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Maybe sardines are the answer

I don't know if it is more age (almost 37.5) or that I am not as physically active as I used to be, but lately I have had aches and pains that I thought were reserved for people in their 60s and older. Just this weekend, while at Mom's, my left calf really bothered me. I walked alongside a bike-riding Jordan and winced with almost every step. I bowed out of a walk the next day as well. Oddly enough, while at a park, the pain went away after awhile. I have no idea where it came from and why it left.

This came on the heels of my sore butt and thighs after walking in my hilly neighborhood one day last week. I finished the jaunt with a little run up my steep hill. I still would like to start running again. Of course, I have been saying this for over a year now, ever since I bought new running shoes, shoes that I took out of the box for the first time last fall, I think, just to make sure they were still there. I keep thinking back to the senior citizen I saw on TV last year who was running in a 5k. This woman had started running when she was 50 or 60 years, so I reason that when I am ready to get my butt back in gear, I will have time.

But I have also had this recurring pain in my right knee for the past few years. I notice it the most when I am walking up steps. On the morning I was laid off, probably just 30 minutes before the ax fell, I made a comment to a coworker that I was going to have to stop walking up the steps at work, that it hurt too much. At least that problem is solved! Of course, a smart person may think of this as a good reason NOT to run, or at least not up or down hills.

I watch Jordan, who has endless energy, and I want to be that way. She, like most kids her age, also stops eating when she is full, something I am not good it, mostly because I eat so fast. She should be my role model.

Or, it could be a guy I talked to at Big Lots yesterday. He held up the four packs of sardines he was going to buy and announced that this is the secret to long life; he was 90 years old. This guy seemed alert, and he had no discernible physical ailments. He seemed to be a ringing endorsement for sardines.

But will I start eating sardines? Probably not. And, realistically, I am probably not going to return to running anytime soon, although fitting a few more walks into my week does not seem impossible.

Until then, I will work through (or ignore) the aches and pains and just be glad I am around to feel them.

Comments

Mel said…
not sure if sardines are the answer. but honestly, they are good. I love 'em with saltines (plus that sounds good together, doesn't it? saltines and sardines?)

I always think of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea." I had to teach that one. I remember the old fart getting his cuppa oil every morning, I think--fish oil from some big drum of the stuff on shore. said it helped his eyes. it is very healthy for you AND is rumored to be great for joint health. hey, give it a go--it's also good on rice (I'd recommend basmati--the healthiest I have found, even better than brown). YUM. think of all the Asian people, especially the Japanese, who have lived on that combination for years--add some veggies and you can't go wrong.

plus sardines are cheap--about 60 or 65 cents at ALDI. love that place.
Facie said…
Thanks for the info. If I see sardines when I am in Aldi next week, I will try them.
Mel said…
they're next to the canned tuna. mmmmmmmmmm.

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