When I started running again at age 21 after a few years off, I vividly remember being so sore the next day I could barely walk up stairs. Wow I’m out of shape and probably doing this wrong, I thought. So I bought myself a book on proper training and followed a plan.
If that had happened at age 61, though, I might have decided instead: I’m getting too old for this.
People aren’t too old to run in their 60s. I still do. But if I’d been injury-free until my 60s, I might have assumed the problem was age.
No, I’m not the same runner now as I was then. I certainly don’t have the endurance or speed that I used to, although I’ve never had much speed at any age. I once finished dead last in a small 10K race. When I was young.
After finishing last in that race, by the way, I overtrained for my next one and ended up injuring myself. And I thought That was stupid. I’m not training like that again.
What if injure myself now? Will I think: I’m getting too old for this?
When you live in an ageist culture, deeply negative views of getting older start seeping in. Eventually, you can start assuming various problems are due to “getting older” – even when they happen to adults of many ages.
I want to be clear here: I’m not saying there aren’t real physical and cognitive changes involved as we age. Of course there are! But how many of us try to understand aging – actual aging – instead of assuming every single “over-the-hill” message is right? Ignore or minimize positive aspects of getting older? Confuse deterioration due to poor lifestyle choices with normal aging?
“There’s a critical distinction between aging and decay,” writes Dr. Henry Lodge in Younger Next Year for Women. “Most of what we call aging, and most of what we dread about getting older, is actually decay. . . .
“So how do we keep ourselves from decaying? By changing the signals we send to our bodies. The keys to overriding the decay code are daily exercise, emotional commitment, reasonable nutrition and a real engagement with living. But it starts with exercise . . . .
“Decay signals get sent continuously, no matter what you do. . . . The good news is that the decay signals, though constant, are weak. If you don’t send any signals to grow, decay will win, but even a modest signal to grow – a decent workout, even a good, stiff walk – will drown out the noise. Thing is, you need to do something every day.”
I dislike the “Younger Next Year” book series titles, by the way, since they signal old = bad while young = good. (But I do get it. This is America and they want to sell books.) Despite the ageist titles and occasional cringe-worthy comments by co-author Chris Crowley, though, I’ve found the content useful.
It’s completely irrational to bemoan and fear the negative effects of “aging” but not spend an hour or so each day working to ward them off. I’ve been quite good about the exercising part – I happen to love exercise because it makes me feel great.
Next I need to work on better nutrition – alas, eating junk food also makes me feel great, at least while I’m consuming it. Not so much after.
And I need to focus more on stress management. Although I think retiring might help a bit with that one. 😃
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