"Old and Stupid"

Or is that stupid and old, since the stupid came first!

I don't think I ever really considered myself stupid in the traditional sense of the word .  While I ain't no Einstein I think I have managed to put at least an average amount of my brain cells to use over the years.  How then do you explain that I've done so many stupid things over those same years?

I'm pretty sure I know.  While one part of my brain has the ability to reason out what should be done next, and also how to do it , there's always another part telling me that there must be a short cut.  Of all the dumb things that have happened to me (or that the devil did to me) I think that 90 percent of them happened because I hurried something.

Enevitably those short cuts ended up in property damage, or personal injury, or both!.  Being a fairly handy guy, the property damage, while frustrating, was usually fixable one way or another.  Personal injury, at least when it was my own was also not that big a deal because my dutch farmboy heritage has blessed me with a reasonably resilient pyhsical self.....or at least when I was younger.

How things have changed!   I continue to be able to fix most things I break, but the old bones just can't handle the same abuse.  Stupid and old are a bad combination apparently.

Today was a great example. 

I needed to start the dirt bike to put it away for the winter.  It needed quite a few kicks to get it going which I was doing with only crocs on my feet.  I quickly realized that that wasn't too bright, so after a few failed attempts I went inside to get a proper pair of shoes on.  I was actually quite proud of my patience at this point.  I went back out and after an extended effort got her fired up.  I then parked it outside to warm up and headed back in to the shop.  Less than  minute later it stalled.

Since it was already warmed up I knew from experience that it would start easily.  No need even to straddle the bike.  I could just stomp on the kick start standing beside the thing!  Whoops!

My foot slipped off the side of the lever, ripped the side completely out of my shoe and left, a big painful elongated bruise on my right instep. 

I went running anyway I now it really feakin hurts.  I'm goin to the liquor store!

Speaking of running I think I need to back off a bit.  I did the same 20 k as last week at very close to the same pace, but my heart rate was too high the entire time.  The theory says that you have to be patient in the endurance part of your training such that you can gradually go further and faster at the same heart rate, and thereby with the same energy expenditure.  If you try to push that too fast you will simply plateau.  Sounds like another shortcut lesson I still need to learn.

And finally on old and stupid.  I don't see the old part changing into anything other than "older", so I'm gonna have to focus on the stupid part.  Wish me luck family!  Genetics are hard to overcome  :)

(Run 20kms, 1:39:40)

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."---Benjamin Franklin

"Every one desires to live long, but no one would be old."---Abraham Lincoln

Love
Peter