Retirement is not without Hassles: He’s Back #2395

—Michael Jordan

My return to the pavement is hardly noteworthy to most people, but yesterday I was certain was the last day of my Running Streak. I was envisioning the private celebrations of fellow streakers about to move ahead of me in this imaginary race that would hopefully never end. I had worked my way up to the Top 200 positions in the world, only to discover that as word spread on who had accomplished what, I now stand at #226 of the active longest running streaks in the world. No one ever seems to drop out. It’s a stubborn group of disciplined runners that somehow just keep going despite any adversity. I only know a couple of these warriors out of the thousands that are listed on the registry. www.runeveryday.com

With a brace on my right wrist where the catheter was inserted yesterday at the hospital, I was able to convince my cardiologist to run the minimum mile to maintain my place in the race. Fortunately, he found no blockages. Although I couldn’t do the usual 88 warm-up push-ups, today was day #5,380 of running every day, dating back to 2008. It hardly compares to the leader’s start date of 1969. A Massachusetts woman is tied with me but she’s 23-years younger. Most everyone is younger, with the exception of about 35 individuals that continue to stay in front of me. Some are so far ahead that I will never catch them in my lifetime even if they’ve already dropped out of the race. 

In two more weeks, I will have a second heart procedure, a (TEE) Transesophageal Echocardiograph that could pose another threat to my Streak.  Of course, other unpredictable factors like injury, weather, or worse could put a quick stop to it at any time. I’ve been fortunate through the years to avoid any such setbacks. Eventually, this is going to lead to surgery to repair the aneurism that has existed in my aorta for years, posing a threat to more than just the end of a silly Streak. He’s back….for now!