six inches of fresh powder.  Snow runs are the best.  Might need band-aids but looking forward to another good run tomorrow.

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