I am 55, but still an athlete. When a doctor at Arizona State University told me that I had Crepitus in my knees when I was 20, I assumed this was a death sentence for an Athlete. When my back started going "out" on me several times a year, and the pain of sciatica coursed through my body like a crazy bolt lightening over a Kansas wheat field, I was sure that this was it for me as an athlete. Yet is wasn't.
Something I have learned over my many years, is that the body can be pushed to its limits, yet if you are observant enough, lucky enough perhaps, and stubborn as well, you can work around the aches and pains and restructure yourself to some degree. I was never an elite athlete, a strong Senior III rider for many years, at best, but I have always walked and biked and tried to figure out diet.
At 27 I performed a pretty poor version of CPR on my father who had just collapsed and tried desperately to revive him. When the pain finally diminished, I reflected on this experience and in my 30's made some changes in my health and knowledge base that started to convince me that one can nurture his or hers body, to some degree, and started having a modicum of success in this endeavor. Yet the joints and the back kept aching and I was in pain constantly.
In my early 40's a friend taught me basic yoga stretches after my back went out so badly that I lost the feeling to a large extent in my left leg. I started stretching each and ever day and it has never gone out again. I also started reading books addressing dietary issues, though I would vacillate between a somewhat standard western diet infused with elements of the Mediterranean diet that was all around me.
Four and one-half years ago my wife got cancer. Though we pursued traditional means to address this, I also sought out consultation with alternative people who believed that one of the key elements of addressing cancer, in fact all health maladies, was through diet. One of the most important discoveries we made was Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida. I mark my first two-week experience there as a truly seminal period in my life, and though the changes suggested were extremely difficult for me to accept (a RAW foods diet), I realized that this is what my wife needed and that I too needed to model this lifestyle.
Years of excess weight, well at least some of it, melted off my body. This was a great benefit of course, but I was looking for something more. I upped my mileage on my mountain bike and found that overall, my joints were certainly feeling better. However, I would be lying if I said these aches and pains have been completely eliminated. They have not. Still lots to learn.
Yet this is a learning process. I don't think you can attend a clinic once and then just get on with your life. I have made a long-term commitment to this particular health clinic and they now know our specific health concerns. However, don't fool yourself and think that all your health problems will fade due dietary changes. They will be ameliorated of course, but many linger and you have to nurse them and be observant and vigilant. Cancer is more complicated that I am able to grasp and having the help of competent professionals on your team is essential in this lifelong confrontation with this mysterious malady.
So I read. I read books by alternative doctors who know the human body and how it responds to proper nutrition. I read books by people who love to eat and present recipes that are healthy and incredibly tasty, especially after you make the switch from sugary processed foods to a plant based diet. Now, I am spending a great deal of time reading books by athletes in supreme condition who live this lifestyle as well and offer advice for those of us not quite ready to hang up our cleats (or whatever apparatus your given sport demands).
For years I have avoided competitive bike racing. I have ridden my mountain bike to work and spent weekends in nature on trails mainly in the Jerusalem Hills. I love these trials. They meander by streams and then climb through pine forests. They are challenging, fast, and at times historic allowing you to wend your way past ruins thousands of years old. I also have done many of the new single tracks in the north as well as the endless trails in the desert region. Israel is a small country with varied tracks for any level of rider.
However, I missed the road bike and riding with a team. I had raced as a young man for a team in Arizona (Team Strada) with my good friend Dominic. I missed many aspects of this sport and the manner in which the body adjusted to speed, distance, and difficult terrain in direct proportion to how one trained. Was I too old for this? I did not know.
I also found a few competitions that interested me which are taking place in 2013. Thus, I figured if I started during the summer (2012), given the strong base I already had, there was a chance I could at least be competitive. So I found a team which consisted of other riders such as myself, professionals who can only devote only so much time training, and got at it.
The first few rides were tough. It was the first time I had been on a road bike since the early 90's. I forgot how fast these group rides could be. I forgot how close the wheels were when you drafted. I kept screwing up. Passing on the incorrect side. Not dropping back quickly enough in a pace line. Not signaling quickly enough to warn other riders of an obstacle in the road. I felt like I was in grade school again getting scolded .
But I have persisted. I find that though I am one of the oldest in this group, well, let's face The Oldest, I am nonetheless able to hang in on the toughest hills and most of the time make the young ones work very hard. I recognize that this is not an elite group of riders, but most are well-accomplished athletes who work full-time and have families that require a great deal of time and attention.
What matters most though is that I am riding again in a competitive fashion with a clear set of goals. My body is stronger than it was ten years ago and I continue to learn about the diet health connection. I wonder where these seven rides will take me.
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