Sick for a Week, Met Louis

Last month, I've made the crushing discovery that Jiu-jitsu doesn't shield me

from bugs. In fact, it might give them more chances. Into May, I trained four

days a week since recovering from a back injury and the joy hadn't lasted a

month! So overall, since fall 2024, I fell sick about four times.

 

Compare that record to 2023 when I went through one year untouched. It made me

miss running. I did not run in 2023 either, but sure was more active, training

harder and more often or maybe the previous years of jogging paid off

particularly well that year.

 

What I've been denying, which I felt in the pit of my stomach, might the fact

that my peak had passed and I was getting older, as my 18-year-old often pointed

out heartlessly.

 

A good sleep often helps. During the early morning hours when I woke up and

couldn't get back to sleep and when all the worldly troubles started to crowd

the mind, I used to try to meditate, count my blessings, or recall certain

jiu-jitsu setups and moves. None was guaranteed to work.

 

I met up with my friend Louis on a Wed noon for a one-hour trail run. We hadn't

seen each other for almost a year. He looked great at 67 and broke the news that

he finally won the lottery to run the Western States 100 Mile race. What an

inspiration! In my memory, Louis was never sick but he admitted that the bug got

him last year. As he was my standard, it made me feel I deserve some slack.