I am a 53 year old woman. I have never been particularly athletic. In fact, it is quite the opposite. While I've always been fairly strong, being coordinated would never be anything descriptive of me. That changed when I lost both of my parents. My dad died in 1996 at the age of 59 and I lost my mom in 2000. She was 61. The deaths were cardiac related, yet neither met "the profile" of someone who would not live through middle age. At about the same time, I learned I had an inherited lipid condition which was associated with early onset heart disease. For a variety of reasons, we believe this runs in my father's side of the family.
I took up soccer when I was 38. I was terrible. I joined two senior leagues (if you are playing soccer over the age of 35, you are a senior--and you certainly feel like one). The people were so supportive. I have never felt as much joy as I did when I played soccer. I played for about six years. Finally, one injury led to another, and while I was lucky nothing was serious, they seemed to be getting progressively worse.
In the meantime I took up rowing. I loved it. I worked very hard and worked up to the advanced competitive team. I raced at Head of the Charles, which was truly one of the high points of my life. I had given up soccer because I could not risk injury. However, the hamstring injury from soccer was aggravated with every rowing stroke and it became chronic. Eventually I took some time off to rest, but realized I would never heal.
I had also taken up outrigger paddling. There were some similarities to rowing and I was pretty strong, so it felt very natural. Outrigger paddling comes from Hawaiian tradition. It was striking how POSITIVE the sport was. There were also local places to compete. The people were amazing. And...the best part was the Hawaiian races! I've done the 18 mile Queen Liliuokalani race four times now. I also did the Na Wahine O Ke Kai race from Molokai to Oahu. These are two of the most amazing (and difficult) races in the world. This year I hope to do the Na Pali challenge.
Two years ago I took up Crossfit. That is when I started to see the biggest changes in my body and my health. I became strong and learned to do things (like handstands) that I never would have dreamed I could do. The cool thing about Crossfit is that it is so quantifiable. While I know I will never get to the Crossfit Games, I can always say that I'm better than ever. Crossfit is also a family. I dearly love so many I've met there.
Like I said, I'm no athlete, but these are the things I dearly love. They keep me alive in more ways then one.
Like I said, I'm no athlete, but these are the things I dearly love. They keep me alive in more ways then one.
