One of the elements that makes this thread great is the fact that there are runners here at such a wide variety of mileposts on their running careers... from early 20s and still feeling immortal all the way to some guys who have been there, done that, and wanna keep doing that again and again.
Allen, I'll make a "confession." Your comment about "never having been almost 60 before"... I thought of that too, but I couldn't write it. Not because of you, but because of me. Geez, I'm sitting here repeatedly typing and deleting and looking for a way to express these ideas in a way that doesn't make me feel uncomfortable... I don't want to get old. I don't want to slow down. I don't want to admit that I might be getting older and slowing down. I don't want to face it or even think about it. I don't want to see it in others.
Ironically, this is a very immature way to handle things... so I've got that going for me! (That's a good line... "Yeah, Coach Jeff? Very immature about aging...")
I can imagine that this attitude will bring some benefits. I can also imagine the inevitable disappointment that the resolution of this cognitive dissonance will eventually bring.
I guess I'm just thinking out loud here...