WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:03.480 Welcome. This is Marsha for Radio I Today. I OWE 2 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:07.799 a reading National Geographic magazine dated October twenty twenty five, 3 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:11.759 which is donated by the publisher as a reminder. RADIOI 4 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:14.400 is a reading service intended for people who are blind 5 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:17.600 or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read 6 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.679 printed material. Please join me now for the first article 7 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:31.280 titled Older, Better, Faster, Stronger. This article by Chris Ballard. 8 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:35.439 In evolutionary terms, humans are pretty new at getting old. 9 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:39.280 Since nineteen hundred, we've managed to increase our life expectancy 10 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:42.320 from forty seven to seventy eight, even though we're only 11 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:45.679 just now beginning to understand the science of longevity and 12 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:48.920 what exactly human beings are capable of as we live 13 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:53.320 deeper and healthier into our seventies, eighties, nineties, even one hundreds. 14 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:56.719 To help you harness all that we're learning about how 15 00:00:56.759 --> 00:01:01.600 to age athletically, National geographicun a handful of people hitting 16 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:04.159 their stride in the last leg of their lives, we 17 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:07.159 all shall share some pointers about how to start extending 18 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:10.400 your health span right now, no matter how old you are, 19 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:13.840 and some wisdom pep talks really from four of the 20 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:19.079 greatest athletic specimens of the twentieth century How to age 21 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:22.519 like an athlete. An increasing body of research is telling 22 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:26.879 us that staying active as we age provides extraordinary health benefits. 23 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:31.159 These over fifty champs offer proof of what we gain 24 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:35.680 by being athletes later in our lives. For Nora Langdon, 25 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.239 the moment of truth came on the stairs. She was 26 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:40.959 sixty four years old. Up to that point, Langdon had 27 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.480 lived a largely satisfying life. She's raised two kids, had 28 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:46.799 good friends, and was in her third decade as a 29 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:50.120 real estate agent in the Detroit area. But as time 30 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.480 went on, she'd gained weight, slowly at first, until suddenly 31 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:56.439 she had two hundred twenty pounds. She had never been 32 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:00.000 an athlete, never played sports, hit the gym, or exercised consistence. 33 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:03.519 But she wasn't a couch potato either. Her dad had 34 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:05.879 worked in a steel factory, waking the kids at five 35 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:08.919 a m. For prayer and breakfast, and at night they 36 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:12.639 all helped with the family's sole food catering business. In 37 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:16.680 her world, effort had always mattered, and yet here she 38 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.039 was struggling to make it to the second floor while 39 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:22.759 showing houses to potential buyers. She began to worry. She'd 40 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:27.400 seen retirees fall prey to a sedentary lifestyle. Ten years later. 41 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:30.000 They're gone because they don't do anything but go home 42 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:32.719 and eat, eat, sit down and look at the TV. 43 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:35.479 She says. I saw a lot of my friends pass 44 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.360 away because they weren't strong enough. She wanted no part 45 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:40.960 of it. I said, no, I'm not going out like that. 46 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:43.960 At her birthday party, she got to talking with a 47 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:48.120 friend's husband by the name of Art Little wiree enthusiastic 48 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.639 and no nonsense. He worked as a trainer at a 49 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:54.240 gym for power lifters north of Detroit. He invited her 50 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:57.400 to come in for a workout. Langdon wasn't sure. She'd 51 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:00.719 never done any weight lifting and had always considered herself 52 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.960 a weakling. When Langdon showed up, Little led her to 53 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:09.000 a bench. Around them, thick necked men grunted, weights clattered. 54 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:12.960 Little instructed Langdon to lie down, then lowered a broomstick 55 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:16.080 into her hands. It weighed less than three pounds. Up 56 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:19.240 and down she went with it, fighting gravity the whole way. 57 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:23.439 That night, she returned home, exhausted, her body ached everywhere. 58 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:27.719 Years of disuse coming to bear. She was reluctant to return, 59 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.120 but a little voice in her set in her head 60 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:34.599 told her she couldn't quit, but not not after only 61 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:37.759 one session. So she went back to Little's jim later 62 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:40.360 that week, and then the week after. Little pushed her 63 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:43.759 to add weight from broomstick to empty barbell, then to 64 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:46.560 the bar with plates. Each time she told him she 65 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.080 couldn't do it, just try it, Little responded. She did, 66 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:53.840 finding she'd loved the feeling of getting stronger. Soon enough, 67 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:58.479 with Little's encouragement, she entered powerlifting competitions and began collecting 68 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:03.439 gold metal in her age group, even some for bench press, 69 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:06.400 a long way from her first session. Now in her 70 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:08.719 ninth decade, she is stronger than most women in their 71 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:12.680 twenties and thirties. Langdon is not alone. More people are 72 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:15.639 not only exercising longer and later in life, they are 73 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:18.720 also competing and breaking records in a range of sports. 74 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:22.600 In Pennsylvania, a computer programmer took up running again in 75 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:26.319 his fifties and now holds the fastest marathon time for 76 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:31.000 a seventy plus runner. In Idaho, a mountain biker racked 77 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:36.160 up world championships while discovering that prioritizing mental health rekindled 78 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:39.040 her love for the sport and helped her stay sharp 79 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:42.720 and in Ireland after a string of injuries, a former 80 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:45.839 rugby player learned that finding the right sport for a 81 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:50.600 changing body sometimes takes persistence. Today, he's the Guinness World 82 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:53.680 Record holder for being the first man to swim a 83 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:58.639 mile in ice cold water on all seven continents. These 84 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:01.560 athletes are remarkable exact samples of a broad but quiet 85 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:06.480 revolution in how we understand human potential across a person's lifetime. 86 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:12.240 Hirofumi Tanaka, a leading researcher on exercise and longevity, views 87 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:17.480 masters athletes, typically those hardy souls who keep competing beyond 88 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.279 the age of thirty five, as a compelling model of 89 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:24.959 what he calls exceptionally successful aging, thanks to their ability 90 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:30.399 to preserve strength, endurance, and cardiovascular health well into later life. 91 00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:35.399 It's really staggering, says Tanaka, director of the cardio Vascular 92 00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:39.639 Aging Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. 93 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.079 If you look at the world record for any given 94 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:46.639 sport that's basically stagnated, they haven't changed that much over 95 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:50.319 the last ten to twenty years. But age group records, 96 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:54.160 he says, are a different story. They are improving rapidly. 97 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:59.519 These athletes aren't just aging well, they're redefining what aging 98 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:03.279 can look like. Longevity is one thing, quality of life 99 00:06:03.399 --> 00:06:07.360 is another. In recent decades, scientists have turned their attention 100 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:12.000 to lengthening the stretch of life spent, active, healthy, and engaged, 101 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:15.439 called health span. The goal is no longer just to 102 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:19.279 extend life, but to expand the years you can truly 103 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.759 live well. While diet matters, of course, in medicine and 104 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:26.600 genetics play a role, exercise is the lynchpin when it 105 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:31.360 comes to health span. It improves heart health, lowers the 106 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:35.959 risk of cancer, increases bone density, aids in cognition, reduces 107 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.360 the prevalence and impact of Alzheimer's, and decreases symptoms of depression. 108 00:06:40.920 --> 00:06:45.279 A twenty twenty four longitudinal study in Circulation found that 109 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:49.600 logging three hundred minutes of moderate weekly exercise or one 110 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:53.759 hundred fifty minutes of intense activity can lower mortality risk 111 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:57.839 by roughly thirty percent. By another measure, every minute you 112 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:02.920 exercise adds five minutes to rars life. Across these pages, 113 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.319 we highlight a handful of records setting athletes from their 114 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:11.079 fifties to their eighties. Each extraordinary competitor, provides insight into 115 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.920 the lessons and emerging science of aging athletes, and gives 116 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:19.439 us all something to strive for the powerful impact of 117 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:22.160 weight training. Only a few months into her new life 118 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:24.639 at the gym back in two thousand and six, Nora 119 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:28.199 Langdon was already feeling the benefits. She was becoming steadier 120 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:30.800 on her feet, stronger through the core, and more confident 121 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:35.800 under the bar. Like many older adults, Langdon likely experienced 122 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:40.279 cyclopedia the age related loss of muscle mass that accumulates 123 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:44.079 with inactivity. Cycopenia can lead to a host of negative 124 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:49.480 outcomes reduced mobility, increased danger of falls, a lack of independence. 125 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:53.480 The good news lifting helps counteract those effects. A twenty 126 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.680 twenty four study published in the Journal of the American 127 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:00.680 College of Cardiology found women who do strength training are 128 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:03.800 more likely to live longer and have a lower risk 129 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:06.959 of death from heart disease compared with women who don't. 130 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:11.720 Those who participate in strength based exercises had a nineteen 131 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.319 percent reduction in mortality risk from any cause and a 132 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:19.720 thirty percent reduction in mortality risk from heart related conditions. 133 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:23.160 And the benefits for women are even more pronounced than 134 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:27.079 for men. In Langdon's case, she steadily lost body weight, 135 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:31.319 dropping almost twenty pounds, but also gained muscle. Within months, 136 00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:34.440 she was pushing around enough weight that Little suggested she 137 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.480 enter her first state power lifting tournament. When Langdon arrived, 138 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:41.039 she was in awe of all the strong women, most 139 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.559 of them much younger than she was. Then she got 140 00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:46.120 under the bar. To her shock, she took home the 141 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:49.679 women's sixty to sixty nine age group gold in all 142 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:53.639 three events she entered, squatting a hundred ninety pounds, bench 143 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:57.960 pressing ninety five, and dead lifting two hundred fifty. After 144 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:01.120 another year of training, Langdon had advanced to the nationals 145 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:04.519 and then to the two thousand and eight World Championships 146 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:08.440 in Palm Springs, California, where she squatted three hundred thirty 147 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:12.320 pounds and won her age group's gold medal. Since then, 148 00:09:12.679 --> 00:09:15.559 she has set more than twenty national on world age 149 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:20.200 group records, logging personal records prs of two hundred three 150 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:23.360 pounds in the bench press, three hundred eighty one pounds 151 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:26.120 in the dead lift, and four hundred thirteen pounds in 152 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:29.480 the squad mark she set in her seventies. Her bench 153 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:33.360 press and dead lift prs remained US records in the 154 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:38.039 seventies age group. Now eighty two, Langdon still trains religiously 155 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:41.399 three days a week for three to four hours, usually 156 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:46.080 wearing converse high tops and eschewing headphones to better focus 157 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.039 on the task at hand. She drinks protein shakes on 158 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:52.000 the days she trains, eats beef twice a week, and 159 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:55.279 swears by an elixir of a tablespoon of apple cider 160 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:58.399 vinegar in a half glass of water. All I want 161 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:01.159 to do is inspire other people just to get up 162 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:04.399 and do things, she says, But the challenge for most 163 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:08.240 is getting started. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 164 00:10:08.759 --> 00:10:12.480 found only seven percent of American adults due strength training 165 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:15.360 three times a week. If they can make the leap 166 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:18.519 to take up weight training, the effects begin to compound. 167 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:22.559 A study in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in 168 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:26.600 Sports found older people gain not only muscle mass, but 169 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:31.639 also confidence and motivation. Langdon said she feels as if 170 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:34.679 she's getting stronger, even at her age, and she has 171 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:37.799 no plans of stopping either, not until, as she puts it, 172 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.879 the Lord tells me to go on my own. In 173 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.440 the meantime, she'll be in the weight room three times 174 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:48.399 a week without fail. Starting late can help you finish stronger. 175 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:56.039 When Gene Ultra Geezer Dykes revived a long dormant athletic passion, 176 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:00.720 he discovered his DeLay's delayed commitment to competitive runs might 177 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:04.399 be a secret weapon. Dikes grew up in Canton, Ohio, 178 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.399 and ran in school, then drifted away from the sport. 179 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:10.440 He became a father to two daughters, took up golf 180 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:13.600 and bowling, focused on his job as a computer programmer. 181 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.440 When Dikes was in his early fifties, a friend recommended 182 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:19.759 that he join a running group in the Philly suburbs 183 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:23.840 where he lives. Soon, the group persuaded Dikes to enter races, 184 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:27.559 including a half marathon. He loved the competitiveness of road 185 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:31.159 racing and had a blast running trails. In November two 186 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:34.440 thousand six, at age fifty eight, he lined up alongside 187 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.639 more than thirty five thousand other qualifiers on a cool 188 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:40.279 day in Staten Island at the start of the New 189 00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:43.399 York City Marathon. Not only did he finish, but he 190 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:47.840 did so in under four hours. Immediately, Dikes wanted more. 191 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:51.000 With his kids grown and retirement lined up, he put 192 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:54.600 down the five iron and began running a lot. He 193 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:57.919 ran with friends, with his daughter, by himself. Over the 194 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:00.879 ensuing two decades, Dikes, a slow, light man with an 195 00:12:00.919 --> 00:12:05.600 ever present smile, ran thousands upon thousands of miles, setting 196 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:09.559 age group records in everything from eight k's to marathons 197 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:13.000 to fifty k's. He won his age group nearly every 198 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:16.679 time he competed in the Boston Marathon. At sixty nine, 199 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:20.480 he survived the sun scorched two hundred forty mile Moab 200 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:25.679 Endurance Run in Utah, a giant loop covering desert canyons, 201 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:29.960 rocky slopes, and two mountain ranges, defying reason. The ultra 202 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:34.039 Geezer unnamed bestowed by his daughter, got faster as he aged. 203 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:37.879 In twenty eighteen, at age seven, he ran a two hour, 204 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:41.039 fifty four minute, twenty three second marathon, not only the 205 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:44.240 fastest ever by a seventy plus runner, but also a 206 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:47.440 full ten minutes faster than his pr of a year earlier. 207 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:51.240 At seventy five, he broke seven masters records during a 208 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:54.960 solo twelve hour race at Pennsylvania's Dawn to Dusk to 209 00:12:55.080 --> 00:12:59.360 Dawn Track Ultras How did Dykes do it? His late 210 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.679 life surge, which may be telling. We've long been told 211 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:05.320 to use it or lose it, but Dike's case proves 212 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:09.879 a counterpoint. We tend to think their lifelong athletes research 213 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:14.879 Hirophemy Tanaka says of elite Master's performers, whether or not 214 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:18.879 many of them actually started competing after they retired. How 215 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:21.759 and why is the focus of one of Tanaka's current studies. 216 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:24.399 For the past five years, he and his team have 217 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:28.720 set up a testing station at the World Master's Athletic Championships, 218 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:33.200 most recently in Gainesville, Florida, to compile data from competitors. 219 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:37.159 Each year, they release new data on associated medical trends, 220 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.360 and Tanaka's next paper, for which the team is still 221 00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:45.919 analyzing data, specifically looks at the tread on our physiological tires. 222 00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:50.559 Tanaka's hypothesis some younger athletes go so hard that they 223 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:55.039 develop osteoarthritis and other conditions that keep them from competing 224 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:59.039 later in life. But those people who remain sedentary when 225 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:02.679 they're younger, they deserve their joints, they preserve their ligaments, 226 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:06.639 and now they can blossom as an athlete. Dikes believes 227 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:09.000 this to be the case. He recommends that you save 228 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:12.240 your money and your legs for retirement. Looking back, he 229 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:15.799 believes the whirl of professional life and fatherhood may have 230 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:18.440 been the best thing that ever happened to him. It 231 00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:21.320 made me delay my hard running until I was older, 232 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:24.559 he says. I tell people, you young guys, you're competing 233 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:28.559 against Olympic hopefuls. I'm competing against people six feet under. 234 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:31.440 It's a lot easier. It was a blessing in disguise. 235 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:36.000 While Sykes started later, he also operates at a different 236 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:39.399 level than his age group. Peers not to mention plenty 237 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:43.879 of runners decades younger. After Dike's record setting twenty eighteen 238 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:48.240 marathon performance, researchers at the University of Delaware tested his 239 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:52.480 physical markers, including his body composition, the economy of his 240 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:56.240 running pace, and the volume of oxygen he could process 241 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:01.480 per minute based on his weight. Known as V two max. 242 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:05.440 This is a key measure of aerobic fitness that reflects 243 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.960 how efficiently the body uses oxygen during intense exercise. It was, 244 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:12.679 Dikes says, the first time he'd run on a treadmill, 245 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:16.320 and he vows the last. They found that Dike's v 246 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:20.480 O two max of forty six point nine millileaders was 247 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:23.559 nearly double the average for a typical seventy one year old, 248 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:26.600 and was far higher than that of most marathon runners 249 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:30.440 regardless of age. According to the Delaware researchers, who published 250 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:33.840 their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, most 251 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:37.440 marathoners maintain seventy five to eighty five percent of their 252 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:42.639 maximum oxygen uptake. Dikes performed at ninety three percent. As 253 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:45.879 you might imagine, these markers are closely tied to health span. 254 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:48.799 VO two max is not only one of the best 255 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:52.360 indicators of overall fitness, but is also one of the 256 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.639 strongest predictors of longevity. In fact, studies show running is 257 00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:01.279 associated with a host of life prolonging fact including improved 258 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:07.000 cardiovascular health, enhanced immune system, better weight management, and reduced 259 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:11.320 risk of chronic diseases. Dikes followed a training plan that 260 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:14.639 was as unconventional as he is. It's based around what 261 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.919 he calls the foe afts faster, farther, frequently and fun. 262 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:21.679 He took a period of time a month a year 263 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:27.639 and tried to either put in more mileage increase surroundings instead, 264 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:32.600 and of course he says, always have fun. Meanwhile, he 265 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:37.799 avoided stretching, strength training, and special diets lightweight. Like weightlifter 266 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:42.799 Nora Langdon, Dikes never wore headphones, preferring to enjoy things 267 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:45.960 around him, but in twenty twenty two, something changed in 268 00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:49.679 Dike's body. While running, he began to feel weirdly fatigued. 269 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:51.960 He thought, oh boy, is this what it's like to 270 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:54.279 get old? During a five k, he found that he 271 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:57.080 could barely run. He decided to see a doctor, and 272 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:00.000 good thing he did. The doctor took tests and diagnosed, 273 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.640 Oh it's Dikes with blood cancer. Treatment began immediately, and 274 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:08.200 fortunately he went into remission. Dikes being Dikes, he was 275 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:11.319 back racing two weeks after the good news. Now he 276 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:14.599 takes daily medication and is hopeful he can manage the 277 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:18.160 incurable but treatable cancer the rest of his life. He 278 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.920 credits racing. I would never have found out about it 279 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:24.039 if I weren't a runner, he says, maybe eventually, maybe 280 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:28.119 when I dropped over dead. The diagnosis hasn't stopped him 281 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:31.440 from running, but it has changed his approach. After years 282 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.759 of logging high mileage, believing that, as he says, you've 283 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.319 got to have your mind overrull your body sometimes, he 284 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:40.920 is now listening to his body and trying a reset. 285 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:44.079 The seventy seven year old ran the Boston Marathon in 286 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:47.240 April and then began an extended break in which he 287 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:51.400 plans to rest, try new recovery techniques, and he hopes 288 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:55.119 prepare for the next potential goal. All those eighty plus 289 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:59.759 age group records can wait. Calm your mind, push your limits. 290 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:04.880 For most of her athletic life, Rebecca Rousch felt invincible, 291 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:09.519 the rare athlete, able to switchboards effortlessly and seemingly pushed 292 00:18:09.559 --> 00:18:13.000 past most natural limits. Then, in midlife, a freak accident 293 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:16.200 coupled with the stressors of menopause forced her to make 294 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:19.519 hard choices and led to a new appreciation for her 295 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:23.000 mental health. Born in Puerto Rico, Rush lost her father, 296 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:26.440 a U. S Air Force F four pilot, at age 297 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:28.920 three when he was shot down during the Vietnam War, 298 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:32.319 a loss that would come to shape much of her life. 299 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:36.720 After running competitively in high school, she discovered climbing, notching 300 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:41.440 the first female ascent of El Capitan's Bermuda Dune's Trail 301 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:44.559 in nineteen ninety six, and went on to become an 302 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:49.000 early champion in the emergence sport of adventure racing, a 303 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:53.119 grueling blend of trekking, mountain biking, paddling, and navigation that 304 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:57.960 demands both endurance and resilience over days long wilderness challenges. 305 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.920 At thirty eight, she pivoted to solo mountain biking and 306 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:05.200 came to dominate the sport. She won the Leadville Trail 307 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:09.960 one hundred MTB, a high altitude course in the Rocky Mountains, 308 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:13.680 then won it three more times twice. She finished first 309 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:16.400 among women in a three hundred fifty mile bike race 310 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:19.960 on the Iditarod Trail over ice and snow in the 311 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:23.359 Alaska Wilderness, and she became the only person to bike 312 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:26.319 the length of the ho Chi Min Trail through Vietnam, 313 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:31.200 Laos and Cambodia, a feat spurred by her quest, ultimately successful, 314 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:34.880 to find her father's crash site. She's now won seven 315 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:38.720 world championships and is enshrined in the mountain Biking Hall 316 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:43.559 of Fame. Even so, as rouche A approached and then 317 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:46.799 surpassed forty, her body, the one that never failed her, 318 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:50.119 began to change in real time. She needed sleep more 319 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:52.680 than ever, but had a harder time getting it. Our 320 00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:56.839 sleep quality and duration decline the older we get recovery 321 00:19:56.880 --> 00:19:59.680 took longer. On top of all that, she began navigating 322 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:04.680 men pause, hot flashes, joint pain, staccato sleep patterns. Then, 323 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:07.160 in twenty twenty one, she crashed and hid her head 324 00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:10.839 on a rock during a trail ride, suffering a traumatic 325 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:15.680 brain injury that left her with a host of symptoms depression, anxiety, headaches. 326 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:19.720 For Rush, her crucial change came in the period after 327 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:23.319 the accident, when she began concentrating on the mental aspect 328 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:26.960 of training and recovery as well. She entered therapy, and 329 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:31.119 after years as a self proclaimed naysayer of meditation, she 330 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:34.920 began regularly practicing suade after she looked into the research. 331 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:39.440 Functional MRI studies have found meditation leads to changes in 332 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:44.400 brain structure and function, including increased gray matter density, which 333 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:49.119 is associated with improved memory and emotional regulation, and altered 334 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:53.640 brain activity patterns, which can enhance focus and resilience under stress. 335 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:59.240 Meditating can be particularly helpful for athletic performance. A twenty 336 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:02.839 twenty four men A study in Frontiers and Psychology found 337 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:09.039 mindfulness training reducing athletes anxiety, improves performance and boosts what's 338 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:15.240 known as fluency, the optimal competitive psychological state. Where the 339 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:19.319 athlete's attention is entirely centered on the task. It doesn't 340 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:22.799 really cost anything to meditate, Rush says, and especially for 341 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:26.519 a hard changing athlete, it's really interesting. It's cool to 342 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:31.920 practice sitting still for ten minutes. Rush began to realize 343 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:36.079 the value of that processing time. Long training rides, which 344 00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:40.480 she embarks on without headphones, became moving meditation. Along the way, 345 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:43.599 she shifted her mindset, focusing on finding the joy in 346 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:47.920 sport instead of trying her identity and self worth, tying 347 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:51.640 her identity and self worth to her performance. She reminded 348 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:54.240 herself that she does this because it is fun, and 349 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:56.599 it feels good and I feel better when I am 350 00:21:56.599 --> 00:21:59.960 doing it. She also looked to reframe the pain, darkness, 351 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.000 and trauma of her concussion recovery, which stretched on for 352 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:09.200 years as an emotional growth opportunity. Mindfulness helped, so did 353 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:13.839 self reflection. Rush became a frequent journaler, logging her workouts, 354 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:18.400 reactions and thoughts in a small note book. It's a 355 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:22.279 practice now embraced by many top athletes, including Katie Ledecky, 356 00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:26.440 Michael Phelps, and Simone Biles, and studies show it helps 357 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:31.200 with problem solving, emotional regulation and competitive stress and enhances 358 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:35.359 athletic performance. In Rush's case, she says, the key step 359 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:38.559 is going back and re reading her entries. She compares 360 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:41.480 it to being your own coach or therapist. Is actually 361 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:44.880 a pretty interesting way to see what's surfacing up for you. 362 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:48.279 Rush says, that's what a good coach would do, That's 363 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:50.759 what a good therapist would do. Is just to ask 364 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:54.359 the right questions. She continues, As I get older, I'm 365 00:22:54.359 --> 00:22:56.720 starting to learn that I can ask myself the right 366 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.720 questions and be like, what was great about that experience 367 00:23:00.119 --> 00:23:02.279 and just kind of reflect on it a little bit? 368 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:04.960 Or why was I in such a bad mood after 369 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:07.839 my run to day? Oh? Well, I wasn't really focused. 370 00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:12.160 I was distracted by work to day. At fifty seven, Rush, 371 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:15.920 who lives near the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho, values quality 372 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:19.200 over quantity. Chaffin takes off two days a week and 373 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:22.799 when she works out, she does interval training, but it's 374 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:26.599 the internal habits, the moments of pause, the willingness to 375 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:30.559 reflect that now guide her performance. Who cares how fast 376 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:33.240 you run a ten k? She says, the most important 377 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:35.640 part of being an athlete is to feel good and 378 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:37.759 to be able to get up and off the floor 379 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:41.400 to hang out with your friends and pick up your grandkids. 380 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:46.759 These days, mindfulness isn't something she squeezes in between training sessions. 381 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:51.079 It is the training Why it's never too late for 382 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:53.559 a new favorite sport. What do you do when your 383 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:56.039 body no longer allows you to participate in the sports 384 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:58.759 you love. Growing up on the North side of Dublin, 385 00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:03.039 Dear Kennedy played Gaelic football in rugby. In his thirties, 386 00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:04.799 he had a family and a full time job as 387 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:07.920 a plumber. Honest work, but not easy on the body. 388 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:11.480 As sports injuries mounted, he traded the crash and dash 389 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:15.160 of rugby for running and cycling, entering his first Iron 390 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:17.960 Man at the age of thirty nine. Still all that 391 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:21.400 pounding on his joints built up. He began experiencing swelling 392 00:24:21.400 --> 00:24:23.680 in his knees and hips. I wasn't able to run 393 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:26.720 any more because the consequences would be two or three 394 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:29.400 days in bed. He says. Cycling was good, but the 395 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:32.799 hills were killing me. When Kennedy was forty, his doctor 396 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:36.759 diagnosed arthritis in his right hip and knee. Surgeries followed, 397 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:40.559 but Kennedy couldn't avoid the inevitable. A hip replacement awaited, 398 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:43.400 scheduled a year and a half out in twenty twelve. 399 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:46.200 During this time, his mental health took a hit. He 400 00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:50.559 turned to antidepressants alongside anti inflammatories. I had no way 401 00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:55.160