Running Legs

My chiropractor asked if I had done anything unusual. He said my back "felt" different. 

"Well, I did go for a jog." (For the record, it was a ten minute jog, so I don't know if it counts.)

He looked at me all serious and said the words I can't forget.

"Your running days are over."

He continued,"Look who wins marathons. Thin, 110 pound Ethiopians. Your are none of those three things."

Okay, he's right. I am no longer skinny, I'm close to double that weight, and I have no Ethiopian ancestry. But doggone. I still have legs. Two of them. And sometimes, they just want to move. Really move. They want to remind me what it felt like to be twenty. They want to run.

For about ten minutes. 

Then they are satisfied. Mission accomplished. They know they still work. They could still flee bears and wolves. They can still play tag and softball.

"Your running days are over." Over? Shoot, I'm not privy to the Good Lord's plans but I might have another fifty years down here. Fifty years of walking? Of strolling? Blek.

So, against the wishes of my chiropractor, I have embarked on a new regiment. I've named the program JJJ. Jonathan's Joints can Jog. My goal? Ten minutes of in your chiropractor-face jogging every day. If I feel good, I go fifteen. If I'm nutty, maybe twenty. Yeah, yeah, it might hurt the knees. Sure, it might tweak the back. But I'm here to say Jonathan's Joints can Jog!

I'll start tomorrow.

Comments

[Gail P Smith]

Yeah man! Tell him to visit Davenport, IA (home of chiropractic medicine) the last Saturday in July and altho the Ethiopians may win, 14,000 other people of all ages RUN, walk and jog for 7 miles thru the streets of town.
My husband in 65 and ran it the last 2 years.
You don't have to win to run!

[Dawn]

Ha! Ha! Ha! Great story! Just don't hurt yourself! :)

[Dr. Edwin M. Fissinger]

Hello Jonathan... It is your chiropractor here.... But first a comment to Gail: Ahhhh... Gail... there is no such thing as "chiropractic medicine". Chiropractic is to healthcare as Coke is to cola and Kleenex is to tissue. Both so-called modern medicine and chiropractic are healthcare but they are different brands. The product is healthcare... not medicine. Medicine is the philosophy by which the body is not trusted and drugs and the knife are the main tools. Chiropractic tries to engage the power that made the body to heal the body.
And Jonathan... running is for small skinny guys that need to eat something. But what I always say to my patients after I explain how unnatural long distance running is, when they insist on doing it anyway is: "Go ahead and run. More money for me".

[Dr. Edwin M. Fissinger]

Sorry about the redundant "is" in the last bit there. I failed to proof read it.... that also is for skinny guys that need to eat something....

[Jonathan]

Hey Doc!
I'll be in for my scheduled appt. tomorrow. My neck is killing me. Tough start to JJJ.

[Darlene Fanning]

Some run for glory and some run for the fun of it. I choose the latter. It's like going on a diet. Why? To be sexy, or to be healthy? That's what one should put in mind too. The same goes when going to a chiropractor. Would one go there just to get rid of the pain, or to maintain a sound body overall?