I used to route an army and never get winded.....

[Wetzelbill]

or it just might be too early to be paraphrasing an Akira Kurosawa adaptation of King Lear. :)

So I rode my bike for about half an hour this morning. I purposefully went at 5 AM so I wouldn't get run over by any cars. Yet despite the low amount of traffic I managed to almost get hit a few times. I am about as bad as The Chimp when I'm cruising around. Quite accident prone.

I can't believe how badly out of shape I have gotten. I remember the old days I used to train and do the craziest things. I used to put logs and fenceposts on my shoulders and run through snowdrifts out in our field. It would be below zero outside. Now, I get winded if I open up the fridge too fast. :)

So, anybody up for remembering the confidence of youth? :)

[Left_Winger]

1. Dear Bill

Thanks for making me feel younger.

When I go riding, it must be at least 75 degrees or warmer; I'm rather skinny and I have no tolerance for cold. However, heat has never bothered me. I'll leave the snowdrifts to you.

The craziness of youth... Well, once upon a time when I was in the Marines, we were on Vieques Island which is off the coast of Puerto Rico. My platoon went for an early morning run and we soon discovered that the free-range cattle were running alongside us (talk about some motivation to haul ass!). We quickly made for the beach and into the water. Luckily, the bulls did not follow us.

[Wetzelbill]

2. I hate the cold

but my definition of cold is probably much different than most people's. Actually now I am a bit of a wuss. When it gets down to 40 or so I consider that pretty cold now. In MT that's practically shorts and sunglasses weather.

I remember riding horses and herding up cattle when I was younger. I was always a little nervous about getting smacked around by a bull, lol. Later on in my teens I started riding bulls. I've been hooked a few times. It's not that bad, they just try to rough you up a little and go on their way. I was steamrolled by one once. He bucked me off and I knew as aoon as I hit he was coming for me. I took off running and he just flattened me, haha. It wasn't bad at all. Felt like I just got tackled pretty hard. What sucks is when you get stepped on. That can do some serious damage. One blew my knee out when he stepped on me.

Heat bothers me when it gets up well over 100. I haven't adjusted to these AZ summers at all. I do like the winters though. You can't beat the weather from November to February. It's great.

[Left_Winger]

3. I never had any ranch experience (cattle and such)

however, my first job was on a farm. One chore I had was to slop the hogs. Are you aware of how fast those porkers can run? My task was to take an empty bucket and run across the hog pen to get them to chase me. Then the farmer's son would slop the troughs. I learned to run really, really fast back then. Oh yeah, let's gross it up a bit: hog pens are very "slippery".

[Wetzelbill]

5. oh yeah

and those hogs are mean as all hell too.

My neighbors had pigs. I remember when I was little watching them clip the little babies tails etc. It was pretty traumatic for me as they would squeal and make a holy racket. To this day the squeal of a pig makes me feel agitated and sad, lol.

[Left_Winger]

4. D'oh

Double post by stupidity.

[Crazy Dave]

6. Well, I'd say yes but my memory has deteriorated as bad as...

my fitness. :(

[Wetzelbill]

7. I wrestled my little brother for about a minute and a half

last month. I'm 31 and he's 21, about a foot taller and in much better condition than I am. Plus, he's an undefeated cage fighter. Not good. I got the takedown and then I got so winded after just a few seconds that he actually put me in a camel clutch and made me tap out. I suppose I could have gotten out of it, but I didn't really want to exert myself, haha. My neck hurt for a few days afterward, lol. I am amazed at how well-conditioned I used to be. Now, it's a chore doing any type of physical activity. :)

[Crazy Dave]

8. I'm currently in my 40's and not drinking or smoking anymore but...

ten years ago me and a neighbor decided to play a game of basketball with his 12 year old son and his friend and said we'd give them a 10 point handicap. While we (my neighbor) were taking breaks every two minutes, laying on the ground catching our breaths, the two kids were still bouncing the ball around waiting for us to recover.
Damn I felt old that day.