Just Fit Enough

I raced in a regatta yesterday.  I struggled in making the decision whether to race or not.  You see, I'm quite used to racing in peak condition.  And I'm not right now.  I haven't trained nearly enough to win a race.  But, in the end, I love racing so much that I decided I would.

And I'm glad I did.

It turns out that I'm "just fit enough".  Just fit enough for 4 minutes - give or take a few seconds - of gut wrenching, lung bursting, heart galloping exertion.  Just fit enough to maintain a decent stroke rate.  Just fit enough to even have a kick at the finish.  Just fit enough to help both boats to a third place finish.

Then I got home and Adam Kreek, 2008 Canadian Olympic gold medal rower, was on my Facebook feed.  Watch and enjoy.

And stay fit enough!

Hole in One at 103

Gus Andreone recently became the oldest PGA member to score a hole in one.  It's only been 75 years since he last scored one!

Gus golfs three times a week at a par 90.  His personal formula for longevity is not complex. “It’s all about just being yourself, keeping your old regular pace,” he says. ”You just have habits you do every day. You don’t live outside of what you do every day.”

“I take a spoon of honey every morning in my coffee. Every morning,” says Andreone. “Before I get out of bed, I do a certain set of exercises that help my knees, back and hips. It works for me.”

Gus is more evidence that we just have to KEEP MOVING!

Read about Gus' hole in one here!

Guinness Book of Records at 91

Margaret Hagerty is amazing.  She's 91 and has run 81 marathons - the most recent is the NYC Marathon.  Margaret holds the Guinness Book Record for being the oldest person to run a marathon on 7 continents.  Amazing!  But what makes this an even better story is that she didn't start running until she was in her sixties.  She went to a stop smoking clinic at 64 and has not looked back.

Read about her here.

Fighting the Effects of Aging

It turns out that athletes over 50 can help themselves overcome the effect of age on their athletic performance.  Weight lifting does it.  And I don't mean body weights or high reps - I mean heavy, muscle-building weights.

Weight Lifting Improves Athletic Performance in Master Athletes

1954 British Empire Games

All of the members of this gold medal crew are still alive.   What a story!  Inspirational.

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Gold+medal+rowers+impossible/10073867/story.html

World Records in Track at 90? Of course!

“People make themselves old,” he said. “First they say, I’m too old to do this and too old to do that, and suddenly they look in the mirror and they are old.” I'm inspired by this story of Roy Englert and his teammates!

  Track Team Is Peerless and, Seemingly, Ageless

Masters Rowing - Inspirational!

I recently competed at the Canadian Masters Rowing Championships at Burnaby Lake. It's one of my favorite regattas - mostly because it's all about athletes who are older. Yes, there's a AA category of 21+ year olds, but get into the D and over categories and you're talking about athletes who are 40+. There are even a few who are in their 80's. And I don't use the term "athletes" loosely! These people train hard, getting up before the light several mornings a week to improve their on-the-water performance.

Competition Is Good For You!

I've spent most of my life playing sports.  I love to play a game or race a race.  I love the challenge of pushing myself to the limit and, most of all, I love the feeling of winning.

Winning doesn't always mean coming first.  It sometimes means I make a personal gain or overcome a personal obstacle.  A game well played is definitely a win.

In April I had the luck to race with some friends at a rowing regatta in Victoria.  Dueling Over a Grand, lovingly known as the DOG, is a two boat race.  You race and, if you win, you move on.  There is a "back door" for crews who come second early in the regatta - you have to race more and beat more crews to make the final.

In March, my crew undertook a training camp to get in race shape.  We all work out individually and stay quite fit for a bunch of middle agers, so the training camp was more about relearning how to row together and to establish our race plan.  Racing is a pretty psychological pursuit.  All the fitness in the world means nothing if you can't control the "can't" in your head.  Our "coles notes training camp" was designed to help us with that.

The weekend of racing was super fun.  I have a love/hate relationship with racing - mostly about how prepared I am for the race.  I felt well prepared for the DOG this year.  I know I'm ready when we sit on the start line and I'm thinking "yeah, we've got this" instead of "crap, why am I here?"  Every time we locked into the start I was confident in our crew.

You're half way through your life journey.  It might be time to take up a sport that you can compete in.  It's an awesome feeling to push yourself and come up with your own kind of "win".