With the big end-of-the-year concert coming up this week, the Boy had an extended Carolina Youth Symphony practice this afternoon, going 2.5 hours instead of the usual 1.5 hours. K and I usually take a walk with the dog during that time, but today, I decided I should take a bike ride on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, our local rails-to-trails treasure that we use too seldom. I began by riding to the northern starting point in Traveler's Rest, then turned around and rode back to downtown Greenville before heading back to Furman University, where CYS practice is held. It was a total of 37 kilometers.

The height of my riding was when I still lived in Poland, and a 37 kilometer ride would have been a short ride from my village to Nowy Targ, the nearest (Polish) town. One of my favorite routes was a 50 kilometer ride around a lake just over the border in Slovakia. It usually took me a little under two hours.

Today's ride went 1:50, with a weak average speed of 20 km/h. I felt like I was flying. I felt my speed (I don't us a cycling computer -- I just track rides on my watch) was surely higher than an anemic 20 km/h. Then I remembered I'm 20 years older and a lot less practiced than when I would make an international circuit around a Slovak lake. Perhaps that's not a bad result, all things considered.

And there's more to be considered. Increased problems with cholesterol has been on my mind for the last year, and a few much-higher-than-average blood pressure readings had me heading to the doctor for some reassurance, which is why I'm heading to a local clinic for some tests tomorrow. Still, my watch reassures me: I've gotten no notifications about symptoms of elevated blood pressure, and other metrics suggest my cardio-health is above average.

My resting heart rate has been under 60 for the last month, for goodness sake.

My VO2 Max is above average for the last six months, also suggesting that I have good cardio fitness.

The fact that I'm even giving this so much thought reflects the change in my thinking: in my fifties now, I have to think about my health in a way I never did before. It's nothing big, I suppose: everyone who wants to live a long and healthy life starts thinking about these things at some point, making changes and sacrifices along the way that would have been inconceivable a decade ago.