Handing Over the Reins & Personal Gains

How I loved running in the mountains. Salkantay Pass in Peru… 15090 feet.

As I write this, I am looking at my 64th birthday on the horizon. This seems not so old to me now as I am days away. My name, Julia, means youthful so it must be true that I shall not grow all that old. However, there have been a few changes…

Physically, I have a few complaints. As my life years tick away, little body parts here and there have just stopped working with vigor. Generally speaking, my body can still take a pretty good joke and for the most part, I trust it to get me from Point A to Point B. And yet, I can’t read a menu. My fingers won’t always quite close. My spine argues endlessly.  I guess all machines have a shelf life. 

Emotionally, I am so much calmer. I was a tightly wound youngster. These days, I actually have the occasional Zen moment. Trust me, the “been there, done that” thing is quite soothing and a real upside of 64 years around the sun.

When Raiders of the Lost Ark hero Indiana Jones said, “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage,” I thought about this. I realized that my turning over the young or silly horses to the younger trainers was not an admittance of defeat. Bundling up in my heated vest and cutting hours on a full schedule are not signs of weakness. No longer running marathons does not mean I lost interest in running. These concessions are just efforts to increase my own shelf life.

My mother used to quote the intense Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw who said, “Youth is wasted on the young.” I did not understand the meaning at the time but now I understand that it is about appreciating the gifts you have in the moment and caring for them. I have a couple lovely horses to “grow up” with and lots of adventures yet to have. To that end, I am learning to repair (what I can) and work around body parts that are wearing out. I am learning to hand over the reins for some of the “heavy lifting” to the bodies whose shelf life is double or triple to my own.

These are my current day personal gains… not wasting or trashing the youth that I still hang on to and plan to enjoy.

Back at the ranch (so to speak) I have traded my running for Pilates and Barre class. My ride everything days have become ride most things days. As you age, it seems your shelf life depends on your ability to balance “hold my beer” with “let me stretch first.” Maybe running hard enough to lose toenails can be balanced with hikes with my dog. Maybe riding each day to exhaustion can be replaced with some hours spent watching the horses gallop or graze in the field.

You know what’s funny about that? When I was a little kid and wandered off from home, my mom would always find me at the neighbors watching the horses graze in the field. So, I guess, in a way, aging might be like going home. And, “there’s no place like home.”

What does this mean for the aging athlete? It means run that ball home as best you can. Know you crossed home plate giving it your best. Try a Barre class. Go hiking. Ride without stirrups. Keep climbing your mountains. It is worth it.