two interesting perspectives

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Dstew
Bill Crothers
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Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2005 7:41 pm

two interesting perspectives

Postby Dstew » Sat Dec 09, 2017 4:06 pm

Last night, I read a column by Alex Hutchinson. It was how do aging athletes continue on.

Some of the lessons he came away with were practical: the importance of consistent but not monotonous training habits; the power of training by feel rather than by numbers. But the meat of the book focuses on the psychological traits and strategies that enabled his subjects to keep finding new reasons to get out the door to push their limits, decade after decade.
One key: Cultivate what psychologists call a "harmonious passion," in which your chosen sport occupies an important but not overpowering place of importance in your life, rather than an "obsessive passion." The latter is marked by feelings of obligation about fitting training in and performing well, in order to bolster self-esteem. You need passion, and perhaps even a bit of obsession, to fit training around the other responsibilities of adulthood. If your passion is harmonious, unexpected challenges such as a sick child who needs to be picked up when you'd planned to train don't turn into sources of conflict and resentment.


There is no doubt in the past, I was obsessive passion bordering on mindless addiction to where among other things I have been left with an enlarged heart, bad back, hip and left calf. So enter a race and set a goal but that goal is not the one and only focus of your life. Having said that, the caveat seems to be this works good for the middle of pack runners who have never come close to winning an age group medal for example. What the advice does not address is how to cope with slowing down, of no longer being competitive and yet a race still is a positive experience.

Earlier, I got my fast fat bike and headed to West Bragg Creek. Whereas the old version of me would have continued to push up ever hill and risk life and limb on the icy sections, today I would get off my bike and rest, get the heart rate down. Or walk through tricky sections and Strava segments be damned. Then I ran across this article and found myself looking into a mirror.

https://tinybuddha.com/blog/stopped-cha ... fect-life/

Instead of races or fondos or the accumulation of miles or even just finishes, I am really starting to embrace just "doing". And not doing it to get better or faster or gain endurance but just to do it and be in the moment. So rather than fight and struggle against my declining abilities and father time, I have decided to embrace my age and now just enjoy.

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