Oh, but how life seems to find a way to humble all of us from time to time.
I've always been a runner. And a very fast one who could also run for distance. I'd win every race every time. It was always just so natural to run. To this day I can't go up or down steps without doing so at a run. It just seems second nature.
At one time I was getting calls about track scholarships, though a hamstring tear pretty much ended that. Humbling moment numero uno. In a sport where first to last is the difference of a second, I would never have that edge again.
But hey that's life. I recovered fully and while not a star athlete any longer I have thrown myself into all the "adult" recreational sports one can play and run 10k and 5k races. My speed has continued to give me an edge in all these things.
Then came January of this year. I've had a sensitive muscle in my lower back for a couple of years now and I pulled it yet again playing tennis in the cold. I waited the customary week or so until it felt better and jumped back in to playing again. Bad idea. I tore that muscle AND another supporting muscle below it. Pain, pain, pain!
Six months later and the muscles have healed but my whole left lower back seems to have lost all memory of it's former functions. You have no idea how much you use your back until it's not there for a while. I can walk pretty well but will limp some by the end of the day.
The doctors have said I'll likely not regain my running ability of just a year ago again. I can accept that but it won't stop me from trying. So every evening I run the mile and a half I have marked off, in my very slow and labored jog led by my workout instructor, the fearless Nikki, who gallops like a thoroughbred or greyhound. I have to absolutely focus on every step to maintain any kind of form. I have to stop, not due to aerobic conditioning or to catch my breath but to let my trembling back, butt and upper leg muscles rest a second. How humbling for one who has ran so naturally for so many years. I have renewed respect for those labor so hard just to jog very slowly and stick with it, the ones I used to pass with a carefree air. I know what the pain is and I know the willpower and guts it takes to stick it out. And I will. I will regain all I lost step by step.
And in the meantime a nice lesson in humility never hurt anyone. Let alone me.