New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #10

rgold wrote:

My decline in balance is quite notable and that's in spite of various attempts at training like a Bosu ball.

Do you think it's a loss of overall proprioception or more limited to balance? 

For example, can you move your hands to a hold as accurately as ever?

For myself I think it's primarily balance. At last so far :-)

Observing Remy, it's hard to say.
He moves his hands somewhat slowly on plastic, but accurately.
But clearly is not so stable on his feet.

For me so far, it is limited to balance...

Mark E Dixon wrote: @Rich- I found it interesting that Remy seemed most solid on plastic.
Less steady on the sport route, even less so on the Mirroir and least steady on the approach.
I find myself less steady as time passes too.
Do you perform or advocate any balance training?
I had planned on learning to slackline at the Spot this spring, but that's out now, of course.

What I saw? Wasn't balance, exactly, but ME, lol! 

For myself, it's the arthritic knees and being way, way, out of whack from years of favoring one side or the other. He really looked to favor one leg. That translates directly to bring "off balance", but without truly losing that sense. A good chunk of what my trainer (and PT peeps before her) is assigning me, are exercises to work on that. Simple, simple stuff, like walking toe to heel along a straight line. On the TRX straps, one arm and one legged stuff.

I'm also in the same boat as what was noted in another post: at my worst on the way to and from the climb. I'd very happily sit in some guys lap and fly off! Not very practical for single pitch or ice in hyalite....but a girl can dream, eh?

;-)

Mark E Dixon wrote:
Observing Remy, it's hard to say.
He moves his hands somewhat slowly on plastic, but accurately.
But clearly is not so stable on his feet.

The part where he's stumbling around is also the early morning 2nd approach after a hike the day before and a bivy in the hills. So I'm going to give him a lot of credit for even being able to move.

I watched the scene where he's walking around his  town with just a single walking stick. He moves GREAT there.

I actually know two other gentlemen who are 94 and doing great. One was a house painter and worked with his hands every day. He still skis and I sometimes see him riding his bike about 7 or 8 miles from his house, going pretty fast. The other is a famous movie director/producer who was never particularly athletic that I know of but who still works creatively every day and is bursting with energy and joy. Those two have been my previous role-models for aging well. I'm adding Marcel to the list. 

Mark E Dixon wrote:

Well if it helps, I always thought you and I were about the same age, and that I was about the same age as Fred K and that Fred is still just a youngster :-)

I don't know Eric, by name anyway. Wouldn't be surprised if I recognized him at the gym.

Care to share Jamie's tips?

I'm sure you'd recognize Eric -- often there three times a week, at least in winter. He's about my height, so his beta would always work for me if I had his technique and strength.   Sometimes it works anyway.

The advice from Jamie that I most remember was something like "just stand tall and reach." So now, when facing a big (for me) move, I paraphrase with "suck it up, buttercup" before I go for it. 

Carl Schneider wrote: Just found some of my son's (who moved out about 5 years ago) magic mushrooms in some boxes I was clearing out.
Self isolation could get interesting...

Carl, I have a note to myself that it's your birthday today, so I would consider it a gift! Unless my calendar is wrong, happy birthday! 

Mark E Dixon wrote:
Do you perform or advocate any balance training?

Everyone says yoga is great for balance but I'm not a yoga person.  This is my balance training:  I always put on and take off my socks and shoes on while standing up, which means I'm balancing on one foot while doing it.   I think I started this when I was in my early 30s and doing a lot of slab climbing and thought it would be a fun exercise.  Somehow that became a habit which continues to this day.  It's kind of fun.  Try it!

Lori Milas wrote: Well, while you guys are posting penis pictures and talking climbing and smack at each other--and one of you is posting pics of magic mushrooms... I'm sitting here buried in escrow numbers, bank statements and wire transfers... FROM MY CELL PHONE.  

When does the climbing start?  Because right now, I'm not in a very good mood.    

Oh dear. Don't you have a laptop? 

You'll be climbing again soon... 

Alicia Sokolowski wrote:

Carl, I have a note to myself that it's your birthday today, so I would consider it a gift! Unless my calendar is wrong, happy birthday! 

Thank you.. 58 today... So so old... 

This whole conversation is making me sad.    Maybe it’s time to come to terms with the age thing?  If Rgold says it’s all going south soon then I assume that’s the case.

These days I don’t want the first label or the first assumption about me to be “old”. I don’t want the assessment of me as a potential partner to be my age. Rgold is more gracious about this than me. But he’s also had a long illustrious career and can accept a gracious wind down—or so it seems.

Am I the only one who is really just beginning the climbing journey?  

If I didn’t have a number attached (birthday) I would say I feel 39.  I’m about as strong.  Maybe that’s not true, if there was some kind of baseline testing before and now.  But it’s how I feel.  And there lies ahead endless opportunity to climb. Endless challenges and learning and fun.  Of course, we have chosen an endeavor that is hard... even for 20 year olds.  

But I don’t believe the limiting factor is age.  Maybe it’s lack of native ability (me), timidity (me), prior injury, lack of access... I dunno. I just don’t want to have to start
saying goodbye before I’ve barely said hello.   

Lori Milas wrote: This whole conversation is making me sad.    Maybe it’s time to come to terms with the age thing?  If Rgold says it’s all going south soon then I assume that’s the case.

These days I don’t want the first label or the first assumption about me to be “old”. I don’t want the assessment of me as a potential partner to be my age. Rgold is more gracious about this than me. But he’s also had a long illustrious career and can accept a gracious wind down—or so it seems.

Am I the only one who is really just beginning the climbing journey?  

If I didn’t have a number attached (birthday) I would say I feel 39.  I’m about as strong.  Maybe that’s not true, if there was some kind of baseline testing before and now.  But it’s how I feel.  And there lies ahead endless opportunity to climb. Endless challenges and learning and fun.  Of course, we have chosen an endeavor that is hard... even for 20 year olds.  

But I don’t believe the limiting factor is age.  Maybe it’s lack of native ability (me), timidity (me), prior injury, lack of access... I dunno. I just don’t want to have to start
saying goodbye before I’ve barely said hello.  

Let's face it we have less years alive then what we've already lived, so make the MOST of what we have left! Go for the GOLD!

Carl Schneider wrote:

Thank you.. 58 today... So so old... 

40 years from now, this post will crack you up! 

In all seriousness, you seem to manage a fair amount of art, athletic antics and ale. Better than most 30 year olds I know! 

We have three (3) ages.  The first is chronological, nothing we can do about it.  The second is physical and there is so much that can be done to maintain strength, endurance, balance and over all physical fitness through a comprehensive program of diet and exercise with the help of a PT (recommend one who is certified in A.R.T.) and a yoga/stretching coach. The third is mental outlook, perhaps the most important.  A lot that can be done there, my recommendation is to hang out with people younger/much younger than yourself.  

Alicia Sokolowski wrote:

40 years from now, this post will crack you up! 

In all seriousness, you seem to manage a fair amount of art, athletic antics and ale. Better than most 30 year olds I know! 

Ha ha athletic antics and ale true, but art??? 

I do alright for 58. Went climbing (top roping) a few times lately on my favorite grade 21 and also another climb. Did more laps on both than the people (one a lady one a guy) who were both 20 years younger than me. Without wanting to sound like a twat, my endurance is great. On the 21, I did two sets of a grade 16 as a warm up (my mate even got pumped on that!) then did a set of 1, then a set of 2, then a set of 5.  So that's 5 laps back to back no rest between ascents at all lower off, straight back on.

Rgold (was it he who said it) is right about leg strength. Just the other day I pushed off a leg as I bounced up for a hold and really felt it in my knee.

I was joking really, i don't really feel old, i certainly don't act it.  One of my younger friends once said "Carl, you;re the youngest old guy I know". When I say i feel old, I really mean I feel a lot of pain :-)

Lori Milas wrote: This whole conversation is making me sad.    Maybe it’s time to come to terms with the age thing?  If Rgold says it’s all going south soon then I assume that’s the case.

These days I don’t want the first label or the first assumption about me to be “old”. I don’t want the assessment of me as a potential partner to be my age. Rgold is more gracious about this than me. But he’s also had a long illustrious career and can accept a gracious wind down—or so it seems.

Am I the only one who is really just beginning the climbing journey?  

If I didn’t have a number attached (birthday) I would say I feel 39.  I’m about as strong.  Maybe that’s not true, if there was some kind of baseline testing before and now.  But it’s how I feel.  And there lies ahead endless opportunity to climb. Endless challenges and learning and fun.  Of course, we have chosen an endeavor that is hard... even for 20 year olds.  

But I don’t believe the limiting factor is age.  Maybe it’s lack of native ability (me), timidity (me), prior injury, lack of access... I dunno. I just don’t want to have to start
saying goodbye before I’ve barely said hello.   

Lori, I'm 76 and am climbing pretty well.  That's not quite the same as "all going south soon."  And as you say, I'm coming from a different place, with the awareness of a level of physical conditioning you never had when younger and probably won't every have (sorry), so you feeling "about as strong" is totally different from me feeling "about as strong."  I have no choice but to "accept a gracious wind down," because I started off at the physical level of a professional athlete and there aren't any professional athletes in their mid-seventies performing the way they did in their primes.  This doesn't mean that you can't keep getting better and better for quite a long time.  It might mean that in some alternate life you could have been a lot better now than you are, but we have to lead the lives we've been given. 

And I might add that even among my septuagenarian friends and acquaintances---as with every other age group---there is a tremendous variation in physical ability.  Some of my contemporaries climb way better than me, and others climb way worse.  Some are experiencing almost no physical infirmities, others are dealing with a host of issues.  But everyone I know is enjoying every minute we've been granted, as we don't have to look far to see outcomes of a very different sort among friends and loved ones.  Sadness?  Having so far lived a rich full life, and still having the ability to continue being active physically, this isn't grounds for sadness!

Look around and see how you might have turned out, and celebrate where you are instead.  Do challenges lie ahead?  For sure.  Will you have as much time as you want?  Probably not.  Embrace your time in the sun, and enjoy what each day brings, rather than pining over what will be.  Remember that climbing, as much as any activitiy I know, is about dealing with what is, and mostly having a damn good time doing it too (although admittedly sometimes only in retrospect).

So buck up, because age will do what it is going to do anyway.  It is up to you to enjoy the ride or not.

Kevinmurray wrote:

Walter Brennan

Din, Ding, Ding!

rgold wrote:

Having so far lived a rich full life, and still having the ability to continue being active physically, this isn't grounds for sadness!

Look around and see how you might have turned out, and celebrate where you are instead.  Do challenges lie ahead?  For sure.  Will you have as much time as you want?  Probably not.  Embrace your time in the sun, and enjoy what each day brings, rather than pining over what will be.  Remember that climbing, as much as any activitiy I know, is about dealing with what is, and mostly having a damn good time doing it too (although admittedly sometimes only in retrospect).
So buck up, because age will do what it is going to do anyway.  It is up to you to enjoy the ride or not.

Tough wisdom, but speaking to the reality we all face  (if we re lucky).