Just do it!

As I stood at the starting line I jumped up and down to try to keep warm. It was a balmy 22 F or somewhere in the neighborhood of -6 C. It was bloody cold to say the least.

Anyway as I stood jumping around looking goofy I noticed the older gentleman standing next to me. He was fit and weathered and dressed ready to race.

He looked at me and said "Do you suppose that guy over there in the fluorescent T-shirt and the shorts is still plastered from last night?"

I replied "I think he is to be running in that gear."

We pointed out a few more people that we thought were crazy enough to run in the extreme cold in shorts. A few were very young, "they think they are bulletproof" muttered the elderly gentleman next to me.

I agreed wholeheartedly. Bulletproof seems to exist in the teen years (we've all been there haven't we?).

The elder runner and I carried on a light conversation about the race, running conditions, etc.

"This is likely my last ever run ..." He didn't say race. He said last RUN. That is pretty final.

He seemed to mention this to me in passing.

"Are you starting to feel beat up?" I asked.

"No" he said. "I'm just starting to lose my desire to run."

"How old are you," I inquired.

"I'm older than you think I am," he replied.

"How old is that?" I again queried. I wouldn't dream of asking that question to someone my own young age of 49 but he seemed to be in his early 70s so I didn't think he would mind the question.

"I'm 79."

I told him quickly that he looked amazing for his age and that was no lie.

The race was about to start so we quickly wished each other a good run and made our way to the starting line.

I raced a good race - 5 miles (8 km) in that cold weather and finished well into the first 100 of the pack of about 400 runners.

I finished and managed a quick banana and a cool down before I headed back to my car.

As I walked back to the car I heard a voice "Hey there fast lady."

I turned quickly and there was my elderly friend. He too was heading back to his vehicle.

"How did you do?" I asked.

"It was much better than I thought," he said. "Might be enough to keep me running."

"Gerry," he said while sticking out his hand for a quick shake.

"Twyla," I replied, "nice to meet you. See you at another race!"

This was a true story from my run in the Hangover Handicap race on Jan. 1 in Coeur d'Alene. The point of story is to say that no matter how tough it seems, just do it! It may just inspire you to keep going!

Twyla Jensen is a resident of Coeur d'Alene.