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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mar 13, 2014 - 09:31am PT
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Rgold may be aging but his words remain among the most graceful to appear on this forum.
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jopay
climber
so.il
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Mar 13, 2014 - 09:39am PT
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67 here, still enjoy the ice.
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Blakey
Trad climber
Sierra Vista
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Mar 13, 2014 - 09:57am PT
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Well,
I've recently turned 58 and have the good fortune to be climbing as well as I ever have. On our summer trip to the US; Valley, Tuolumne, Lovers Leap etc, I 'lost' 3kg and am now an even slimmer 69kg - (It's made a big dfference to my knees and my ability to crank).
To stay in shape.....Mondays I cycle and climb, Tuesdays do a stack of pull ups on Rock Rings and Beastmaker, Wednesdays maybe a game of Squash. Thursday boulder for a couple of hours, Friday rest, Saturday out climbing, and then every other Sunday climbing. (Jeez,I didn't realise I did so much.....)
After 47 years I'm still motivated - because it's fun innit!
And I have a 14 year old pup to try and keep ahead of - not for much longer I suspect, but then I'll have a captive rope gun!
Regards,
Steve
Edit...... Just read Gold's Gold. As ever and like lots of others I love reading his stuff - wisdom.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Mar 13, 2014 - 10:10am PT
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"Captain, the forearms are reporting a precipitous drop in hydraulic pressure!"
"WTF? We haven't even reached the crux yet. Full speed ahead you moron!"
"Sorry sir, we've already red-lined the main drive."
"Well switch on the auxilliary power you idiot!"
"Uh, sir, there is no auxilliary power. We burned that unit out years ago."
"Oh, right. Ok, activate the rest radar. Gotta find a way to shake out."
"Uh sir......."
Laughing with rgold is good enough for my next post, BWA HA HA hahahaaaa!
That is EXACTLY how I feel sometimes!
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TWP
Trad climber
Mancos, CO
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Mar 13, 2014 - 10:30am PT
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"Aging gracefully" sounds like an oxymoron to me.
"Raging against decay"
OR
"Daily denial while nearing death's door"
Are more like it here.
I am told regularly by "loved ones" to "let it go" and I say "No way." I'd rather die than go easily to a prison of mandatory idleness.
So, at age 60 I made a solemn vow to practice hatha yoga (hopefully daily and intensely) for the rest of my life. Already got the spiritual practice of daily meditation down and do transcendental meditation twice daily (since 1969 in fact).
Quit alcohol seven years ago.
Watch the diet (but make too many excuses to have brownies and pie, etc.)
The weak point of my fitness is cardiovascular though my resting heart rate is good, about 48 -52 beats/minute.
Have plans for intense activity into the foreseeable future. Ski my butt off during the winter, then rock climbing trips to Red Rocks, City of Rocks, Yosemite, llama pack in the Winds for six weeks, then off to Nepal for several months of tea house trekking. Then start over again with same/similar schedule for 2015.
My production may wain but I will continue to play the game and give myself chances to test my limits (eroding though inevitably they will).
As to the objective assessment of my climbing ability, I am a "has been that never was" - which provides its own freedom to keep going without any fear that I am "no longer" what I once was. I've never been "anyone" in the climbing world, so my identity is secure at the "incompetent and always have been" level.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Mar 13, 2014 - 11:48am PT
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I've been 50 for six years now, and I definitely appreciate that it's more of a challenge to get into fighting shape, and stay there. I feel like I'm doing okay, though, and while this may sound trite--it really does matter what your priorities are. The adage that "As long as you're having fun, that's all that matters" is, for some, a way of rationalizing away disappointment in one's inability to spring back as quickly as before. However, there can be, for others, real integrity in that statement, too. It depends on what you are looking for in climbing. My hardest redpoint to date was 12.c, and it was a proud moment. It was also 15 years ago. At the time, my focus was more on climbing the letter grades, and being able to track my progress against my training regimen, etc. Now, it's more of a combination of trying to keep an edge (which, granted, is a little duller than it was 15 years ago), and really maximizing my experience at the crags. I find myself wanting to be more fully "present" when I'm traveling, camping, sitting around the fire, and on the routes themselves. It seems like the older I get, the more conscious I am of how quickly time flies, and I don't want to look back at all these great moments climbing with great people, and wish I'd paid more attention to it--and to them--while I was doing it.
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ydpl8s
Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
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Mar 13, 2014 - 12:02pm PT
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The saying "it ain't the years, it's the mileage" comes to mind, problem is, there is good mileage (like Donini's) and then there is bad mileage (too many years hanging out with my musician "friends"). I need to start concentrating on the good, just turned 60 on Monday.
But, I must be on the right track cuz I got the same shoes as Moosedrool:-)
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MikeL
Trad climber
SANTA CLARA, CA
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Mar 13, 2014 - 12:11pm PT
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Rgold, that was a pretty funny post.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Mar 13, 2014 - 01:37pm PT
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Some of the things others have suggested here may not make a person live longer or age "gracefully," such as giving up alcohol, making major changes to diet, etc., but it sure will make life seem a lot longer! ;)
I'm a big dietary supplement freak, and have been since ~1990. I don't avoid alcohol, but don't generally overindulge. I eat a very "normal" diet with meat. carbs, lots of green veggies, but generally avoid desserts except for homemade pies or such. Weight control is always at the forefront of my mind by so doing... Daily exercise by walking at least a mile a day weather permitting, and health club sessions thrown in for training before climbing season.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Mar 13, 2014 - 01:46pm PT
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just plowed snow for 2hrs and now must shovel the woodshed roof and I have some kind of nasty stomach bug. Do Not feel as though i am ageing gracefully at the moment.
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Urmas
Social climber
Sierra Eastside
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Mar 13, 2014 - 02:41pm PT
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Kathy, I don't know if your dance training had anything to do with it, but you EXUDE grace. It seems to come out of your pores! I don't think physical fitness has anything to do with it!
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Trusty Rusty
climber
Tahoe Area
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 13, 2014 - 03:03pm PT
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"Don't worry about avoiding temptation... as you grow older, it will avoid you." Winston Churchill
"Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life."
Herbert Henry Asquith
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Trusty Rusty
climber
Tahoe Area
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 13, 2014 - 03:07pm PT
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And especially. . .Happy Birthday Sewellymon!
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pud
climber
Sportbikeville & Yucca brevifolia
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Mar 13, 2014 - 03:20pm PT
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If one song could put living in my 50's in perspective, it's Black Sabbath's "Never say die"
George Burns once said "You're only as young as the girls you feel"
So I married a younger woman...
Staying in shape is way easier than getting back in it. I've been very fortunate in the genes dept. And enjoy hard exercise with no problems. I keep my expectaions realistic. As long as I'm having fun, numbers, speed, laptimes and competition have little meaning.
It's challenging at times but aging has many wonderfull things to offer.
Attitude is everything.
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Mar 13, 2014 - 03:20pm PT
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This thread's got legs....rebuilt, titanium ones. ;-)
(Still a handful of precious years in my 40s still.)
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steveA
Trad climber
Wolfeboro, NH
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Mar 13, 2014 - 04:42pm PT
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Yes, this thread has legs, as there will be no shortage of geriatric climbers, to keep it alive.
The number of "older" climbers will increase dramatically pretty soon.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Mar 13, 2014 - 05:22pm PT
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At George Burns 90th birthday party, he overheard someone say "Who'd want to live to be 90 anyway?"
He turned to them and said "Everyone who's 89."
My own Daddy used to say, "Every day on this side of the dirt is a good one!"
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anita514
Gym climber
Great White North
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Mar 13, 2014 - 05:39pm PT
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you guys rock
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SCseagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Mar 13, 2014 - 06:13pm PT
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Rgold=platinum
You rock man, even the repurposed parts.
Susan
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