Ditto, haven't seen him since Earl @ NS Sounds like friend of Dave's named Bob ......... if so, he is amazing, these are the local guys that do Rule ..........
Dryland and diet are key. Hamilton's last book says your body is turning over 2 million blood cells per second! Now ask yourself, what are you making them out of... Cheetos?
Well said, so true and inspiring post ....Thanks ......... have a friend who's back in the water after a long battle with cancer too. Most humans, difficult to discuss these life threatening Illnesses as fighting off the aging process is bad enough but when you add surgery and chemo to the mix that's one heck of an accomplishment .................
Jim, a fantastic post. So much excellent and honest advice. The board advice is great. I've got a 6'8" but its a hybrid quad. I never would have touched it without some expert encouragement, but its got float and it's fast - into the wave, down the line. Probably the most fun board I've ever owned. I think the whole hybrid movement has been a godsend for us older guys looking for alternatives to a LB (which I do own and enjoy). And x20 on seeing the Doc. A all good thoughts on beating the cancer. Somehow I was presuming it was skin cancer, but I can now see I read too much into your posts. Again, congrats, and all positive thoughts. May you have many healthy years of surfing to come. Skin cancer was mentioned earlier in the thread. It's SO important for us to get checked over as we get older (and keep using sunscreen!). I see the dermatologist every 6 months and have a number of divots on my back and chest. Fortunately, it seems like all the nasty looking ones have been dealt with. And luckily I've only had one scare that a required a second procedure on a suspicious spot. They took a pretty serious chunk of my forearm (stitches inside and out). Part of the scare was having the Doctor's office call and ask me to come in immediately. Man, did my heart sink. A very uncomfortable wait for the results. My hands were shaking when the Doc called back and said "benign." At this point, any day I paddle out is good day.
I'm 47 (and a half... but who's counting), and I second what a lot of the other old heads have said, which can be summed up as "don't let yourself go." Eat right, don't drink too much, exercise, rest when you're hurting or sick, and if you smoke, quit. But also... keep yourself active mentally and at peace spiritually. Challenge yourself... take yourself out of your comfort zone and learn new things. And at the same time, do things that give you peace of mind. Pray, meditate, do art, make music, volunteer... do something that gives you peace, and do it often. Compared to keeping your body healthy, sometimes keeping your mind and spirit healthy is way harder.
if you haven't watched the movie Surfing for Life, you must. A documentary about aging surfers. Proof that surfing is the fountain of youth. . I'm 40. It's all about yoga yoga yoga and Tony Horton P90X type stuff. http://www.surfingforlife.com/
Great thread. I'm 42 and agree totally with JTS's post about a good balance between Yoga, weights, swimming, cardio when out of the water. and LBCrew's about sound mind. Free your mind and your A$$ will follow. I have already had 2 different hunks of "cancerous cells" removed off my shoulders which is scary considering my Gramps died form melanoma Just gotta keep life in the right perspective and keep surfing in your life. Plus, a nip at the Jack Daniels and a good cigar after a good session never hurt!
my advice to keep you healthier: 1. YOGA 2. warm up before you go out 3. eat right im only 28 but about 2-3 yrs ago i started getting nagging injuries...primarily my shoulder and lower back pain. i started doing yoga a few times a week and it was killer for overall body health and keeping the injuries down.
After taking classes at a studio for a while I started practicing at home also. Having an instructor give you alignment tips helps makes sure you are doing poses correctly. Also there is a huge amount of videos on the web that can help. Jim
Way to fight JTS....keep fightin, never surrender.....congrats....very inpiring.....im 41 now.....been surfing since i was 13.......Rabbit Kekai and "Da Beach Boys" in Waikiki.....I plan to surf till I cant which I hope never happens....
I'm 42 now, and I can't see myself calling it quits anytime soon. Especially now that my daughters have caught the surfing bug. Try to stay in decent cardio shape and play hoops a couple of times a week. May look into yoga as I definitely feel the aches and strains quite a bit more than I used to 20 yrs ago. The big thing for me now is trying to recognize my limitations, and not put myself in dangerous situations because of cramps, fatigue, etc.
I am 47, have bad knees, bad shoulder, and a neck that gets stuck till I pop it out. Been surfing since I was twelve. Most of the guys I surfed with either moved away, stopped surfing or got killed in Iraq. Oh buy the way good luck retiring by 52. I'm on my second career, and for me at least, just don't see it happening. I guess that's what I get choosing the path that I did. I don't rip, but I enjoy the he'll out of it, and definitely don't float around on a $1200 board. With youth comes arrogance. Used to look for the biggest nastiest day I could find. One I am quite content with head high and glassy.
Eating right, trying to stay in shape and getting regular checkups can help extend your surfing years but I also think a lot depends on attitude, determination and keeping an open mind. I'm 59 and although I've suffered some bad shoulder injuries because of my days in the martial arts, and that has limited my prone paddling, I still get out and surf with my SUP and my waveski on a regular basis. One of my surfing buddies is 58, has had two knee replacements and still surfs (SUP and waveski) and another is 62 and still charging it on his SUP and waveski. I just met a guy coming out of the water a couple weeks ago riding a paipo board in post hurricane surf, he was in his mid 60's and said he had to resort to surfing the paipo because of a hip replacement. The point is, surfing is not defined by equipment, surfing is the act of riding a wave. So if your interested in riding waves, baring a traumatic injury or illness you should still be able to get water time long after you retire. Just keep an open mind and enjoy the stoke.
i'm 40, and only been living at the shore for 10 years this spring so i'm just getting started i figure. first surfed in 1987 at 16, but started regularly in the early 90s. weekends pretty much then since i was living up in bergen county in north jersey. now i'm living my dream pretty much, and own a house within a 5 minute bike ride from the beach. i think i said on here last year i wanted to retire at 54 cause that's when my house will be paid off. i've eased back on that a little bit. my money won't be safe probably either. pretty soon it might not be worth anything. within the year after i'm married i plan on starting a 401k for myself or something. i'll be paying less in taxes too so i can use what i get on that. at 54 hopefully i'll have a protege that can take some of this workload off me, and teach the business too. i wanted to move to hawaii at that time, and go out of business, but i'm holding off on that. if money is worth anything at that time i would love to use some of what i got on a place out there, and still live out here full time.
