Age is Meaningless, Part 7

The examples just keep coming in of what we can do as we age. The latest: a 70 year old who plans to swim the English Channel. My friend Katie Hobson writes about him over at U.S. News.

Here's one great quote: "A lot of people my age are couch potatoes and don't believe they can get back to a youthful physical state. But the body doesn't really lose its ability in endurance sports as much as we allow it to lose its ability. I want to promote that people of my age can do better than what they're doing."

The Importance of Goals, Part II

The October issue of Outside has a quote from ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes about how to approach goals: "Think only about the present and focus on micro-goals. Just make it to that stop sign up ahead; OK, now make it to the tree up the street: and so on."

The Importance of Goals

One of the trainers at Velocity has one overriding goal -- get a spot on the U.S. rugby team. He gears nearly everything he does toward reaching that goal.

For those of us over 40, serious athletic goals like that are probably long past. But we still can set goals, and they'll drive us toward life-long fitness. Simple goals work, such as doing one more rep or just a bit more weight each time you go to the gym. Then there are bigger goals, such as running the fastest mile of your life or completing a triathlon.

My most recent goal was to go the length of the track -- 30 yards -- at Velocity with my feet on a dolly. Let me explain: The idea is to walk on your hands and pull the dolly by piking your body up. So you walk out a couple of hand lengths, pike your body up, which pulls the dolly and then walk out again. It works so many parts of your body, from your core to your shoulders.

I'd made it 20 yards twice but that was it. Last night, I made the entire way.

So pick a goal and pursue it. Then find another and another.

Youth and Vigor

I had to run by the grocery store tonight after the gym. As I waited in line, the man in front of me turned, looked at me standing there in shorts, and said, “You aren’t cold?”

“It’s not so bad,” I said, which I meant -- it was only in the mid-30s outside and there was no wind. I wasn’t cold. Plus, I was also wearing a fleece jacket over a sweat shirt.

“I wish I had your youth and vigor,” he said, adding that he was like an old man, bundled up in layers to protect himself from the cold.

But here’s the thing -- I’m hardly young. I’m 42. And he was hardly an old man. He was 50, maybe.

So what was the difference? I’d like to think it’s my approach to health and fitness. I care deeply about both, and work hard at both. Working out and eating well have become my hobby over the past 10 or 15 years, which means I’ve learned a lot along the way. I’ve learned by training with some of the best -- mainly the folks at Velocity Sports Performance in Manhattan -- and digging through articles and blogs written by some of the sharpest and most innovative minds in fitness, from Adam Campbell at Men’s Health to Alwyn Cosgrove, who runs Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, Calif.

So my thought was that others might be able to learn from what I’ve learned. No, I’m not an expert. But I do know a lot. And maybe people can see things that work for me and give them a try. Or maybe they can be exposed to the thinking of some of these great minds through my training and nutrition.

That’s my goal with this blog. Then there’s the greater goal, which is to never become the old man the guy in line at the grocery store said he’d become. I believe that’s possible. I believe that with proper training and nutrition, you can always have the youth and vigor he talked about, regardless of your age.