Fitness After Fifty

Holy Crap I Just Turned 58!

Yep, I just turned 58. I'm not crazy about it but it's no big deal because, ya know, what are you gonna do? But the whole "grow old gracefully" thing? Screw that. I'm kicking and scratching and clawing and dragging my feet all the way.

Here is what sucks about it:

• Crap starts falling apart and is a little harder to hold together. In the past year or so:
• I've had recurring tendonitis in my left elbow, requiring cortisone shots in the elbow joint every few months. And, oh yeah, a cortisone shot in the elbow joint hurts like hell!
• My right shoulder has been messed up ever since I tried the Flowrider surfing simulator at the Silver Mountain water park. Stupid.
• My left hip sort of just pops out of place every now and then. It pops right back in but still...
• Worst of all, my left knee has been hurting. Again, temporarily fixed up with a cortisone shot in the knee joint (not near as bad as the shot in the elbow, but no fun).
• This bothers me more than all of the other stuff combined, because, martial arts-wise my left leg is my bread and butter. And, in spite of decades of kicking and running, my knees have never, ever bothered me. The doc says it may be tendonitis but he thinks it's arthritis and is talking about future options--shooting a gel into the joint or maybe a knee replacement down the road. Sigh.
• Injuries happen much easier than they used to.
• Hell, I can pull a muscle just by getting out of bed!
• It makes me a lot more paranoid about trying things. I mean, if I messed up my shoulder for life by trying to surf at the wave simulator, do I dare try submission grappling again where people are actually trying to put stress on my joints?
• I can't do stuff I used to be able to do.
• No more jumping, spinning back kicks, breaking boards that are held by a couple of guys standing on chairs. Damn.
• Time is getting shorter and seems to be going faster.
• There is still much I want to accomplish but will I have enough time?
• I'm tired a lot. 
• A nice nap is more precious than a night out. What's up with that?

There's more, lots more, but lets just say getting old is a bitch! Nuff said.

On the other hand, I can still do this:

How many fifty eight year-olds can do that? Hell, how many 20 year-olds can do that?

And I can still do this:

There are some good things about getting older:

• I'm pretty happy with myself. 
• I've led a good life and accomplished a lot of things, from running a martial arts school for 25 years to competing well at national events to going to college full time to get an Associates Degree while working full time and keeping the the martial arts school going. 
• I try to be a good person, a good husband, a good dad (and step-dad) and a good employee, and I try to do nothing that I'll regret down the road. 
• I'm pretty happy with my life. 
• I have a terrific wife (she's wonderful and puts up with all my latest obsessions--How cool is that?) and a great step-daughter and I love my kids and my granddaughter is awesome. 
• I don't give a crap about what people think of me. Too old to worry about that kind of sh*t.
• I'm a good guy, I treat others the way I would like to be treated and if they don't treat people the same way then that's their karma problem.

On another post, I'll talk about staying young.

Okay, that's it. I'm getting older. Big deal. It could be worse.

Later.