Feeling my age

I came in to my new pursuit of running, confident and ready to tackle the task.

5K? 3 miles? No problem, I thought. I can easily walk it.

Then the reality hit that a 35-year-old woman, juggling a hectic schedule of work and family, can't just suddenly take on a new sport that easily.

At risk of sounding old, I can't run the whole distance and I've had periodic aches and pains, from my left hip to shin splints, to my current complaint of a sore right knee.

It's sometimes easy for me to forget that I am older. Time has gone by so quickly for me that I can't fathom that my son is 5, that I've been married 7 years, that I've been at the paper for 12.

But now my aging joints remind me, you're not a young chick, anymore!

Still, I am running, trying to keep to my schedule despite a brief bout with a cold, and am going forward with my first 5K this Saturday.