Shifting the Balance as you age
Some of us have the great privilege to grow old.
Some of us are even lucky enough to carry our healthy lifestyle with us into our aging.
And by doing so we learn how to adjust our approach depending on what phase of life we are in, or, as a poet might say, ‘we learn to adapt to the season we are in’.
Phase one – More of the same.
When the probing fingers of age first find us, maybe in our 30’s or 40’s we aren’t forced to change our approach that much.
These initial feelings of loss of strength, or balance or performance don’t seem related to age at all. They feel more like a passing down period, a temporary thing. They are easily brushed aside with focus.
Before this small realization that age may be becoming a factor we never had to think about what we were doing. Race hard two days in a row? Sure! Train for a qualifying marathon in eight weeks? Sure! Stay up too late and eat too much before that long run? No Problemo – we’ll just sweat it out.
In this first phase of age we realize that we can do the same things, and we can get the same results, but it requires just a tad more mindfulness and focus.
Maybe some extra stretching to prevent injury. Maybe a little strength training to get us over those hills in Newton.
It doesn’t feel like we’re doing anything differently but we are subtly easing into a new phase of life, a new season, by considering new avenues and new approaches.
But, with a little focus and some minor tweaks the dikes will hold back the flood.
Phase two – Making the right stuff count
As we continue to age, it shows up with more insistence, knocking firmly at the door. Maybe this is our 40’s or 50’s. We can still do the important things, but need to let the frivolous things go.
Not being able to recover as quickly, needing to focus more on strength and flexibility not just the running. Needing to embrace more structure in our approach and focus our limited energy on the things that make a difference and allow us to continue.
We learn to do fewer workouts and embrace recovery.
It is also in this phase when we come to grips with the inevitability of the aging process.
We not only take proactive steps to counter it, we look for the joy in the act. We search for the ‘why?’ The personal records are increasingly out of reach so we focus on achievements that fit our strengths. We find new activities that fit our adjusted abilities and attitude.
We are building a new skill set that allows us to carry our athletics into our age
Phase three – finding the rigor in the balance
This is where we now know that aging is with us as a full-time resident and we actively plan our approach with it in mind.
The question is not, ‘How to brush off this pesky inconvenience?’ it is ‘How do I live with my new roommate?’
In this phase the recovery is planned and executed rigorously. The workouts are held like fragile things to be cherished and coaxed like a balky engine.
In this phase we find the rigor in the balance between strength and flexibility and cardio and mental health.
We take what the new roommate allows and find joy in it. We choose our battles carefully, not for rote achievement, but for the quantity and quality of well-being.
We don’t sacrifice our bodies for the sport. We cherish them.
We find balance and lean into it.
Phase four – Self assessment and rebalancing.
The final and ongoing phase for the aging athlete is the self-awareness that each new day dawns with an unknown adventure of ability.
Each training cycle and each day includes the self-assessment of what am I capable of? What brings me joy? And ‘how do I maximize that joy?’
The truth of the matter is that this is not an existence punctuated by continual loss. No. The older athlete’s mindset is one of gratitude. There is nothing to prove and every moment a succor to the soul.
With each evaluation the balance is rebalanced to provide the most benefit, because by now we are old pros at managing the old machine. We know when it is time to rotate the tires and squirt a bit of oil into that hard to reach squeaky place.
And each day we are surprised. We are surprised by what can still be done. Of the great small things that are still there. We have flipped the script from being frustrated searchers of ;never enough’ and ‘never good enough’ to children chuckling with amazement at the things we have done and the things we can still do.
With the right amount of effort, with the right amount of balance, with the commitment and consistency we mine the great vein of joy that our lifestyles have lain for us.