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.
At 67 I suddenly got old, arthritis, etc. Yes, that's how it works. At some point, there's a big step down in performance, not a gradual decline, a point at which your body says I can't take this.
Since reading this, I've started feeling my age (I'm now 70). I've noticed, just in the last few days, that the aches, painful knees and lack of mobility are affecting my swimming. Thanks for making me think about it!
At 67 I suddenly got old, arthritis, etc. Yes, that's how it works. At some point, there's a big step down in performance, not a gradual decline, a point at which your body says I can't take this.
Since reading this, I've started feeling my age (I'm now 70). I've noticed, just in the last few days, that the aches, painful knees and lack of mobility are affecting my swimming. Thanks for making me think about it!
