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THE NARRATIVE ARC

Aging Allows Me To Appreciate What My Body Can Do

Learning with my children to accept our physical limits

Claire K. Yu
The Narrative Arc
Published in
5 min readNov 4, 2024

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People running in the woods.
Photo by Omar Tursić on Unsplash

Every winter, my children’s school hosts a Holiday Race on their athletic field, allegedly to celebrate the advent of another festive season. I suspect it is more of a sneak attempt by their thoughtful P.E. teachers to get the kids in shape so they can brace the onset of yet another New England winter.

This semester, my oldest child’s grade will compete for 1.5 miles, or five laps around the field. Although my kids usually finished among the “elite” groups of their respective grades, my oldest is a little concerned this year because some of her classmates have been training with an after-school running club toward a 5K and have taken on 15–20 laps as a daily norm.

Thus, my kids asked to increase the frequency and intensity of their own training on the weekends in addition to the mileage they put in during P.E. and requested my participation for moral support.

Their request became the motivation I needed for my own rehab, as a knee injury over the summer has prevented me from practicing yoga and other exercises that require my knees to bend at a specific, acute angle.

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The Narrative Arc
The Narrative Arc

Published in The Narrative Arc

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Claire K. Yu
Claire K. Yu

Written by Claire K. Yu

Writer, mother, investor, volunteer; raised in E. Asia/N. Am/EU; trained at MIT; speaks EN/中/ES/日/DE/FR; lives in Mass., advocates equity, connects cultures.

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