Houston : Woodlands

Jim Braden

Hi, I'm a runner, albeit now of the geriatic variety. Yes, I race, but the race I'm in, and you are in, is a race to end of life. The goal is to get there in the best shape possible, having lived a quality life. As we bump along thru life, unfortunatley, we all must periodically deal with stress, for an infinite number of reasons.

One of the best coping strategies, is to find ways- running, cycling, swimming, whatever- to put frequent aerobic stress on our bodies. That is, mitigate, or even cancel, emotional stress with physical stress. It's not easy; no quick fixes. It's a lifestyle issue. Maintaining an active physical life, working out 4-6 days weekly, will also retard the rate at which the degenerative diseases, asteriosclerosis, diabetes, arthritis, et. al. take over your body as you get older. Note: there is a difference between Fitness and Health. While you can't avoid you genetic drivers. you must also be smart about the quanity and quality of food you put in that body you live in. You only get one. Take care of it. Use it or lose it.
Working ou is hard. It should be hard, to be effective. Consistency, getting out several times weekly, the most important factor, not pace or intensity. Improvement comes not when you are working out, but when you are at rest. Recovery and relaxtion are critical ingredients of the active lifestyle. Breathing, breat control, aerobic efficiency, stretching, are important to both you active and recovery periods.
A couple of decades ago I was a pretty good triathlete, winning my age group at Ironman Hawaii, IM Canada, and IM Europe.
I'm still in the race, doing the best I can.

I'm still in the race, doing the best I can.