Move It Old Man - The Intersection Of Strength and Wisdom - 23 Weeks To Go

Falling Apart, Getting Better 

The intersection of wisdom and strength is interesting.  By the time you are 50 you are more patient, you realize progress is rarely linear, setbacks don’t make you quit as easily, and you are amenable to going with sustainable / good-enough workouts, just as your body is starting to fall apart.  

I feel the down slope of being over the hill.  Of course I try to take a taoist approach to going with the descent, but there is a balancing act between resistance-is-futile and resistance-is-fruitful.   

Dad Bod Resistance / Acceptance

My friend always used to say that our bodies are fighting to make us look like our fathers and grandfathers as we age. How much do I resist and how much do I go with it?  At 50, muscle is hard to gain and easy to lose, my beer-loving belly is hard to lose and easy to gain.  As my body slows down, any speed / pace that I don’t lose also feels like a victory, any gains feel like grace from above. 

General Wisdom

When I was young, I was a foot soldier.  All testosterone and speed.  Quick to fight and quick to quit.  With age comes the ability to see the whole battlefield from the generals point of view.  Willing to take losses, knowing when to retreat, when to sacrifice and compromise for the good of the whole, the general slowly marches battalions towards the objective. The foot soldier attends to minute particulars and the general oversees the general.

More / Enough

Recovery when you are young feels instant.  You could always do more.  Workouts, nights out, sex, travel… there was always the search for more. Recovery now takes forever.  I’ve learned that more than enough is an encumbrance. I’m looking to use experience to outweigh the ever-striving ego in decision-making. My body has craved this low mileage week, that doesn’t work for my ego that wants exceptional stats to share.  Experience puts on the brakes before the breaking point.  It is hard to recover from brokenness, experience knows that.  Experience also knows that with all the careful planning and recovery, I still might break.   

Paid Leave

Foot Soldiers need furlough. Fields must lie fallow before growth can happen. Discipline requires programming in lazy days.   A strict diet needs occasional indulgence. Training recovery is where we collect payment for our efforts.  Intelligent effort and rest compound the interest until we spend it on race day.