The Competitive Spirit

Sorry it has taken so long for me to update this blog. I would like to use the excuse of being sick or too busy, but that's not it. I was embarrassed; I did almost cough up a lung running up and down the court! There I admitted it. And that's the first step in recovery isn't it? I admit that I am not 22 anymore. I can't just wake up one morning and decide that I am going to play a vigorous game of basketball, or ski all day with out warming up (yep, did that too, over the Christmas Holiday...my thighs were screaming!) What I am not embarrassed about is my competitive spirit. And I got a boost today from, of all places, The New York Times. In an article by Gina Kolata; Staying Ahead of Aging. In case you forgot, or you think it won't happen to you, we ALL grow old! But we don't have to go quietly. A study by Dr. Vonda Wright from the University of Pittsburgh found that you can rekindle or even begin to start a competitive lifestyle at the time when most people are slowing down. They found people who started running their first marathons at 63! The statement that "You're never too old..." is true. Obviously the person who starts at 63 is not going to beat the person who is 23, but the 63 year old could very well beat another 60 ish runner. And better yet, they can continue to compete against themselves.

The other interesting finding was the people who were athletes all their lives had to come to grips with the fact that they are indeed slowing down. Even if they maintained an active lifestyle, the body just didn't work as well as it did 20-30 years ago. The authors found that there is a good amount of burnout in these type of people. I like to cal this "i-use-to-itis": "I use to do this...I use to do that...I use to run 20 miles a day and no I only run 10..." It's a natural thing to slow down. It is also natural to stop (aka die), but to a certain extent you can prolong the inevitable. Read the article and let me know what you think.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/health/nutrition/31BEST.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ei=5087&em&en=68860ef425fb2ad3&ex=1202014800&adxnnlx=1202209763-CmNjydS45TV8XqYeK4CZiw

And by the way, our basketball team is in a growth year. We are 0-5. They haven't been close games, but they have been fun. As an example, and this isn't an excuse, the first team we played won the whole kit and kaboodle last year. We showed up with 4 players and needed to barrow one of theirs. Needless to say that didn't give us their ace. We have improved slightly since then, we usually have 6-8 players show up. So just when it feels like razor blades are tearing up your lungs you can get a substitution. What's promising is in this league your record really only counts in the playoffs because we all go to the playoffs. So theoretically we could loose the whole season, but win the tournament! Yes I am a dreamer.

Healthfully Yours,
Greg