The Aging Athlete

I gave blood a few months ago for the first time in a long time. If you are a "first time" giver, they do a very brief physical work-up before you donate. This doesn't involve much more than checking your BP and pulse rate. The BP was fine (it hasn't always been that way!) but when it came to the pulse rate the nurse developed this look of concern. Apparently the look of concern had to do with the fact that my pulse rate was 48 and, as a guideline, the don't let people donate whose pulse rate is below 50. She then asked, "Are you an athlete?" Okay, I've never been asked this before in my life. I told her I did play ball hockey 2 or 3 times a week and this satisfied her! So now I'm an athlete!


And an aging one at that. As mentioned, I do play a lot of ball hockey. I am always the oldest guy there, no matter whether it's a pick-up game or in an organized league. Furthermore, I hold my own. I am currently three months shy of 58 and I play in a league with 20- and 30-somethings. Generally I play goal and enjoy the anonymity this provides. Nothing like 20 pounds of equipment and a goalie mask to disguise someone (to all you bank robbers out there--stick with the ski mask!) Quite often during the post-game handshakes, after I've discarded the mask, I will come upon an opposing player whose jaw drops when he realizes his team just got beat by an old guy! Occasionally, an opponent will even say something like, "Nice game, sir!" Which kills me! Not only that, but I also occasionally play forward or defence and I think, for the most part, that I hold my own there as well.


I have been blessed by good genes. My dad is nearing 85 but looks and acts like someone in his sixties, or even younger. We get out and play golf once a week in the summer and he even beats me on a hole every once in awhile. And he can't understand why he can't still hit the ball as far as he could back in his thirties. He just can't figure this out. No amount of me explaining the aging effects on a human body will dissuade him from this disappointment. And perhaps this is as it should be, a body in denial of the aging process may likely age much more slowly than a body in total acceptance of it. This is how it feels with me. I do have aches and pains these days that I don't remember from my younger ones, but I really don't feel any different. Part of it is knowing your limitations, I guess. I have a better understanding now of how much rest my body requires between playing and I really can't just walk out on the floor and start to play like I could back in my teens and twenties (anybody here remember stretching before a road hockey game when you were a kid...?) so there is that much of an acknowledgement of the aging process.


I have occasionally run into the odd person with a dim view of my competing with the youngsters. Generally this centers around the appearance of my desperately attempting to hold on to my youth. I can see where you might think this. I, on the other hand, prefer to think of it as simply continuing to do things I've always enjoyed doing. Should you stop doing things you've done all your life simply because you hit some age milestone? Hell no! Which is not to say go out and be reckless. For God's sake make sure that you're not going to drop dead of a heart attack (a really bad way to interrupt a game!) or endanger anyone else around you but, apart from that, go out and enjoy!!


Oddly enough, the older I get, the better I am becoming. I am better in goal now than I ever have been. I am also a better golfer. I got into both of these sports back in my early forties and started the learning curve very late in life. I am still enjoying the effects of being able to learn and still have a body that is able to apply what's been learned. I suppose at some point that the learning curve will begin to spiral downward and then intersect with my decreasing physical abilities and, at that point, these types of activities may not be enjoyable anymore and may then come to an end. Don't feel like this will be anytime soon, however!!