In 1976, I had the misfortune of contracting a serious
ailment that I’ve written about before on this blog: a blood clot in my leg
that traveled to my lung. Following a long recovery period, I returned to my young
man routines a shadow of my former self. My left leg twice the size of my right
one.
I had never jogged before. A hockey player in the winter,
softball as a kid in the summer, I had never been a runner. But in order to
keep my leg circulation in check, I found that if I ran (really not much more
than just shuffling along in the beginning), it helped a lot. Pain and swelling
went down; for months I had trouble sleeping; after I started running, my sleep
improved as did my healing.
Back then, I started running every other day. Every day put
too much strain on my left leg, but every other day seemed about right.
That was nine marathons ago … And since then I have run
every other day for 42 years, and my leg is still a problem but not at all what
it was.
Yep, Running for Your Life. Those can be words to live by.
Next: Running for Your
Life: Amity and Prosperity (Not What You Think)
