As many of you know, I have another life away from the keyboard as a

soccer referee. For the basic grade (i.e., you aren't working

professional games) there is no actual fitness test requirement, but

the tests are offered to everyone. The targets are based on your age

and on your grade, so for a 45+ guy who wants to move up to the next

level, I have to do the following things one after the other:

• Run 1800m in 12 minutes. That's 4.5 times around a standard track.

• Then run a 50m dash in 9.5 seconds

• Then run a 200m dash in 40 seconds.

You get about a 3 minute break between each event while they

organize everyone, but that's about it. I timed myself well, and made

the 1800m with about 15 seconds to spare, and then did the 50m in

9.0, followed by the 200m in 38 sec. In other words, I made it!

It's humbling to watch the younger guys breeze through these tests,

but for an older guy like me with 3 knee operations, it's not easy at

all. But even though I probably won't be upgrading to the next level

any time soon, I've set passing this test as my goal to make sure

that I keep myself fit enough to stay healthy. Now that I'm back home

and showered, it's time to get some food and enjoy a nice cold

beverage to celebrate!

-- Ed Leafe

-- http://leafe.com

-- http://dabodev.com