50s + Thread - The Art of Aging Gracefully (or not)

Discussion Topic

Return to Forum List

This thread has been locked

Messages 81 - 100 of total 126 in this topic

<< First | < Previous | Show All | Next > | Last >>

Truthdweller

Trad climber

San Diego, CA (stuck in Jersey)

Mar 15, 2014 - 02:14am PT

I'm (51) and have literally spent the last, nearly two years of a sedentary life. God has different plans for me I'm finding out and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss climbing. Instead, becoming the director of a Reformers Unanimous chapter in Gloucester City, NJ was in His plans, as well as my hobby becoming turbo-charging a tuner car, and keeping up with the broken parts. I'd still like to get back in shape and return to San Diego to mentor my eight year old there, instead of on the east coast.

thedogfather

Trad climber

Somewhere near Red Rocks

Mar 15, 2014 - 09:33am PT

At 64, I stay motivated by doing the 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell in the fall each year (8 years in a row now). It gets me off the couch and helps me keep a balanced routine with cardio, climbing, core and gym workouts. Last year I got in 126 routes in the 24 and 64 routes in the 12 hour comp the day before. The key for me is to acknowledge that my power is going away but I can still do pretty well on the endurance side. My hardest thing to deal with is the fact that it is extremely hard to get my weight below 170 pounds. I am too old to cut out the enjoyment of good food (or even junk food). It helps that my wife is 49 ;) and she climbe 134 routes in the 24 last year and 64 in the 12. Having a partner to train with really keeps you on point.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Mar 15, 2014 - 09:40am PT

Too much negativity from the troops....do not go quietly into the night!
"Corrosive Years".....corrosion occurs when things are left unattended.
If diminished performance is sapping your motivation remember....it's not the number attached to the climb that is important it's the quality of the experience.
I've rented the same place in Yosemite West that I had last Spring. I'll be there for the whole month of April....give me a shout if you want an attitude adjustment.

rmuir

Social climber

From the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.

Mar 15, 2014 - 10:06am PT

A simple test for measuring corrosion is the weight loss method. The method involves exposing a clean weighed piece of the metal or alloy to the corrosive environment for a specified time followed by cleaning to remove corrosion products and weighing the piece to determine the loss of weight. The rate of corrosion (R) is calculated as

R = KW/(ρAt)

where k is a constant, W is the weight loss of the metal in time t, A is the surface area of the metal exposed, and ρ is the density of the metal (in g/cm³).

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Mar 15, 2014 - 10:15am PT

Ron....how about rocking chairs upda Nose.

survival

Big Wall climber

Terrapin Station

Mar 15, 2014 - 10:37am PT

My one eyed Warrior stands strong straight and proud every morning, ready for duty.

How's that for not going quietly Donini?

But, he suffers no corrosion and gets regular workouts, so I guess that fits with your general principal.

TGT

Social climber

So Cal

Mar 15, 2014 - 10:51am PT

R = KW/(ρAt)
where k is a constant, W is the weight loss of the metal in time t, A is the surface area of the metal exposed, and ρ is the density of the metal (in g/cm³).

So I guess the key to slowing the corrosion is to be really dense.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Mar 15, 2014 - 11:10am PT

How did you know they were blue?

rgold

Trad climber

Poughkeepsie, NY

Mar 15, 2014 - 11:38am PT

I find aging to be god's practical joke.

"Everyone who thinks they can do seven one-arm pullups on each arm take one step forward!"

"Uh, not so fast there sparky..."

I'm not exactly laughing my way through my golden years (whoever thought up that term certainly wasn't old when they coined it---I'm guessing the "g" at the beginning was a typo), but I can't help finding a lot of it pretty funny.

I mean, lying on your side while some guy drives a giant prostate biopsy machine up your arse, twiddling dials and snipping bits, putting them in little glass vials, and attaching mysterious GPS coordinates to each is, in spite of the humiliation and discomfort, really a hoot if you think about it.

"Hey doc, sharp curves ahead, back of the gas huh? Watch out for those potholes. Ouch! Dammit, yer gonna bend the chassis!"

And what if the nurse---yeah, there's always a nurse to drive home the message that your formerly awesome nakedness is of absolutely no interest to anyone---what if the nurse transposes the digits in one of those GPS labels?

"Well rgold, the results of your tests came out negative for cancer, but as far as we can tell you've got your head up your arse." (Giant biopsy machine and nurse-transposed GPS coordinates not needed for that diagnosis.)

Even the ordinary yearly checkup has its moments of levity.

Nurse: "Ok, lets see...5' 6 1/2 inches."

Rgold: "What? No way! I'm 5' 9" !"

Nurse: "Would you like me to redo that measurement (and help you combat the pitiful state of denial you seem to be mired in)?"

Rgold: "Yes please (you incompetent idiot---learn to read numbers off a scale fer chrissakes)."

Nurse: "Hmm, you're right, I did misread it. You're 5' 6", not 5' 6 1/2. (Hahaha, that'll teach him to question my readings.)"

Rgold: ("No wonder I was having trouble reaching that hold...") "Well, I really used to be 5' 9". (You just had to subtract that half-inch, didn't you!)"

Nurse: ("Sure you were. Next year you'll be saying you were 5' 10".)

Those numbers Donini mentioned as not mattering come up too.

Rgold: "WTF Dick, no way that route Geriatric's Demise is 5.7. Damn, its at least 5.9. Why the hell are you undergrading everything?"

Dick: "Rich, its a consensus grade. I talked to twenty people."

Rgold: "Yeah, twenty people each of who has done the route twenty times. Why don't you ask someone who just did it onsight for the first time?"

Dick: "Most of the folks I asked have only done Geriatric's once Rich. (The route is way too boring to ever bother repeating.)"

Rgold: "This is all the fault of gym climbing, sport climbing, gang-bouldering, birthday parties at climbing walls, and thirteen year old girls who weigh eighty pounds. Nobody knows what the grades should be any more. Things started going to hell when the replaced manila climbing ropes with nylon. Preuss sure as hell knew how to tell 5.7 from 5.9."

Dick: ("I'm just gonna keep quiet until he calms down and takes his midday nap.")

--------

Note: British slang for the posterior used to keep the Super Topo automatic censor at bay.

Rick A

climber

Boulder, Colorado

Mar 15, 2014 - 11:43am PT

When I first visited Chamonix in 1976, one of the things that made an impression were the old people of that community. As we walked down from climbs, we often met elderly Chamoniards hiking up for a picnic on the forested bench below the Aiguilles.

Some were in their eighties, and all looked fit and content to just walk among beautiful mountains. When my climbing days end, I hope to emulate them.

Stewart Johnson

climber

lake forest

Mar 15, 2014 - 11:47am PT

Sitting still is not an option at 54

Edge

Trad climber

Boulder, CO

Mar 15, 2014 - 11:51am PT

Rick, I remember seeing the same groups of Chamoniards in 1985; a worthy example to aspire to!

Trusty Rusty

climber

Tahoe Area

Topic Author's Reply - Mar 15, 2014 - 01:09pm PT

Communal check in; though as globally impressive as pocket lint, after 20 days in the cave man straights I've lost 13 lbs putting me closer to string bean than I've been in a decade. Actually a cpl roasts less than previous optimal climbing weight. Very stoked. Off all the fun stuff, working out semi-daily and feeling better and stronger than ever expected. In all that the real success is improved personal paradigm. I think on some level a wimp was taking control. Gill's earlier words (among many others) really struck a high note. Attitude plays a crazy role in performance. Good stuff.

wivanoff

Trad climber

Mar 15, 2014 - 01:58pm PT

Hit 60 last September.

Osteoarthritis in lower back and heart surgery has slowed me down a bit. I'm not climbing anywhere near as hard as I used to. And I had to tone done leading while on the anti-platelet meds.

Back to leading easy/moderate routes and I'm having more fun now than in the previous 39 years of climbing.

tradmanclimbs

Ice climber

Pomfert VT

Mar 15, 2014 - 04:59pm PT

stomach bug kicked my butt this week. skinned about 3/4 mile and barely crawled up a 35m 4- today. Feeling old fer sure...

CClarke

climber

La Paz, Bolivia

Mar 15, 2014 - 10:39pm PT

My friend Roberto pointing out our next project after we made the first ascent of a 10 pitch 5.11 yesterday:

Perhaps not cutting edge or even within sight of the cutting edge but it beats taking up golf.