I stayed for the talk despite not being in the category that they were targeting and found it most interesting. There were three speakers (a nurse from a hospital, a physio who deals exclusively with the elderly and a psychologist). Of all three the one that I took the most from was the psychologist as she spoke about mental blocks being the biggest hurdle for old people after they have fallen, they become ever more hesitant to perform that activity as they are in fear of things recurring.
Now being no expert in this field, I could however relate to some of the internal mental demons that runners face and obsess over. I know many who obsess over the weather – this is useless creative energy being burned as you can’t change things. The only thing you could do is pull out of the race, otherwise you put it out of your head and race as best you can.
Staying in that positive frame of mind is integral for everything. My own belief is that society instils self doubt in to us and we start to question what it is that we can do. If on the other hand we were never told that 90 was old and that we should then be in a retirement village, imagine what we could do with that power. I only think of the elderly Raramuri in Mexico who still cover up to 100KM a day on foot. The main key thing is that they have not been told that they are old and should be scaling things back, hence they carry on doing exactly as they did when they were younger.
I was witness to a similar power in the form of a galloping granny the other day who emerged from a bush trail the other day on my long run. I am not sure where she came from, but she had some serious running ability and although looking like she was in her 70s, was still very comfortable at a sub 5 minute per kilometre pace.
Running together – stride for stride (while turning back the clock) on a life changing ride. – Sean Muller
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