For more than 30 years, Sarah and I lived by schedules. Patients to see. Charts to complete. Questions/labs/radiology reports to review (even when we were on vacation.) Children to raise. Races to run. Responsibilities everywhere.
And now, when we spent our week out in the Hills, we experienced something we haven’t had much of during our married life. Absolutely no where we had to be…and nobody telling us where we needed to be. When we got up in the morning we could decide if we were going to hike, and where. Or do we go biking? Or just go take pictures? Or relax yet in the morning with some coffee and breakfast. No appointments. No schedules. No deadlines.
The first few days out there were more structured. We ran the Crazy Horse Half Marathon, and our friends Tom and Sue Beaudry were there. Tom and I helped each other finish the Half. They were there another couple days following this, and we got to spend some time exploring and hiking with them…and their dog Charlie. What a blast!
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But then…it was just the two of us! And something happened. We discovered the freedom of having no agenda. No other races or scheduled events. We both commented on this several times. “What are we going to do today?” “I don’t know. What do you want to do?” “Whatever we want!”
We tested out our new bike helmet. They were connected to WiFi, so we could just talk and we could hear each other without having to scream out what we were saying. That is the coolest thing!!
My word for the year again is “Adapt”. I am now discovering that adapt does not always have to mean dealing with something difficult. Sometimes adapting means learning how to enjoy freedom you’ve never really had before. Don’t get me wrong. We had a blast with our friends out there, and could’ve even done the whole week that way. But, the last 4 days we had. Just the two of us. And that is when we discovered something different. We could go wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted, and do whatever we wanted. And the best part then? We got to do it together! We’ve crossed a lot of finish lines over the years. But perhaps this is one of the starting lines we’ve been looking forward to the most. We got to find out about it sooner than I thought we would.
This trip is exactly what we have been training for. Not the Half Marathon itself. Everything that came afterward. Time with friends. Hikes. Bikes. The exploring. And then…time with Sarah. And the wonderful realization that we didn’t have to hurry back for anything (other than to rescue our daughter Megan who was watching our dog Dakota!) This is why we keep moving…so we can keep moving later.
So, as I always say…Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day of Newest Streak: # 963