As I am getting older I find I need to adjust my own training to build in more recovery and adjust my eating to be a little cleaner – that is cut back on sugary things even more to what I have been, include a few extra anti-inflammatory foods like tumeric and ginger and lots of fresh colourful vegetables. Keeping your health and being able to really live life takes time, commitment and education.
As I am training a group of very senior ladies, I see much more clearly that any training needs to address their everyday needs which are generally keeping balance, issues with continence and prevention of falls by keeping legs strong. These needs will be ours as well if they are not already.
But what is really living?
To me it is waking up every morning feeling good and energized. My health is such that I don’t need medication. I can get out and do what I want to without thinking that I am not strong or fit enough, or that my balance is letting me down.
This is not necessarily everyone else’s idea of really living, but it would still hold strong that everyone wants to wake up feeling good and being able to do the things they want to without having to hesitate because of strength, fitness or health issues.
For me this idea got me into riding a mountain bike – just because I can. I am trying something new. My general training allows me to ‘just get into it and do it’ and tackle some off-road trails which require a certain level of fitness, strength and balance. Riding is so much fun for me that I need to make sure that I don’t overdo it. I don’t recover as fast as someone in their 30s, so training and riding smartly starts to become important. What good is it when you ride – or do any other fun activity to the point that it takes you a week or even a few days to recover.