I just got back from the SPMS meet and I am in a funk. I have talked to several of my contemporaries who share my dysphoria at getting slower. From age 50-62 I slowed down very little. Ages 63 and 64 were one injury or illness after another, but at least there was a cause and I felt I would do better. Age 65 I aged up and for most of the year was healthy. That was a great year,but my times were all significantly slower than at 62. Since then it is very unusual to have one swim that is faster than I did the previous year.At 67(almost 68) I am notably slower than at 65. I have seen the graphs of how times slow with age, intellectually, if I am staying at the same rate of decline as my peers I should accept it, but I don't like it. I know most forumites are much younger and what I am saying may seem like something natural that I should just acknowledge and go on, that is what I thought until I was 63. I know that our having age groups every 5 years is a partial solution to the problem, but there is more difference between a 65 year old and a 68 year old than between a 40 year old and a 50 year old, in my experience. How do the other older swimmers out there cope and have a good attitude? The common saying in Masters Swimming is that "you are only competing against yourself",but my slightly younger self is kicking my butt and I am tired of it.
LOVE the idea, Jim! :applaud: (Although, seeing my own ratings wouldn't do much for my psyche... :blush: )
Hey, Jim, that was another excellent article you wrote in the current edition of Swimmer Magazine. Keep up the great writing!:cheerleader:
Actually, one of the most useful values of the rating would be to let each person compare themselves to themselves, if that makes sense. You can take your times from, say, five years ago, figure out the ranking, then compare these to your times for the same events right now. You may have slowed down time-wise, but if you rating is reasonably consistent, or perhaps even better, that means that you are holding your own, in some sense, against the Reaper!
The Reaper always wins, but a well-maintained rating suggests that you're not likely to have your ticket punched prematurely.
Thanks for the kind words on my Swimmer story. Working on a new one now!
LOVE the idea, Jim! :applaud: (Although, seeing my own ratings wouldn't do much for my psyche... :blush: )
Hey, Jim, that was another excellent article you wrote in the current edition of Swimmer Magazine. Keep up the great writing!:cheerleader:
Actually, one of the most useful values of the rating would be to let each person compare themselves to themselves, if that makes sense. You can take your times from, say, five years ago, figure out the ranking, then compare these to your times for the same events right now. You may have slowed down time-wise, but if you rating is reasonably consistent, or perhaps even better, that means that you are holding your own, in some sense, against the Reaper!
The Reaper always wins, but a well-maintained rating suggests that you're not likely to have your ticket punched prematurely.
Thanks for the kind words on my Swimmer story. Working on a new one now!
