That didn't happen.
But what happened is that I settled, finally settled, satisfied with life and where I am. And finally excited that age 60 is coming along quite well. Healthy, at least.
I'm very comfortable on my bike. I did a two day, mostly off-road, ride to Mombasa, Diani Beach. With a couple of guys, through Oloitoktok, Taita Taveta and finally through Kwale County.
I'm old, the other guys are somewhat younger, and it was a tough ride. But after a few hours on the bike, you really stop thinking about the mechanics of riding, you kinda zone out, and the bike becomes a part of you.
I know understand the habit that boda boda riders have using their smartphones while riding. I didn't know how they could control the bike with one hand.
Anyhoo, I wrote a lot this past year, in my journal, or diary. Rambling thoughts, supposed to be meditative, contemplative. I tried to journal on my iPad, but I found the keyboard and blinking cursor too demanding. The pen slowed down my thoughts, since I can type way faster than I write. So many thoughts disappeared into the ether, while the ones that found their way down to my fingertips made it onto the page.
THE CARNIVORE DIET.
Sometime during the year, maybe September'ish, I decided that my lifestyle didn't suit the consumption of glucose, carbs. The first to disappear were breads and rice and wheat, then potatoes and then other vegetables and finally, finally fruit.
As they say, the jury's still out, but there seems to be a lot of evidence on the effectiveness of the protein-based, low carb, diet. Mine is very, very close to no-carb diet. Not even Keto, stronger than Keto.
But I love yoghurt and buttermilk (maziwa lala) too much, so plain yoghurt gives me the glucose, in the form of processed lactose, that's in my diet.
The first couple of weeks were absolutely terrible. But I'm a persistent, obstinate old man, and so I needed to keep going for a while longer. They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit, though I think it's more like 90 days.
The first couple of weeks were full of headaches and fatigue, especially in the evening.
But I wasn't hungry. So it was easy to maintain eating eggs, beef, chicken and drinking water. No juice.
Then magically after a month, my body stopped complaining. I found my energy, the zone. The fatigue went away, the hunger also left and I didn't need to think of juice, of fruit, of sugar any more.
I've completed the 90-days, but I feel so good that I'll hang on for a few more months. Eating in Kenyan restaurants is difficult because starch-based food is everywhere, even in the seasoning. So I have to be careful with meat as well.
HAPPY 59 YEARS.
So, I think that my goal of one-more marathon before age 60 may not materialize, but I may modify that goal to one half-marathon. 21 km (13 miles) is do-able.
Interestingly, I was more active when I had a sedentary job - desk job. I don't do a lot of desk work, and I have discovered that I'm incapable of micromanaging anyone. Curiously, some close to me think I'm argumentative, huh, go figure. I'm the urban hermit, the very definition of one. But that could be in my head. I do most of my thinking on paper - literally, not computer. But perhaps I can switch and share my thoughts on this blogger, which I've sort-of abandoned this year. Not that there wasn't anything to write about, but I was struggling with settling down, as I have struggled for the past couple of years.
But I think I'm over that now.
I honestly don't know where the time went. Well, I know, but I really cannot believe it. But I feel it, the movement of the planet under my feet, moving swiftly, me barely hanging on, wanting to stop it so that I can just finish this project, complete that task, or hone this or that skill. But the planet ignores me and just keeps spinning.
And I'm not surprised that this day came and went quickly. As I write this, my birthday's over, and I'm starting my 60'th year. Don't be fooled by birthdays, they mark the completion of an age, not the achievement of that age. I'm fifty-nine-point-something already. Not quite 60, but I won't let 60 sneak up on me.
The 50's were great, absolutely fantastic. On par with the 30's which were awesome. And I suspect that the 60's will also be superb.
So let me settle into this new phase, acceptance of things past, things that I cannot possibly get back, but a youth well spent. And then count the next 366 (yes, it's a leap year next year) days to age 60.
There will be a party.
