Oh my aching......everything

On the drive home from the gym tonight Jay and I were talking about aging.  We're both around the same age, he just turned 34 and I'll be turning 33 next month.  In the grand scheme of mortality, assuming I live to an average age for a woman, I'm obviously quite young.  As a competitive athlete some people might say I'm getting closer to that age where I should start investigating assisted training centers where I can take silver sneakers boxing and do water jogging as my cardio.  As far as my performance goes in the ring I still feel like I'm far from reaching my peak.  I feel like I get a little better every time I fight, a little closer to fighting like I know I can.  In training I continue to feel amazed at how much I still have to learn, how many things I can improve on.  Of course everyone can always get better but I'm not talking about flashy crazy stuff, I'm  talking about basic stuff like positioning on the ground and footwork standing up.  My body is a whole different story altogether.  I feel like I've aged more in the last six years than in my entire life before that.  I have so many things that hurt on a daily basis now that I don't really remember what it's like to wake up and feel good when you get out of bed.  It's hard to tell now if the way my body feels is a result of age or just the beating it has taken over the last few years.  I'm pretty sure it's just the accumulation of repeated trauma.  The funny thing is that everyone always looks at the roughness of the fights but it's the training that's the problem.  Even after my hardest fight it only took me a few days of recovery before I felt fine.  I have workouts during training that leave me feeling worse and for a longer period of time coupled with the fact that you have to get up the next day and do it all over.   What all this is leading up to is that I've reached a point where I no longer have a choice about admitting and addressing certain things that apply to a 33 year old body that I didn't have to apply to the 27 year old body I had when I started.  I have to warm up before training.  I know this seems simple, smart and not that big of a deal.  It's always been something I've been horrible at.  Maybe I'll jog around a bit or shadowbox but then it's right into training.  More and more this results in pulls, strains, and sprains.  I can feel that it's all just due to my body being cold and stiff and yet I can't help revolt against the fact that I am now forced into a prolonged warm up just to keep myself in one piece.  Things heal slower now, whether it's a minor injury or soreness from a workout.  Treating injuries (R.I.C.E) and utilizing recovery methods (including stretching - another of my least favorite things) is no longer optional.  I always say that I do everything within my power to give myself the best chance of succeeding in the ring and I now have to accept that this includes all the stuff I just mentioned.  If I don't utilize these steps i can't honestly tell myself I did everything I could. 
Aging for professional athletes is a really bizarre concept in the sense that this thing that is your life and has become a large part of your identity is on a timer that is out of your control.  It's not the same as other professions, you're not considered over the hill as an accountant at the age of 35.  I don't know that other professions become so much a part of you, and leave you feeling so weird and empty when it is gone.  It's been a long stretch since I had my last fight and for awhile I thought I wasn't going to be able to find a fight.  It started me wondering if that was it for me and it was an odd feeling, very disconcerting and depressing.  Fortunately that didn't end up being the case as I have some stuff in the works.  What I took from that experience was the reminder of how much gratitude I need to have for the time I have left in this great sport, of the importance of not forgetting that it will end, that it won't be long, and that it's something that I won't be able to get back again.  I will make sure there was nothing left in me to give when it comes time to stop because, after all, I will have the rest of my life to recover.      

Comments

[Dan]

Do you think using such recovery techniques when your younger, before things hurt, will help once your older? Or do you think it's really only worth doing once things start hurting?