I'm Not Over 50 Yet, But My Knee Was

I guess I'm still an (almost) babe to some of you since I turn 47 next month. I'm looking at 50. I see it there in the not-so-distant future. And, believe it or not, I'm excited by it. So, I asked to join the blog now.

The picture above was taken a few days after I had my knee replaced in April 2009. I was 45. My knee was that of someone in her 60's or 70's. It's now the knee of the Six Million Dollar Man or Bionic Woman. It's metallic and solid.

Surfing is not a problem. Skateboarding is not a problem. Swimming? Running? Dancing? Hiking? I can do all of it.

I say all this to explain that joint replacement does not necessarily prevent you from continuing with your athletic lifestyle regardless of your age. It seems to be in the future of many people I know who are over 50. They, like me, wore their joints out from decades of being active. Many of my friends fear the prospect of joint replacement. I can honestly say it saved me from spending the second half of my life being inactive. That would have killed me. I plan to stay athletic until my entire body finally gives out. Then I will sit back, tired as hell, and celebrate what I hope to be a long life of athleticism.

I have every intention of being as fabulous in my 50's as I think I am in my 40's!

Thanks for allowing me to join the blog.

Mary

That does it, I quit.

I've been fighting it for a long time, but I've decided the time has come for me to just give in and accept it. I'm getting older and my physical attributes are in decline. I have to quit...living in denial, that is!

I have to accept the idea that if I want to continue to surf I need to start working out and cross training. Ugh. I hate "working out". Exercising for the sake of exercising. It seems so mindless. But, the alternative is to start gravitating toward even bigger boards and shorter sessions and even longer recovery times. Now I don't mind the getting older part or the idea of being eventually forced into bigger boards. I'm actually looking forward to the learning curve that goes with surfing a longboard well. But I'm still having fun on the sub-6ft (fattie) boards and I'm not looking forward to leaving those behind just yet.

Lucky for me that my son (he's 27) has entered into a period of introspection in his life. It seems that, having married and settled into being the adult and being the dad of a pre-schooler, he's put on some weight and he's no longer the skinny kid who can inhale a 1500 calorie carne asada burrito without feeling bloated for a week. He's put on some pounds and the strategy that worked for him a couple years ago (cutting down on his wife's pasta) isn't working so well for him this year.

Yeah, on a certain level I *AM* gloating, 'cause I know what's in store for him after 30. And 40. And 50. It was just a couple years ago he was giving me a hard time for dieting - he's not laughing anymore.

Since none of his buddies are available to workout with him he hit me up. I guess you could say I was his last resort. S'okay, because I wasn't all that anxious to volunteer in the first place. But, having been drafted to provide him with some external motivation I reckon I should consider this an opportunity to see him more often and maybe do something for my fat ass in the process.

So today we hit the gym. Now, having avoided the gym for most of my adult life, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had some preconceived notions about gym culture, but as it turns out the family gym wasn't as meathead-heavy as I had expected. Little old ladies, middle aged guys who are even more obese that me, a couple moms and everyone in between. Okay, so maybe I don't stand out too badly.

We found a couple of the elliptical machines, which interest me because I don't have to worry as much about my knees or the repetitive striking motion of running. Since I hadn't brought my reading glasses with me my son had to read the fine print on the instructions for me. Classic, right? We decided on a 30-minute interval and I entered my age and weight and hit the "cardio" button. It took me about 3 minutes to hit my target heart rate of 134/minute and I ended up running about 145-150 for the duration 'cause I was afraid it would get harder if I slowed down.

I did break a sweat, and I did finish without collapsing, so I guess I can call it good. After that we hit a couple of the abdominal machines and took a look around and that was that.

As it turns out it wasn't so bad. I wasn't completely bored, I didn't end up being real sore and I didn't overstress anything - which was what I was really concerned about.

Maybe I can do this after all. While I'm at it perhaps now is a good time to get back into limiting my starch intake. It would be nice to drop 20 lbs (or more), and I'm sure a weight loss like that would help me extend my current level of surfing for a while longer yet.

Maybe next time I'll try to add a couple more exercises, just to see how it goes.

email from the Pendo people!

Hello

We came across your blog via SurfMatters today and enjoy reading it very much, stoked. My husband Steve and I surf and mat ride regularly. We are both over 50. We are so stoked and grateful to surf, still.

Every wave is a gift. We both began surfing in the mid-1960s. My husband Steve Pendarvis makes the Pendoflex boards. There is a little clip of Steve matt surfing on the Surfmatters blog now.

Our web site is pendo.com.

Thanks for all that you're doing, keep surfing and stay stoked!

Aloha,
Cher Pendarvis
San Diego

(Huck's note: I have invited Cher to join our blog as a contributor - cowabunga!!)

Robert Parker in Bali

I received this email from Robert Parker:

Was in Bali for 2 months surfing this winter. I am a 65 year old surfer and have been surfing since 1963. If you would like to see my blog about Bali, please Google Oceanautic Adventures and you will find photos and journal of my surfing adventures there.

Aloha and Mahalo, Robert Parker

http://oceanauticadventures.blogspot.com/

I "borrowed" the image of Robert surfing, from Robert's blog (hope that's OK Robert) - check out his blog if you'd like to see more. But be forewarned, there are lots of pictures, so its kinda slow loading.

I have invited Robert to be a contributing author to this blog. Cowabunga! - Huck

Hi, I recently stumbled on the blog, and am happy to find it.

I'm 57, my wife and I live in NE Connecticut, and discovered surfing only about five or six years ago. Turns out that Rhode Island surf spots are close, and I've gotten good enough to be pretty comfortable at the local point break in mid-size surf. I've been riding a 9'6" longboard, but recently bought a secondhand 8'6" thruster - something to work toward.

These days I'm surfing all I can (man, those 6-5-4's are hard to get out of), and when I can't, then as much as possible I'm working out, trying to get into better condition, and building paddling muscles. Things can get pretty flat in RI, but the next swell will come, and I've got to be ready for it! If the movie Surfing for Life is any indication, I should be able to surf for a long time to come.

But I haven't yet learned how to tell the difference between Mrs. Palmer's for warm water and Mrs. Palmer's for cool water when I lose the boxes...