You are As Old

As You Are

In a recent personal posting, a friend was opining the approach of his 41st birthday while expressing concern that he would soon get too old to hike, paddle and do whatever other gymnastic feats he does. Rubbish. That's what I told him. To worry about such a thing is self defeating, in my judgment.

I told him that time was a man-made invention that was developed so that we would be on the same street corner at the same "time". It is a chronological indicator of relativity and, often, does not correlate with one's physiology. Let me share just one observation that has stood the test of...of...er...well, "time".

As we get "older" (there's that time thing, again...but I digress), our highest achievable heart rate falls. That is, a younger person's heart can go faster than an older person's heart. So, there are charts that estimate your maximum heart rate based on age. Some doctors use this in the stress lab (I never did, and there is not time here to explain all that...yes, another digression). When a patient would come for a stress test, the nurse and I would guess their ages by they way they looked. The maximum heart rates that they would achieve would always correlate with our assessment more than with their chronological age. You do look as old as you are...physiologically.

More over, I noticed that these younger looking individuals seemed to "behave" at their apparent age level. So, if you go sit in a chair and think you are too old to be in the game, you probably are. Stop thinking about it, and get on with life. (I do, or I'd be too scared to go to bed).

Oh, the guy on the board was captured on the river this weekend during paddle fest. His age? I have no idea.

Paddle safe...

DS