Love this post. Times nobody cares about so true. The times are challenging now, more so than when we were 20. At 56 here's my summation:
I broke the school record, ran D1, was sponsored pro triathlete
in late 80’s and 90’s. It was somewhat satisfying, I guess. Nobody cared so much but me.
I have two kids in their late teens, now. Neither of them were as fast as I was, but both of them are FAR better people, more interesting than I was, and have had childhoods I would
have traded for any day.
If you’re still running in your 50’s, my advice is watch out. We build our cardiovascular
system and strength in out late teens to early 30’s. No sense in trying to get
faster after that. After 30’s you should be enjoying that cardiovascular platform you
created in your 20’s and 30’s to get you through your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s.
Because I had a massive cardiovascular history, I sort of dominated sports
and activities I played in my 30’s and 40’s. Ultimate frisbee, whitewater
paddling, and surfing.
But don’t work out in your 40’s and 50’s like you did in your 20’s and 30’s, with extended periods above 150,160 bpm. Your heart can take it, but your arterial system can’t.
If you work out over 140 bpm at this age, you’re cooking your system. The runners that have died “he was in shape, he ran marathons” in their 50’s or had heart attaches was because they cooked their arterial system. Your arteries get brittle after age 40.
Face it. We stop producing collagen after age 35. Your arteries, tendons, cartilage don’t have the same elasticity.
You can go over 140 bpm, but don’t stay there.
The increase in blood pressure that high hear rates have sort of slam the various lipoproteins carrying cholesterol through your system and can embed them in your arterial
walls. You did not have much plaque build up in your 20’s. If you’re over 40,
you do now to some degree.
Age 56- in the past 6 years I frequently sleep in the car in poached slopeside condo
spots, get up at 5 am and skin up to the top of the mountain (125 bpm avg) to
get the fresh track powder run down on the snowboard. I surf big waves and wing
foil at the beach down the street 3-5 times per week. I set a world record in a
1986 video game that NOBODY cares about.
But my kids are my life and I doubt 5 minutes ever go by in a day where I don’t think about them or how proud of their lives and how they live and treat people.
In my 20’s all I thought about was myself and my times (insignificant to everyone but me). I’m still having fun and kicking butt, but people need to come to terms with the fact that at age 40/50 your athletic relevance is OVER.
I had a hard time coming to terms with that as you can probably tell.
If you have kids, raising children that are a better version of yourself is not that hard. We know where we were limited and why. Support their athletics. Do what you need to
do to stay happy by snowboarding and surfing or stuff like that, but don’t blow
their events off to do something you want to do, like a track workout at age 45.
Their athletic relevance is what’s important, not yours.