Eleven years ago, approximately, when I started writing this blog all about retirement, I had the idea that it would be a community venture. In other words that other people would write blogs about retirement and I would post them. Now eleven years later I can count on one hand the number of guest blogs I have managed to publish. I did try initially to work people into a frenzy of publication but the result was barely a trickle, certainly no frenzy. In the end I gave up and the blog became about my experiences of retirement only. So be it, control what can be controlled etc. has always been my motto.
Now, after all these years, I finally have an old chum offer me a blog about his version of retirement. We met when I was doing my American exchange in 1978 / 79. An excuse to include a favourite photograph of Mrs Summerhouse and our daughter in Washington DC. Sorry couldn’t find one of him at short notice but we became friends over the years. Now he has written this blog. And well worth the wait. It’s an inspiring model of retirement, not for me I can barely walk but maybe I should have spent more time running. Maybe. See what you think.
Well, it’s been over 12 years since I blissfully retired from my full-time professional life. Don’t get me wrong, I loved what I did for a living, but it seemed obvious that there could be far more fun things to do to fill my days for the rest of my life. My retirement would not be anything like my parent’s. Their generation’s concept of senior living leaned toward less intense physical activities with a focus on maintaining mobility and overall health. In my mind this led to a gradual decline, arterial ossification on the living room couch or in the porch rocking chair, and perhaps even premature death. To them it certainly was not a time of life to stress the body in any way. I knew this was not me.
Being outdoors has always been my passion and have had the good fortune to have lived in America’s Rocky Mountain West for most of my life, including residing over the last 43 years just outside Boulder, Colorado. Even better than simply being outdoors is physically moving outdoors under my own human power, be it walking, hiking, or running. For me running is my true passion, an activity I started recreationally in the mid-1970s while a college undergraduate to stop smoking and lose my belly gut. I ran my first 5 kilometer race in 1977 while in my early 20s, finished on the podium for my age group, and discovered that I had found my sport. I’ve been a serious competitive runner ever since. At 71 years old I am now considered to be one of the very top age group runners in the U.S., and maybe the world. My weekly training mileage has usually been between 40 and 60 miles a week for most of racing career. This includes track intervals, hill repeats, and long runs of 10 miles or more a week if training for long race like a half marathon.
So you may say, “I would only run if I was being chased my someone wanting to do me harm” and ask, “Why in the world would I want to run for pleasure?” Well, I believe a key reason I have never stopped running is that I have at least a touch of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The endorphins I generate from going out for a run every day serves to reduce my low-level anxiety and mellow me out so I can optimally function day-to-day. But there are other good reasons.
I have a driven Type A personality that likes to set goals and achieve them. Competitive running makes this possible. I can set up training schedules that help me meet race finishing times I believe I have the capacity for. Most people stop participating in sports after high school or college with outstanding athletic achievements ending in their 20s or 30s. This is no longer true and the growing number of competitive Masters (over age 35) runners is proof. I am taking the opportunity to continue to test my body as I age. This past March I won the 2024 New York City Half Marathon among 82 finishers in the Men 70-74 age group by over one minute. I was also faster than all 166 competitors over age 70 in the entire race. I don’t consider myself a competitive person, but no doubt it is fun to win. How cool is that?
One competitive goal to aim for is age-grading, a prominent feature of Masters running. Race performances can be scored as a percentage based on statistical tables that factor in age and gender. That is, a score of 100 percent is the best anyone of a given gender and age has ever performed, in other words an elite world best performance. A 90-99 percent age-grade is internationally competitive, an 80-89 percent age-grade, nationally competitive, etc. Thus, using age-graded performance scores gives one the opportunity to gauge their racing success based on an objective measure. Age-grading could serve as a goal to simply maintain one’s current level of fitness or be one to aspire to.
More importantly, I recognize the importance of staying physically fit and strong for as long as I live…and I want to live a long healthspan, the length of time that the person is physically and mentally healthy — not just alive. This is more important to me than lifespan, which is just how many years we live. I’m not sure about others, but I plan to dance at my very young grandchildren’s weddings…and be fully cognizant that I am there.
Running has tested my resilience. Although not necessarily prone to injury, I have had to accept my fair share of abuse that sometimes kept me from my chosen sport for extended periods. These injuries usually took time to figure out: how to successfully treat, recover, return to running, and to prevent any reoccurrence. The ability to perform independent research, problem solve potential treatment, and resolve the issue had transference to other dimensions of my life. At a minimum it reinforced my ability to address and overcome setbacks, not a bad life skill to have.
Then there is the social aspect. I was on my high school’s wrestling team but did not run at all back then. So, I certainly didn’t expect to be with other men on a 70-79 age group racing team in my adult years. We travel all over the United States and fly, lodge, eat, and race together, mostly for USA Track & Field (USATF) national championships. As a result, I am no longer just competitive with myself, I want to compete well for the team and contribute. This year our Boulder Road Runner racing team won the USATF Masters National Grand Prix national championship race series for our age group. Just being around these guys as well as others across the country who are still out there seriously racing is a blast of a good time. Plus being a racing team member has added to my social life. Research demonstrates that individuals with active social lives live longer and happier lives.
I couldn’t imagine my life without running and racing. It may be a life-long endeavor. Mostly it’s about the fun of still being in the game. No sitting on the couch and rocking chair for me. How about you?