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.
I will be 63 next month and this past year I realized that there is a big difference between understanding the aging process and actually aging. I was aware that people get old but in an irrational way I didn't think it would actually happen to me.:) Reality check! It is.
Since I'm a recreational swimmer, my goals are not really competitive and I time myself only occasionally. Since swimming is much more of a skill based sport than running, I try to learn new skills. Presently I am working on my underwater dolphin. In fact I am better at this skill now than I have ever been in my life. Of course this also helps my times but that is not my main point of focus.
I've never done a swim meet, just one OWS so far, so I'll relate my running experience. I've run 480 races since 1978 from 100 meters to half-marathons. Ran my best times between 38-42, but then had heart surgery to repair a leaky valve. I never ran up to that level again, mostly due to the drugs I'm on. I eventually learned to cope with it and adjust my training and racing strategies. By age 60 I was again getting into the top 3 in a few road races. Around age 63, the times started to go south again, even though I was still in super shape. At age 65, I could do 500 pushups in a 1 hr session, run a half marathon and swim a mile.
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. That age is a bit different for each of us, but it's inevitable. So I had to slow down. I can do my pushups, maybe 150 each day, I can swim a mile, but it will take 45 minutes, and now I can't run at all, just walk. That's the way it is.
Thank you,thank all of you. I know aging is inevitable,but I am surprised at how much slower I am now than a few years ago. The most extreme example is my 200M LCM BR is about 10 sec slower than 5 yr ago. It is still really good "for my age",but it is hard not to compare it to even 2 yr ago when I was 3+ seconds faster. It is what it is and I'll accept it,but it takes some getting used to,hence the funk.
Not sure what you mean by 'funk', but if it means ' this HAS got to stop' and 'no more declining times this year' and 'look my pb this year is nowhere near world record for my age group - i am going to step up my training'
Its pretty obvious to me that us 'oldies' ( I'm 63) often give up the challenge by looking around at our local competitors, see that their times are regressing badly and take our cue from them. Ally to that Old Mens Niggles (and women's ) and we really have every excuse to stay in our armchairs too often and too long :)
I am feeling particularly good at the moment. After 5 years of shoulder injury, plus several other niggles, nearly all mended now, I recently posted my fastest 400, 800 and 1500m times since 2007! Yes, 9-year PBs!
This has taken some hard work. More training than i did in 2007 - more distance and more strength sets. Its also needed me to realise that if i want approach lifetime PBs then i must believe its possible!
I need to look at 'the best' in my age group and say to myself that i can at least track their declining times and NOT decline faster than them! This, I feel, should be the yardstick for us all as we age NOT absolute times, but relative times relative to the best in our new age groups.
We are aging but we do not need to think we cannot improve our times, especially if we never were world record holders. Old bodies are amazing and we can make them amaze ourselves if we give them a chance to maximise their potential.
Apologies Allen for going off on one, as we say around these parts :)
I can fully understand what you are going through. I'm 70 now and I can't do the times I did when I was 55. The bonus though, is that all other swimmers of my age are slowing down too. The reintroduction of bodysuits would help enormously. I will never understand why bodysuits were banned for masters swimmers, especially those of my age. We are hardly going to pose a threat to Micheal Phelps.
Allen,
As we age our cardiac output declines as does how efficiently we use the oxygen we take in during exercise. When these declines come is different for each person. That, I suppose, is the bad news. The good news is despite your disappointment with your times, those times are still in the top five all-time in the World! Not too shabby.
I'm wondering, Allen, if it may be more difficult to hold onto your br times than it would be for fr, fl, or bk, because of the coordination and flexibility required to swim br well. I've found it hard to get and keep my br going as I've gotten older through my 60s.
I want to thank everyone for their support. I'll miss this years Spring Nationals for a great reason, my oldest daughter is expecting her second child and the due date is in the same time as the meet.Grand kids are the best perk of aging.
The "shiny suits" were brought up. I didn't like the idea, there was too much sense of buying a faster time. The strange thing is that I did feel younger using them.Swimming a time I hadn't swum in 10 years made me feel 10 years younger,even though I knew it was the the suit.
I'm wondering, Allen, if it may be more difficult to hold onto your br times than it would be for fr, fl, or bk, because of the coordination and flexibility required to swim br well. I've found it hard to get and keep my br going as I've gotten older through my 60s.
I would think the amount of oxygen/strength per stroke used in breaststroke might affect this also. Since breaststrokers have to work against more drag resistance and and rely so much on large leg muscles for this stroke, I think you might be onto something with your hypothesis.
First of all Allen, you are an amazing swimmer and an inspiration to all of us!
With that said I think the important thing is to keep swimming in focus. We all need to look at the rest of our lives and factor in what we've got going on and our goals and commitments to others.
Personally, I'm having a terrible, stressful year. Due to issues associated with a family member I've become legal guardian of a 5 year old, I currently work (teacher at a public school) at least 48 hours away from home, and more when I finally get home. I am 61 years old, exhausted, stressed-out, and currently recovering from pneumonia. With this said I do not expect to have a good year of swimming, but I can't wait to get back in the pool and do whatever I can do.
We are strong and motivated folks, but everyone has a meltdown point, when you hit it it's best to lighten up on yourself, be kind and patient, and hopefully good times lie ahead.
I do expect to drop time if I can ever afford to retire.
