Climbing Down

NOTE: I don't think I've ever tried to write a post that has been as fraught as this one. So I apologize in advance for its rather "non-linear" approach. This is one of those "thinking out loud" exercises that may help me "get this figured out" posts. It's not pretty but it helped me for now! Thanks for your patience!

Ever since I slipped on a rock last May, 2024 and damaged the hamstring muscle in my left leg, I've been struggling to get back to "really running." And by that I mean moving at speeds that exceed a walking pace. And, it's been hard! I missed my two favorite races last year and didn't finish my first one this year. Aaarrrghh!

On top of that it has become crystal clear that my age is making a significant difference. For several years now, despite regularly training, my times have drifted in the wrong direction. 

I had a short interval run today and I felt like crap. I had to ask myself if all the work and struggle are worth the time and pain when it is clear that I'm on the downhill side of this process. Sigh. Then I read a book recently where the author talked about an aging curve.

This chart got me thinking. Maybe all the sweat and effort over the last 20 years has me operating on the second chart! 

And just for the heck of it, I looked up the stats on a different sport, mountain climbing, and it turns out that there are actually fewer injuries descending than ascending but far more of them are fatal!. I realized at that point that I probably wasn't the only one dealing with age and downhill effects and sure enough I found this article. on a completely different topic discussing downhill issues (although age is a key factor in both subjects.)

The author is a financial advisor and the article is about living after retirement and it's well worth the read for his investment advice but I quote his comments on his mountain climbing experience. (It is clear that mountain climbing is not a perfect analogy to what's happening to me but it's all I got, so here goes!)

"Getting to the summit can be very challenging, but many of the big risks occur during the descent. Just ask any mountaineering guide. They will tell you that getting to the top is optional, getting down is mandatory!

"So what are some of these big risks? Well, most likely you are tired from the ascent. You have exhausted various muscle groups just to get there. You may have felt the impact of thinner air at altitude. Couple that with the steepness of the descent, and you have a perfect recipe for injury, either from falling or muscle overuse. Much of the descent on higher mountains is made above tree line” meaning there is no protection from the elements. If not careful, one can find themselves unprotected from afternoon thunder storms, or in some cases, afternoon snow and ice melts."

"How about resources like food and water? If too much was consumed on the way up, there might not be enough for the way down. I can tell you several stories about having to share water with dehydrated climbers. Many climbers mistimed their ascent, meaning that they started too late in the day or took too long to get to the top. Invariably, this can cause some of the descent to be conducted in the dark or worse, it can cause some to have to spend an unexpected night on the mountain. Some climbers have even been guilty of wanting to get down so much that they try to take shortcuts and end up getting lost."

Again, this author's climbing experience is not a completely perfect analogy of being an aging athlete. But, for some reason, it immediately cheered me up! I've fallen a significant number of times running and I've observed there are two key reasons…looking at my watch and running downhill! Downhill running (or walking, for that matter), requires that you pay attention ALL the time to the trail in front of you. If you fall going uphill, the odds are high you'll trip and your fitness will save you from serious injury. (I know this to be true!) Going downhill, gravity has the ability to multiply your crash force due the angle of your fall. Not only will you faceplant, your body weight and momentum will keep you moving far longer than a fall uphill.

Ok, so having made this point with a kinda shaky analogy and pondering my age position on the curve timeline, I'll apply it to aging. Ultimately, you have NO control of time passing. The clock and the calendar click over whether you want them to or not. Your body changes, whether you want it to or not. Whether you're a health freak, an extreme athlete or just a comfortable couch potato, your telomeres are getting shorter. (Here's a link to a very enlightening article on how telomeres work. Set the afternoon aside. It's a dense but interesting read.)

There are a lot of things you can do to extend your life…but NONE of them will keep you from dying. At some point, you aren't going to be able to run as fast, think as sharply or keep your body from letting the world know you're accelerating down from the summit! AND, this important, some of us, through no fault of our own will acquire a disease or condition that leads us no choice but to slow down.

Here's kinda the point I want to make…you get to choose your reaction when the reality that you're descending hits. You can view yourself as a victim of time, genetics and/or the inevitable shortening of your telomeres OR you can learn, train and practice your way into making a descent that is your choice! (My friend Greg Nelson demonstrates this everyday since his Alzheimers diagnosis!) It doesn't have to be graceful! Nobody is giving style points here. You can take the skimpy telomeres and brain cells you still have and kick some butt!

If you thought you had to train hard to make it up the mountain, I challenge you (and me!) to double down on your training (whatever that means to you) and make your descent something that will have the world marveling at what you've accomplished! I'm going to close with two quotations that have inspired me to "keep at it."

I read this George Bernard Shaw quotation years ago and fell in love with it.

“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations.”
― George Bernard Shaw

And here's a more modern version…

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow! What a ride!'" 
― Hunter S. Thompson

Makes me grin just thinking about it!

PS: I finished this post on June 23, 2026, just three days after I attempted a 50K. Due to a shoe/foot problem (that I managed to solve while on the trail!) and maybe being slightly undertrained, I only completed 40K. But ya know, I'll take it!