I run because I want more life..

The advent of botox, plastic surgery, and other forms of cosmetic enhancement suggest that youth is something many desperately want to cling to. There are also age defying creams and lotions. You can also take advantage of cryogenics and seemingly live forever.

In the not too distant future, gene therapy may allow us to drink from the fountain of youth and never age. They say youth is wasted on the young and perhaps this is true as you rarely see the young ardently trying to cling to their youth in the same way that the 'youth challenged' do.

There are things I enjoyed about being younger, but there are plenty of things I experienced in my younger years that I have no interest in revisiting or prolonging. Becoming youth challenged isn't the end of the world.

As my youth becomes more challenged with each passing day, I've come to realize that receding (or disappearing) hair doesn't bother me. Nor do the more abundant wrinkles I see in the mirror. The idea of not being around eventually doesn't even necessarily bother me that much.

What bothers me most about getting older is life seems to move faster and faster. I know this isn't really the case, but perception is nine-tenths of the law. I perceive life to move much faster than it once did.

The breakneck pace of youth challenged life all but guarantees I will shuffle off this mortal coil with more than a few things left undone. This is admittedly a big bummer.

There is one way I know of to slow things down, though. Running slows the aging process. In effect, running grants more life.

At the end of the day, I don't give a shit about being young forever. What matters to me is having enough life to at least do 'most' of the things I would like to do. I figure running on a regular basis is buying me a few more years.

This means time to write a book. This means time to produce another event. This means time to make a few more people happy. It also means a few more opportunities to run.

I run because I want more life.