New and Experienced climbers over 50 #20

phylp phylpwrote:

His documentary "Val" was fabulous. It's been reported that Tom Cruise insisted that Kilmer had to be included in this Top Gun sequel, despite the difficulties of filming associated with his health battles.  I have mixed feelings about patronizing Tom Cruise films because of his Scientology connections, but he comes across as a damn decent person.  And he sure knows how to make an entertaining movie.

Have you seen Collateral? Cruise was interesting in that movie; not bad in Magnolia, too.

wendy weisswrote:

So many musicians, authors, actors like that. And I'm in love with Tim Riggins despite "Texas forever!"

And who can forget America's Dad? Everyone, at least once, mistakes the art for the artist.

rather brisk swim in the Atlantic ocean a few days ago.

WF WF51wrote:

Have you seen Collateral? Cruise was interesting in that movie; not bad in Magnolia, too.

I don’t think I have watched Collateral. Trailer didn’t ring a bell. My favorites of his later ones were the sci-fi, Minority Report and Edge of Tomorrow. 

Todd Berlier wrote:

Kris! great story about Lemmy! has a lot of friends into motorhead--never clicked with me. sounds like he was fairly insecure about that mole--much like myself and boulder problem grades.

made me think about Austin Powers 

https://youtu.be/k3cmAzM-MbI

Cheech and Chong:  "I wasn't looking at his neck man..."  Ties in since one, Lemmys' mole deal was pretty overpowering and two, the guy playing cousin "Strawberry" in the Cheech and Chong clip is Tom Skerritt of Top Gun fame.

https://youtu.be/0zeV11QO854

Easy super clean granite in Acadia. still nursing the back injury and keeping it to stuff that feesl like yoga. 

Todd Berlier wrote:

Kris! great story about Lemmy! has a lot of friends into motorhead--never clicked with me. sounds like he was fairly insecure about that mole--much like myself and boulder problem grades.

made me think about Austin Powers 

https://youtu.be/k3cmAzM-MbI

I'm not sure what the gig was with Lemmy and his mole. It's not like he couldn't afford to have it removed. And since Pete went down with melanoma a few years back (that one hurt, I loved the guy), I'll never know if he was just messing with my head. "Whatever you do, don't look at the wart." Huh. Sandbag or not, no way was I gonna take a chance.

It's not like he tried to hide the thing.

Public Domain

Lori Milaswrote:

Carl... so glad you keep checking in with this group here... I don't know if it's weird for you to be so far away and upside down.  Glad you are feeling strong again.  Now that we know how you roll, it's always just a matter of time til you pull yourself together again and continue on.  Happy for you!  

Yeah it is weird for me. You’re all talking about specific routes/people/places I know nothing of. You’re all getting outside in the sunshine and I’ve got constant rain. Everything in the gym felt a lot harder today. As soon as I pulled on I knew I wasn’t rested after yesterday’s mammoth sesh. Ended todays sesh with a 21, fell on the last few holds. SO much harder after yesterday and all the routes over two hours today. I love to get really trashed sometimes, to really really work until failure.  

Kristian Solemwrote:

I'm not sure what the gig was with Lemmy and his mole. It's not like he couldn't afford to have it removed. And since Pete went down with melanoma a few years back (that one hurt, I loved the guy), I'll never know if he was just messing with my head. "Whatever you do, don't look at the wart." Huh. Sandbag or not, no way was I gonna take a chance.

It's not like he tried to hide the thing.

Public Domain

He was a weird guy, Jack Daniels, speed, cigarettes and computer games, porn or pokies all day long all his life. But wise. 

Ugh. Gout.  Tony's a strong dude, but this doesn't look fun.  It's taken every kind of drug to get him through this one, Oxy, strong NSAIDS, colchicine.  These spells have been happening more and more often.  

Seems one or more people here have also had gout and have some recommendations.  I'm pushing for whole-body improvement, Tony just wants to know what not to eat.  We know organ meats, shellfish, alcohol.  I'm thinking weight gain hasn't helped him.  

Any advice?  

Carl Schneiderwrote:

Yeah it is weird for me. You’re all talking about specific routes/people/places I know nothing of. You’re all getting outside in the sunshine and I’ve got constant rain. Everything in the gym felt a lot harder today. As soon as I pulled on I knew I wasn’t rested after yesterday’s mammoth sesh. Ended todays sesh with a 21, fell on the last few holds. SO much harder after yesterday and all the routes over two hours today. I love to get really trashed sometimes, to really really work until failure.  

Hey Carl! I’m glad you hung in there with us. For what it’s worth most of us are scattered across the continental US over 3000+ miles. There was a little crew here in Joshua Tree who climbed together and know each other, but I haven’t even met most of them! That’s probably one reason I like to post so many pictures because it gives feel for my neck of the woods and doesn’t look anything like Idaho or the eastern United States. So keep posting pictures and descriptions of where you are. I love it!

Todd Berlier wrote:

i have gout Lori, its been 10 months since my last flare up. yes it is excruciating. sympathy to Tony. he sounds really tough--im not and i am a mess when it hits. i have never had more severe pain and that includes broken bones, second degree burns, bulging disc, etc--id take any of those over another flare up. problem is that its going to happen and i know it which affects me as well. 

my understanding of the condition is that uric acid slowly accumulates within a joint until it reaches a point where the body has an exuberant immune response to it. the propensity to do this is thought to be genetic. eliminating consumption of components of uric acid is suppose to slow absorption of it into the joint. so no red meat, no alcohol, etc--not just reducing. i do drink a cup of tart cherry juice a day which has been shown to reduce flares but im pretty sure the mechanism is unknown. there is allopurinol to reduce uric acid but that comes with other unwanted side effects that i can't remember off the top of my head. i drink a ton more water every day--at least a gallon and a large glass of water b4 bed. thought there is keeping hydrated will reduce the concentration of uric acid to also slow diffusion into joint.

i now have very mild pain in the first metatarsophalangeal joint on my right foot all the time made a little worse by climbing shoes. 

i took a pic a few days after my last flare up: 

this one wasnt the worst as i had colchicine and started taking it as soon as i felt the first twinge. forgive the painted toenails my daughters do that. right now they are rainbow colors in support of pride month!

I read him your note.  I think it made him cry.  We've been talking about needing to maybe change things up a bit around here.  We love to eat together, but I now eat a lot of red meat.  We may have to institute the 'separate but equal' clause in our house and each have our own food.  It hurts me to see him in that kind of helpless pain. 

Lori, the primary prescription (that never gets written) for just about anything, is to lose weight and move more. As to tart cherry juice, it's good for other things too, don't remember what all. I have it now and then, cold, combined with unflavored fizzy mineral water, usually that's the Perrier stuff.

And, sympathies to Tony. Both of you, actually. When you're a team, everyone is part of the good....and the not so good.

As to Idaho/Joshua tree?

No, not the same.

But oddly evocative of the other, to me. I think it's because I know City of Rocks is a fair amount of old school stuff. The other part is the abundance of small to tiny towns here still. It's a different mindset, between long timers and newbies. I consider myself a "local" for the small towns now, especially Almo. It's nice.

Only 5 days before I'm back there again! Yikes. I both look forward to and kinda dread this trip, lol! It's a long long stretch of time to camp, plus it's gonna be toasty to very toasty. But, it will be good for me, as always, and challenging, in good ways. 

I hope.   

Best, Helen

Todd Berlier wrote:

hey lori forgot to mention after my last bout my doc gave me an rx for steroids saying they work better and faster than colchicine without the horrible side effect of diarrhea. the podiatrist said its not a question of if you'll get diarrhea, its how bad and for how long. 

Colchicine is a fascinating drug.  It was used to treat inflammation as early as 1500 BC and the first known use for the treatment for gout was in Greece in 600 AD.  It was first used as an extract from the corms of the autumn crocus plant.  Of course it's only in modern times that people were able to figure out the mechanism of action: it binds to tubulin, a very abundant structural protein which assembles to create microtubles, present in every cell. Colchicine disrupts the assembly. Microtubules are a major component of the cell cytoskeleton and critical for many functions, such as cell division, cell structure and cell movement.  It's not surprising to me that it causes diarrhea, interrupting all those functions is eventually toxic.  It's been in use in the US since before the FDA was established. To me, it's one of those drugs like aspirin that is basically grandfathered in that might not be approved today.

I had a struggle with gout about 10 years ago, tied in/coincident with some other issues. I was prescribed allopurinol and have used it daily since—no more gout and no side effects that I’ve noticed—-lucky I guess!!!

A dark cold foreboding morning gave way to a beautiful day on Isle Au Haut.  we even managed a  brisk swim out on sharks Point .

 apparently Island like is a bit slow

Todd Berlier wrote:

that is fascinating!! thanks for sharing!

It’s also used in laboratory setting to block cells in mitosis since it disrupts the formation of the mitotic spindle.

Good grief.  965 posts.  I guess this just shows how much we have sorely needed that campfire all these years.  

Most everyone on this forum seems to have been blessed with astonishing good health and resilience, even into senior years.  I know my journey may seem overly introspective ('don't overthink it!'), but the level of own fatigue and exhaustion I often feel these days requires some solutions if I am to be able to continue on.  

My biggest motivation is this:  I got out for an afternoon of climbing with Bob yesterday, another amazing time.  Turtle Rock, one of my favorite places... and perfect breezes, cool on the rock, and two ravens perched atop the formation just monitoring things.  Climbing at sunset is spectacular.  It was great having other climbers nearby, enjoying the same rock.  I drove home high... determined to be strong enough and well enough to have more.    

Such incredible climbing here, but I've just been wiped out for months. I have no idea how to solve this--some dietary changes have helped a bit, addition of some supplements has helped, but not enough.  So, I have decided to take the next few weeks and shut down--review my diet, supps, various endocrine issues, and Sleep.  My one doctor, Uzzi Reiss MD,  who I have entrusted with my life for 30+ years... definitely a wizard and scientist... believes none of us should be engaging in strenuous exercise.  When I see him now, he reminds me that 15 minutes of light treadmill 3 x a week is what is best for the body.  He knows I climb.  He knows I'm not going to stop unless forced to.  He has explained to me numerous times that pushing beyond that isn't healthy... he has given me a Rx for cortisone, which sounded great at first, but no.  Not yet.  I think he's wrong here.  

I'm coming to think that the rules for seniors are different, and the rules for climbers are too.  Except for the excellent specimens here on this forum, some of us have to do more.  I have to do more. 

Is there any reason why we have to become slaggy, weak and decrepit humans after 'a certain age'?  Can we stay fit and strong, motivated and happy... even aggressive in our climbing?  (I say there must be a way, Uzzi says no.) 

So my attention is back on Sleep--as Part 1 of my fact finding mission.  Listening to Alex Honnold's podcast the other day, he said "It's simple, if I want to climb harder, I have to sleep more."  

What surprises me, is that per my Whoop readings, I am short on sleep by a lot almost every day.  I may be in bed for the suggested 8+ hours, but always surprised to see that my actual sleep was less than 6.  How great of an impact does this really have on feeling alert and happy the following days?  How do you stay asleep longer?  What makes it restorative?  

So... I'm going to read up on Sleep.  Something I would not have considered, but now I'm wondering... of the logged data at Whoop 30% of seniors use some kind of CBD, and it improves their sleep and HRV (not by a lot).  Does anyone here use CBD oil, and if so, how?  Could this be a massage oil?  Does it help with your sleep?

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On another note, we have cockroaches here the size of small animals.  There aren't words... 

On another note, thanks for the input on gout and colchicine.  Sounds like it might better be ground up and fed to the cockroaches.  Tony is still in great pain.  I'm starting to think this is something else, and hopefully he'll agree to go have the elbow seen and xrayed.  Wish we'd known about the steroids earlier... that sounds much better.   I love you guys. 

Spent two weeks on Isle au Haut many years ago and recognize that cobble-stone beach.  One of the main events was catching mice in the house; I think our grand total was 25.  Also enjoyed MTB time trials around the island (we only had one bike).  Used the kayaks to gather mussels until we could no longer stand them.  I was happy to find that the rental house had a resident guitar -- a really nice old Martin.  Who keeps a priceless guitar on an island off the coast of Maine?

cool story..