Wednesday, August 4, 2010

In his hay day...

As I was going through my email this morning I saw a message from my grandmother's account... when I opened it up I was so excited to see that it was actually from my grandfather... who never sends emails!

He was writing to make sure I wasn't pushing it too hard with the running, and that I wasn't pushing the boys too hard. He had seen a weather announcement for our area with 106/107 degree days... he was concerned. In it he also gave some pointers... in his hay day he was quite an athlete. Up until the last decade or so he was an avid runner/biker/tennis dude/gym buff. Like all things though, age has taken it's toll and with knee replacements and back surgeries to relieve pain he spends his time mostly at the gym to do what he can and use their sauna/spas.

Some of my earliest memories of my grandparents are of them and their outdoor and active lifestyle. They were always down at the Racket Club playing tennis with the seniors club, or swimming what seemed to be (to a tiny tot) a million laps in the pool. I knew my grandfather was a runner, but I didn't really remember the details of what he did.

Anyway, at the bottom of my grandfather's email he added some of his timed mileage that he had handy... mind you these where when he was in his 50's...

They may not be my best, but they are some I have record of.

1 mile 5:31

2 Mile 11:34

3 miles 18:20

4 miles 26:33

5 miles 35:05

6 Miles 39:45

10 miles 1:11:49

Houston Marathon 3hr 45 minutes in 1980

People... in his 50's he was CRAZY FAST!!!! My goal right now... a 10 minute mile! I have one of the coolest grandfathers ever!

2 comments:

nicole said...

Wow. I am also shooting for a ten minute mile eventually. What an amazing man!

Elizabeth said...

Are you sure he's a mere mortal? That's very impressive.