Fifty: The Review

Since I'm now a week into being 50, I figure it's time to give it a review.   I'm not usually someone who pays a lot of attention to age, but the idea of turning 50 really freaked me out.  So I spent a couple of months freaking out and then, last spring, decided to get my act together and see if I could change and improve some things about myself before I turned 50.  Here's how that turned out...compared to a week after turning 49, I am:

• Lighter.  I had gained about 6 pounds from my normal weight at this point a year ago, and went on to gain another 9 by the end of last spring.  I am happy to report that all 15 of those pounds are now gone (well, they were gone before my 50th birthday celebrations; due to stuff like this

          a couple of them have returned.  They will be dealt with appropriately.)

• Less moody.  Well, mostly.  I do have to admit that the last song I put on my iPod is Get Set Go's "Die Motherf@#ker Die," but it's nicely counterbalanced by American Author's "Best Day of My Life."  Never mind that I can play one right after the other and identify equally with both.  For the most part, my anti-cranky supplement is working well.
• Way hotter.  Well, at least 30 times a day or so I'm hotter (and yes, data geek that I am, I have counted).  Yup, hot flashes.  Whee.  I'm trying some supplements for those as well, but with limited success thus far. This past week, although it was in the 30's, I had to put the air on in my car on the way to work four out of the five days.
• Slower.  At least on inlines; I haven't yet hit the ice since turning 50 (I still need to do my 50 birthday laps).  I had a nice interval workout at the Dome last night, my first intervals there in years.   I was quite pleased that I surpassed my time goal of 1:10 (the laps are 600 meters) for all 12 laps; three laps were 1:09, one was 1:07, and the rest 1:08.  However, these were one lap on/one lap rest.  Back in 2008 I could do 1:10's for five straight laps.  Oh, well.  And anyway, my inline times have been getting slower for the last five years, but my ice times have been getting faster. I think maybe my technique improvements are relevant only to ice, and they're making me faster than my age is making me slower.  And since I think I made another huge technical leap during my visit to Milwaukee this August, I'm hoping for even more speed this winter.
• Just as clumsy as More clumsy than ever.  Yesterday, when skating at the Dome, I needed to use the bathroom.  I've gone into the bathroom with my skates on probably a hundred times with no problem, but this time, well...while standing up, my skates rolled out in front of me and I fell over backwards, which made my legs fly up and bash both shins on the underside of the stall door.  I suppose it could have been worse: I could have fallen into the toilet, or hit my head on it (I did have my helmet on).  Or, worse yet,someone could have come by and asked if I was OK.
• Fitter. In another post I'll do a review of the goals I had set for myself last March, but in general I've had a better preseason of workouts than last year, I'm now foam rolling and stretching for recovery, and I'm going to CrossFit twice a week, which is way more core and upper body work than I've ever done.  As a CrossFit T shirt that I covet says, "Strong is the New 50,"
• Happier.  Back in early October of 2012, I wrote this post.  As far as skating went, I was burned out, unenthusiastic, and slow.  I had had a bad summer thyroid-wise, which contributed to a bad summer of skating.  I was feeling unmotivated and in danger of losing my skating obsession--and since I'm one of those people who is happiest and functions best when in the grip of an obsession, this was a bad thing for my happiness in general.  Now, though...well, now, I've had a good summer season; I've found a way to work on core, flexibility, and upper body strength that I actually enjoy (in fact, the Hubster recently accused me of becoming obsessed with CrossFit as well as skating. Yay!); and I'm feeling excited about the upcoming ice season.

So...fifty is looking mighty good so far!