THINK YOU ARE TOO OLD FOR THE IRONMAN?

It seems unfair that this happens just when they leave behind the mental and physical alertness necessary to survive during their working years.

However, what if its the slowdown that is actually the cause of the onset of poor health and lethargy.I think of it as the hunter-gatherer syndrome.

When Grog the caveman headed out every morning to kill something for food or search the countryside for roots and berries, he was at his prime.

He was in great shape from all that walking, running, fighting and climbing. He demanded physical and mental fitness from his body to keep up with his way of life.

When the day came that he reached the ripe old age of 20 something, he most likely retired and left the food hunting to Norf, the younger 16 year old caveman.

All Grog had to do was sit around the fire, eat the mastodon that Norf dragged home and did little else. His body responded. He grew fat, content and lazy.

One day when he wandered too far from camp, a dinosaur much like the ones he used to kill for food, killed him, because he was too slow and out of shape to get away or fight it off.

The moral of my little story is.....just because we reach some magical, preset age, is it in our best interests to shut everything down and lose our physical and mental sharpness?

I think not. Our bodies will gladly oblige if that's our attitude. If we demand little of our body, than that's exactly what we'll get. Little. It will begin to shut down because it senses that the needs of the hunter-gatherer are no longer necessary.

How about Al Gordon?

In 1931 he took over an underwriting company called Kidder, Peabody and Co. He went on to spend 8 decades as an investor and executive.

Oh, and also...HE WAS A MARATHONER INTO HIS 80's.

I should also mention that he still buys stocks. He buys long term. By the way....AT THE TIME OF THIS WRITING, HE WAS 105 YEARS OLD.

Then there's Waldo down there in Quinter, Kansas. Waldo BEGAN running at the age of 65. At age 75 he decided to start running competitively.

At age 80, he set a Kansas state record for the ten-mile run for his age group. He went on to set records in running, long jump, discus and shot-put into his 90's and 100's at the Senior Olympics.

Oh, and that's no all....

When I first leaned about Waldo a few years ago, he was still working and had just been named Americas oldest worker. He was a beekeeper and was 104 years old!

WOW! I wonder what would have happened if he had retired at 65 and did nothing? Hmmmm.

We should lose this way of thinking that we have to shut things down because we retire or reach a certain age and learn from these examples of two people who refused to take the onset of old age lying down.

If you are reading this and are nearing retirement and the thought kind of worries you a bit. You know like....what will you do with all that spare time?

Well, you've come to the right place. Why not get yourself a bike, some spiffy running shoes and an annual swim pass and become a triathlete? Don't stop there?

Become an Ironman! Start out slow. So what if it takes you 3 or 4 years to get to your first race? It took Waldo 10 years and then he was just getting started!

So many triathletes would "love" to have all the time they wanted to train without having to worry about work.

Just use common sense, check with your doctor and away you go. Your body will never know there was a big slowdown. It will keep sharp for you. You will just love your retirement and will always have something to do.

For sure someone will ask you if retirement is boring you. Well, here's how you answer.

"Nope. Big race coming up. Gotta go pump iron."

I would bet that most of you who have read this far are between 20 and 40 and shaking your heads and think I'm crazy, but I bet you know someone who is bored and retired or soon to be retired.

Maybe a parent or favorite aunt or uncle. Well, mail them this page and send them on down to "Ironstruck." You might just be doing them a great service.

Besides, wouldn't it be something if you stood together at the start of an Ironman one day down the road? I was in one Ironman race where there were three generations of the same family in the race. Daughter, mother, grandfather. How cool is that?

Too Old Back To Why The Ironman Page

Too Old Page Back To Ironstruck Home Page