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>>>I've got great advice for anyone wanting to run in a marathon. Sit down and wait until the urge passes. The guy who wrote the book on jogging died from it! Have you ever been driving down the road and seen a jogger who was smiling? That should tell you something.
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>>It's been years since I did any running to speak of but I haven't forgotten that it isn't all drudgery and pain. The so-called "runner's high" really exists. As far as Jim Fixx, he had serious heart problems before he took up running. It probably lengthened his life, not shortened it. The health risks of running are minimal compared to those of being overweight and sedentary.
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>Yeah, so you totally ignored the part about a smiling jogger! My knees got done in playing high school football, plus jogging, weight lifting, horses, motorcycles, etc. Now that my back has been surgically repaired, I am getting back into some hiking, but I will never be a jogger again. I'm not going to miss it.

John;

One thing that you learn after age 25 – it is all downhill from there! Those injuries you received when you were young come back to plague you in the form of arthritis and other medical anomalies.

You get to a point in life where you either destroy yourself by letting that high school ego tell you, “I can still do it”, or you learn to respect your body! My goal is to fall apart gracefully, with great dignity, over a long period of time!

Remember Larry Csonka? He was that 6-3, 235-pound fullback, that played for the Miami Dolphins and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987. After he retired he bought a home in the mountains of Colorado. He was asked what it was like to wake up in the morning.

Larry answered, due to the injuries he had received playing football, it was very painful to get out of bed after waking up. He then described the major injuries and where and how much it hurt. Then he said, I think of all the football players I hurt which makes me feel better and then I can get out of bed! :)

Tom