Youth wasted on the legs of the young.

Through the midwestern winter, much of my running is done on a track at the health center of a local university. The students seem to favor the treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes, but a fair amount are on the track with me. When I started running there, I got used to them blowing by me on a regular basis (that’s not happening as much as it used to). But I also noticed none of them ran longer than me. Now, you might be thinking, “they’re running as far as you old man, it just doesn’t take them as long”. Point taken, but so many of them run only about a mile, if that. But then I remembered when I first started running in college. Although voluntary, it still felt like torture without end. I suspect it’s the same for them. Probably because they can run, but they don’t need to run. I need it.