Across the divide

I am wearing a knee band. Gray with three darker gray stripes. As if a sympathetic designer imagined the suggestion of racing stripes on the elastic sleeve would somehow make the poor old soul wearing the thing feel ever so jauntier.

Despite my love of playing and watching sports, with which comes the understanding that knees and nearby quad muscles can act up on a person of any age, I have always associated the stretchy bands, which squeeze the leg just enough to keep muscles warm, with old folks. People older than me. By like two decades. 

The condition is not permanent, rather I am nursing a pulled quadricep sustained while sprinting from first to second base in a parks and rec softball game. Somehow bruising around the knee has also occurred and bending the joint is none too comfortable. An hour of stretching and warm-ups before the game wasn't enough for this body. Or, it was and the injury would have been worse if I hadn't taken the time to get ready. 

Ready. I like to be ready for things. Prepared. 

In a recent journey that required intensive physical training, a North Rim to South Rim traverse of the Grand Canyon, I spent a year and a half preparing. On every training hike, bike, and walk, I reminded myself that mental stamina was as vital as physical strength to successfully carrying myself, and 30 pounds of living essentials, across the divide. Despite this setback with my quads and knee, as I move toward 50, I have continued to physically care for myself quite faithfully. But somehow I haven't realized until now that mental fortitude also needs to be worked out, built to a level that matches the physical health of my heart, lungs, muscles, and tendons. 

If I am going to carry myself across the divide from my 40s to 50s with any degree of happiness, it will take my head, as much as my heart, to get there.