Mid-life crisis

[OUTSIDEWAVE]

yeah  sometimes it is rough.  I am 62  haven't been out in a while. Too many crises  on my hands,  While many, even maybe most of you, are well set for your retirement, I through the actions of a seriously greedy and dishonest ex  business partner am  busting my balls trying to just keep my head above water in a rising tide.  There isn't too much I can do about  it except sup when I have the time and the surf isn't too large. and when work slows down.
but I wills I am thankful for sup because i could no longer surf prone and was actually considering  a  surf ski to ride sitting down.  but I found sup.  so for all of you who wake up every morning and decide to go or not to go because  you are retired or at a position in your  life where you have the luxury of the ability to make that choice  I simply say   rejoice! enjoy it you have earned it!   You play the hand you are dealt.

[PonoBill]

I wouldn't do most of that stuff if I was young again. I've been grumpy the last few days because one of the few things that I haven't injured--my arm--is now hosed. I can barely type or eat. If I wear a compression sleeve I can paddle delicately. We've got what we've got. Use it all until there's nothing left.

And I don't know about anyone else, but when  I was young I couldn't have afforded much. I was working my ass off to make ends meet. Bodysurfing at the wedge was about it.  Those kids ripping it up are in a unique set of conditions. Fun to see, but about as meaningful to the life I lived as Justin Bieber.

[mr_proper]

You are truly blessed if your joints are pain free!

Yes I am. A little pain in the elbow, but this is my bad paddle technic (I started with paddling in August 2016).

[Wetstuff]

Like SJ,  I'm simply happy SUP came along while I'm still breathing/standing.  Kitesurfing didn't come along 'till I was about 60, but I understood the principles and love a challenge ..'just too bad early kites were so evil.   

In some respects I may be more lucky than many of you because I do not have a 'physical history' to lament.  I could sail about anything from iceboats to offshore but was never an 'athlete'.  I am now.

It may all be in my mind but F-it I get on the water when 98% of my peers are beached.  Kites were thrilling and came with 'pride of the few' ..but never provided the same internal, physical response (cannot state it properly..?) a couple of hours on a SUP offers.  Press on! ..this is the only time you have.

Jim

[supsurf-tw]

50? Still a baby. Diet change and a decent training program with a good dose of paddling and it's amazing the transformation that's possible.

[eastbound]

joint pain--i am ok preserving muscle mass, so far, by my downfall will be joint pain--already doggin my ass

elbow tendinitis nags right now--a consequence i'll take, given the head high glass session i got this morning

age blows--i try to ignore it and fight it off a bit with exercise yoga etc

[SUPcheat]

Ah, to be young enough again for a midlife crisis!

I spent my young years in schools and training, and had a very wayward early professional life after 30 with many bad decisions and false starts.  I left home at 17, never went back, but never had the benefit of much mentoring, only a hunger for education.

Having started this whole ocean thing at 62 and stand up surfing at 63, it is good to be out there at all.  I have been fortunate enough to have a body that doesn't have too much pain.  A broken rib and twisted leg have been the worse things so far during SUP.

 The broken rib was from a my board running into me and the twisted knee form unbeknownst.  The twisted knee only kept me from jogging for a year and hampered my SUP progress for 8 months.  I am back to machine jogging 3+ miles now, which also helps my SUP.

I have always done some kind of working out, but never the daredevil stuff that wracks out the body.  I did some snow skiing until I started my business, but stopped.  My business could not have afforded me out for any kind of injury.  I am too physically timid and lacking in confidence to have been much of an athlete in general.  I was a standard wimp-nerd-geek as a younger person, introverted with only academic achievement to fall back on.

In terms of aging and physical endeavors, I may be going up on the the down escalator, but still making progress with my surfing.  For somebody who thought that surfing was out of reach when I was young, that's a blessing I never expected.

I didn't think I would be able to retire because I am lazy, a bad business person, and a poor boss with mild autistic spectrum affect. However, living modestly and saving voraciously allowed it.  I had to go into business for myself, even being a poor business person, because I was a very peculiar, asocial employee and didn't thrive working for others.  So, as another miracle, being retired is also a blessing.

I had all of my tests lately.  My internist was amazed at my low blood pressure, and all of the other tests (fats etc) were excellent, and the bigee PSA was normal.  The tests have gotten better since I lost weight and started SUP.

My poor neighbor, who is tough as nails but 76, finally had a scary neck wrench a couple of weeks ago on a wave crash on the reef, and he said he lost his motor function to his arms for a couple of seconds.  He still has tingling and shoulder weakness, so he stashed his board.  I have lost my neighborhood surfing bud for a while.  He said he has decided to have back surgery for his chronic pain, and is going into hospital in two days.  He did all of the risky stuff throughout his life, and has the multiple surgeries to show for it.  However, the way he stays active and keeps going and accepting challenges is inspiring.  I don't have a fraction of his grit.

I am really grateful to SUP for opening up a new world that I never expected, especially going into geezerhood.  I'll keep it up one day at a time without placing a lot of expectations, but so far, Mother Ocean has been generous to me. 

[SeldomScene]

Hate to say it, but eat better and work out more.  Be scientific, avoid overtraining, get the most from your body.  Cross train, maybe ride a bike if your elbow or shoulder hurts today.  Do some weights.  Get in shape to paddle, don't try to use paddling to get in shape.  Make the time.  I am 61 and despite my aches and pains I am stronger than I ever was, and not bad for cardio either.  And I've had 11 surgeries and blood cancer.  Many of the elite surfski paddlers here are in their 60s, one guy is 71 and he is very competitive.  Don't take aging laying down!

[LB Surper]

I love the sharing that is going on here. I think SUP is the way to go if you suffer from the neck pain that results from lifting your head on a prone board.
The only thing I have suffered from related to SUP is plantar fasciitis which is caused by long periods of standing on one place. Other than that, SUP has vastly improved my health. Because of SUP, I'm able to do long yoga poses which before were difficult.  My core is stronger and my wife loves my strong sexy shoulders. What can I say? I'm sold on SUP boarding.
My 87 year old father was just recently diagnosed with a terminal illness, and it has given me new perspective. I'm working less on my business and spending a lot  more time with the family and on the water.

[esskay1000]

I'm a bit younger than many of you that have replied here, but I do turn 46 this year. Like another commenter, I don't want to be 18 again. I was fat, lazy, and spent all my time drinking beer when I was 18. Because of discipline and training I'm in the best shape of my life and have been getting better every year in my forties. Read this book, it's inspiring.

http://www.amazon.com/Younger-Next-Year-Strong-Beyond/dp/076114773X

I started SUP 6 years ago and even though I only do flatwater because of where I live, it's become a key part of my fitness regiman. I mainly race bikes and climb mountains, but SUP adds a dimension to my fitness that others don't have.

[PonoBill]

everyone wants what they don't have. That's almost the definition of 'want'. Nothing wrong with that, if you point it in the right direction and use it to motivate you instead of just being pissed. People say there's no such thing as 'can't'. Stupid bastards. But the stuff you can't do is motivation to get better at what you can do.

incidentally, i've tried whitewater sup. Seems like dogs dancing to me. Not remarkable for the quality, just cool that they do it. If you want to do whitewater, get a kayak.

In the meantime, lose weight and get moving. I like my fat tire electric bike. I pedal it at the level I want. Good exercise, goes anywhere. I've got a spare motor if you want it. Two hundred bucks for a cheap fatty from Target and a little work and you're in biz.

[SUPflorida]

Stoneaxe...don't get yourself in a funk...I don't know about you but I have found that each experience is to be savored for its own sake and in its own moment...I have yet to successfully recreate the fealing of a truly unique experience a second time. So going back to 18 has little appeal.

I'm now 62...and because I have maintained an active, not abusive lifestyle I still enjoy (or could if I chose to) the many things that have given me great pleasure on the water. I guess I independently came to the same conclusion as Mark Sissan. I'm now more about the experience than the win, or the approval of others at this point in life.

You probably have a whole host of incredible experience locked away in your noggen...lol Reflect on those, recapture those once in a lifetime experiences....go to your happy place... Lol...the clouds will part..the blue sky will reappear and everything will be right with the world.

If that doesn't appeal to you, we can go the other rout....From that immortal line in "Sole survivor" "Suck it the #%^* up your a SUPer." Lol ...Well it's not exactly what Walburg said... but it's close enough...hope that made you smile...

[Glowmaster]

You may feel shitty today, but look at all the support and friends you have all over the world!

Stop, take a deep breath and imagine all your friends around the globe feeling for you, and supporting you. 

My windsurf buddies that used to sky it off Corporation beach's finest are now dealing with joint (knee) issues.

I never jumped when I sailed, and am now glad I was such a wus when I was younger.

Hang in there Bob.   

I hear delicious alcohol works sometimes.....

ed

[mrbig]

We all have good days and bad days. Recovering from near-death experience number four, 68 years old, shaky balance, crummy stamina, more surgeries on one side of the ledger.

BUT, I am still here; still paddling in a drysuit in blizzards (very slowly I might add!); and chasing waves. I surfed on regular unleaded surfboards, traveled to exotic locales, even was a decent ESA contest surfer in the 80's.

Well guess what, that was then and this is now. I joined a forum for Sudden Cardiac Arrest folk; and some of the stories there make me cry.

Bob, we are still here and able to do some things well, and some things not so well! But we are so fortunate to be able to do what we are able do at all. Aging gracefully is a challange to say the least, but far better than the alternative. Ultimately, we are spiritual beings trying to have a physical experience.

God bless; great to have a place to vent, tell it like it is, and know that we are not alone, and have been heard by fellow travelers..

[pdxmike]

I've never once imagined what it would have been like to have been doing standup when I was young.  (Although when I was a teenager I had these foam Aqua-Skimmer ski-type things I'd use with a pair of raft paddles that did allow me to paddle very similarly to being on a standup board, so technically I was doing standup in the 1970s).

There's actually some benefit to not having done a sport when younger.  My main sport as a teenager was running.  I occasionally run now, but I have no interest in racing again.  I can't run even one mile anywhere near my old pace for a marathon. 

When I started masters swimming about 15 years ago, it was great because I had several years of improving, swimming the fastest times of my life and then topping those over and over, all made possible because I'd never swam competitively much when younger.  People I swam against were the opposite, and I know it was frustrating for them to be slower every year, because they'd been swimmers in their youth.

With standup, I can still get better every year, because I haven't been doing it that long.  If I'd started when I was 18, that wouldn't be true.  That's not to say there's not great joy in doing something you enjoy even if your measurable performance is deteriorating as you age, just that being able to be at my lifetime best at my current age, and knowing I have several more years of improvement ahead, is a nice bonus.