age makes small things big issues

Recently, three sudden events around me made me feel quite down. And these three events are all related to age.

At a certain moment, I realized:Age makes some small things that were not problems gradually become big issues.

I keep reminding myself, "Shen Wuze, you're almost 30," but I also hope this moment comes as late as possible.

01.

The first event happened to me, stemming from the phrase "standing firm at thirty."

I don't know if you've seen a movie called "29+1."

The numbers here represent age. That's right, the movie tells the story of people about to turn 30.

The plot is not complicated; it tells the story of two girls with different personalities, showing different life states at the age of thirty.

One girl works a nine-to-five job, has her own career, follows a routine, works overtime, stays busy, exercises after work, and manages her body while living for promotions and work, full of discipline and positivity.

The other girl seems to be a natural optimist, happy every day, not worrying about tomorrow, and lacking ambition.

As this time point approaches, we suddenly find that most of us do not want to live like the latter; we all hope to be the disciplined and busy one.

To not be left behind by life, to not be abandoned by the so-called era, we stay busy every day. Even if we don't want to work, we set alarms, wake up on time, and work diligently and hard.

The most active group chats are work groups, text messages are for receiving verification codes, and we call our parents less often than we receive deliveries and takeout.

To stand firm at thirty, we put in double the effort and time.

The busier we are, the emptier we feel. We are busy to death but dare not stop. But who said we must stand firm at thirty?

Not Confucius, but ourselves.

Sometimes, we think we are busy because of life's pressures, but that's not the case. The real reason is fear—fear of facing ourselves when we have free time. So we try to fill every free moment to avoid thinking about those troubling, empty, and fearful issues.

We keep ourselves busy and forget how to slow down. We fear slowing down, afraid that being half a step slower than others will leave us behind.

I also asked myself, what exactly am I afraid of?

Honestly, I can't quite figure it out. If I could, there would probably be only two outcomes: becoming a philosopher or a madman.

So, I can only comfort myself: Shen Wuze, you are not afraid of facing the fact that you are turning thirty; you are just afraid of what you should become at thirty.

02.

When I had almost adjusted myself, I received another piece of news that I didn't know how to react to. Honestly, I didn't know how to describe my feelings.

Here's what happened.

The Hangzhou Marathon results were out. An old friend who once ran the Sydney Marathon with me messaged me on WeChat:

"Hey buddy, sorry to bother you. Do you know any other ways to get a spot in the Hangzhou Marathon? If I don't get selected, how can I buy a charity spot? I want to buy a charity spot; how should I proceed?"

"Brother, buying a charity spot for the Hangzhou Marathon is not very cost-effective."

"Money is not the issue,I'm almost 70. If I don't get selected this year, I won't be allowed to run next year.I want to run as many marathons in big cities as I can while I still can."

After this conversation, I carefully checked the registration requirements for many big city marathons for the first time.

I found that the Hangzhou Marathon clearly states thatparticipants over 70 are not allowed.

Then curiosity led me to check the registration requirements for many big city marathons, focusing on age restrictions.

Some races have special age requirements, requiring a guardian or relative to sign a participation statement.

Beijing and Shanghai Marathons do not have upper age limits but have certain health requirements.

After checking, I inexplicably felt a strange sense of relief because not all marathons have age restrictions.

This relief was for my old friend, but also for myself. After all, I will reach his age too.

03.

When I told a former pacing partner about this, he said that we now pay a lot of attention to age restrictions when registering because everything else can be achieved through effort, but age is non-negotiable. If you don't meet the age requirement, you simply don't.

I said, "Brother, you're just over forty; it's not that serious."

He didn't reply for three to five minutes, and I thought he was angry.

So I sent, "Brother, if you're being kidnapped, just make a sound."

He didn't make a sound but sent two pictures, showing the requirements for marathon pacer selection.

Then he said, "Wuze, you're still young. You don't understand how hard it is for us to be selected as marathon pacers. First, you need to meet the performance requirements, and then you must be within the age range. Of course, it would be great if you knew some committee members to pull some strings."

Me: ......

These events made me feel down.But is age really a problem?

04.

Regarding these marathon age restrictions, I believe the organizing committees have their considerations and reasons. I understand the concerns of my two old friends, as these are objective facts, and I am not in a position to deny them.

Let me share some of my own experiences.

In 2017, I ran my first overseas marathon, which was also my first time abroad.

What does it feel like to go abroad?

It's like your survival skills and patriotism grow rapidly together.

Survival skills manifested in my broken English, which was initially limited to "Hello, How are you, Fine thank you, and you?" but quickly improved to the point where I could communicate in various situations with body language.

That time, I also served as a pacer in the overseas race, quickly learning and applying the terms "Gun time" and "Door time."

I was a 4-hour 30-minute pacer in that race.

After the race, some event partners asked me about the differences between the Sydney Marathon and domestic races.

I thought for a moment and said there were three differences.

Photos abroad are so expensive, costing several hundred RMB each, and they are slow to be available, taking three days to be found. Our Aiyundong and Running Vitamin services are much better.

What else?

Haha, the runners abroad are generally older and heavier. How should I put it? They are about twice my size.

And I learned a lot from my pacing partner.

I learned a lot from the 52-year-old female pacer in my group.

Her first words to me were,"Follow me.".

When she said that, I knew she was the soul of the 4:30 group, and I had to follow her well.

With my old friend, it was basically three tricks: chatting, serving tea, and being quick-witted.

But any trick relies on fluent language. Looking back, my poor language skills make me want to cry.

My first attempt at small talk was:

"How old are you...."

"Ha ha ha, 52........."

From this veteran runner, I learned how to be a pacer.

The Sydney Marathon is a winding and undulating course.

A 4-hour 30-minute pace might seem very slow to many readers, even deserving the label of a "slow bunny."

But at this pace, you meet many runners with high aspirations and desires for good results.

Before Sydney, my approach as a pacer was to encourage, encourage, and encourage. When I met runners, I thought I should say:

"Come on, keep up, hold on, let's reach the finish line together."

In that race, after about 30 kilometers, I often heard our 52-year-old soul leader say:

"Guys, we are running on gun time. Don't feel discouraged if we pass you. Remember your door time and maintain your own pace."

After that race, I began to understand more about the role of a pacer.

You need not only the ability but also experience. This experience includes not just marathon running but also empathy.

When you see those runners, you can recall your own feelings when you were overtaken by a pacer and know how to advise and help them.

That was my biggest takeaway. It's not that "foreign monks chant better," or that foreigners are more open-minded,but I believe that older people pass on and share their experiences with younger ones.

Whether it's my partner in Sydney or my old friends, they all have a certain light that can illuminate some corners at certain moments.

05.

In professional or competitive sports, age usually means elimination, but in marathons, it's the opposite. The older you are, the more advantageous you might be.

Because marathons are not just for the young.

The reason is that, besides older people being more enduring, it also has to do with the characteristics of marathon running.

Mature experience allows runners to accurately control their pace, maintain a balanced mental state, and formulate and execute reasonable strategies during the race.

Mature technique enables better coordination among the nervous, muscular, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, reducing unnecessary energy consumption. This improved running economy can offset the decline in physical fitness due to aging.

I can't and shouldn't judge the rightness of age restrictions, but these might be my immature thoughts.

But if this article needs a closing scene, I think of this one.

When the Spurs and Cavaliers met in the NBA Finals, the Spurs won the championship.

Duncan patted the disappointed LeBron James and said, "The future of the league is yours."

James didn't ask when the future would come.

Just as Duncan didn't say: Not Today.

Not today.

But maybe, it's tomorrow?