Age is Just a Number with Wrinkles on it

Last night I had the distinct privilege of watching the Puget Sound Senior Baseball League team, the Silver Foxes (my friend on the team is a mere kid at 52). The average player age in the league is 62, but I saw players in their 70's and a couple in their early 80's playing hardball like a bunch of 20 somethings.

These guys are in amazing shape - and they play serious baseball. They've had hip or knee replacements, back surgery, torn rotator cuffs - physical limitations that might make most of us a little more cautious about our bodies, but they bounced around that field like a bunch of crazy kids.

I did a double take when one of the batters (whose surgeon advised him to run no further than first base after a hit) called for a sub to run for him. The batter was 72, the sub was 76! And he stole second and third base to boot!

As I navigate my own mid-life and look for examples to remind me that age is indeed just a number (with wrinkles) I found tremendous inspiration watching these men who radiate health, energy, and joie de vivre - not for glory or ego but for sheer love of their game - baseball.

My dear friend and team member, Kevin, sums it up very well.

"Yes they are an inspiration! After being out of the game for the better part of 10 years I remember now how physical baseball really is. At 52 and my current triathlon fitness I thought I would be in perfect shape and starting up again would be fun, playing baseball would be a piece of cake and easy transition....au contraire.

The average age on the Silver Foxes is 62...are you kidding me? A few are approaching 70 years old and a couple are over with the oldest at 74 a pitcher who played with the Baltimore Orioles organization back in the day. I mentioned to Dick that I once met Stan "the man" Musial who played with the St Louis Cardinals and he came right back remembering the way he used to stand and hold his bat in the batters box. When you talk to Dick he is always willing to share his stories about the game. They're passionate about it.

How do these guys do it? They do it mostly with a love for the game. Every week they can't wait for game day, to put on their pro-uniforms wearing their name and number proudly. They constantly talk about baseball during the game but joke around quite a bit too. They are always positive whether you do well or not on the field. It feels good to be around some of these guys and makes me think about a time before I was born when baseball was everything all Americans cherished.

To those who inspire us to live well!

4 Obstacles Preventing You From Reaching Your LifeFit Goals

What's preventing you from getting real results?

I've been getting a lot of emails lately from people who feel like they're going around and around the same mountain with their life organization and wellness challenges.

Underneath the frustration at either not achieving their goal at all or sliding after they'd reached a certain baseline (no judgement here, we've all been there!) what I see they almost always have in common is one or more of these 4 obstacles. They keep turning up like ducks in a shooting range so let's blast em one by one. Let's face it, all change starts with being aware right?

1. Inability to push yourself. Guilty as charged! It's easy to convince yourself that you don't need to crank out those last few reps with the weights, or you can stop your cardio session 10 minutes early today (you'll make it up tomorrow, yes?) or you can leave the kitchen counter buried with mail and get takeout (again). Rationalization is easy when you're all alone - it gets harder when you've got someone else to answer to. The solution? Get some accountability - with a trainer, coach, friend, mentor, group - whatever it takes. When someone else is pushing us to do just 1 more lap around the track, we dig deep and do it! And I stand accused - yesterday without my swim trainer I ended my lap swim early (a little boredom crept in, I confess!) fully intending to make it up at my next session. Shame on me, but there it is - thank goodness I'm human!

2. Not having a plan. If you were planning a trip to California from Rhode Island you wouldn't just gas up the car and start driving. You'd probably eventually get there but it would take a lot more time, energy and money than if you had a roadmap and itinerary. This is especially true for fitness goals. Do you know what you need to do to get the results you want? How often/how long and what kind of workout is best for you? What to eat and when? What's your goal? Weight loss, muscle gain, cardio endurance or just getting off the couch on a regular basis? There are very specific (and simple) ways to get there. The same is true for eating healthy or organizing your home. With a plan your actions become very clear and focused. You save time, energy, and money because you know what to do and how to do it!

3. Lack of time. This is one of the most oft repeated excuses I hear, and I know it's a real one. We're more time crunched now than at any other time in history. That said, we can't use it as an excuse because we're not going to get any more than 24 hours in a day anytime soon. The good news is - small steps yield big results and things like getting organized and committing to a fitness program don't need to take longer than 30 minutes a day. In fact, as far as workouts are concerned an inverse relationship exists: the longer you work out the lower the intensity has to be to enable you to keep going. The higher the intensity, the shorter the work out - but you get great benefits because you burn more!

4. Lack of consistency. Of the 4, I think this is the biggest frustrator and dream dissolver. And again, I plead guilty here! Let me give you an example. You decide (right now) that you want to get in shape for the summer. Or you want to clear out the dead weight of winter clutter still lurking in the garage or basement. Great idea. You make your plan and begin with a bang. You work consistently for 2 weeks or a month and achieve a level of success. You feel pretty good about that so then you take a little break. Soon you've fallen off your commitment wagon a few more times and then you start to lose momentum. Maybe the weight starts to creep back, the clutter piles you didn't quite finish begin to spread. . .Or maybe you've set a 3 month goal for yourself and by the end of that time you don't see the results you had hoped for and you get discouraged and give up.

Remember - if you're not consistent, you're non-existent. Lack of consistency will steal your joy. You don't deserve that!