Fitness for older athletes - advice needed

[jeffmpls]

Thank you Larry, your post has been very informative; I'm near your age as well, 63 and also experiencing some strength and aerobic challenges this year. My benchmark is climbing Longs Peak (15 summits past 60) and I've noticed my training hikes to the Keyhole seem to take more effort than what I normally experience to reach that elevation. I've also focused on more strength training at the gym, which I believe will help, but so far I haven't seen the results. As we age I think the balance of training, nutrition, rest, and strength training becomes a more delicate balance and changes dramatically in our later years.

There isn't anything that I would add that previous posts haven't said, and would concur with much of what has been recommended.

[nyker]

One theory, based on conversations with a few other people, regarding performance changes over the last ~5yrs or so; wonder if having COVID has impacted anyone on a more long term basis. I know with myself, since having COVID, my cough even with a simple cold feels different and harder to clear than before I ever had it.

[peterkfes]

Terrific thread folks, just catching up on the comments and suggestions, enjoying all of it. I'll jump in with a few of my fourteener observations, not to boast but, rather, to offer encouragement to all you pups.
Flatlander from Boston, first summit (Blue Sky) in 05 at 51, most recent summits Crestone Peak and Wilson Peak in 2024 at 70. If anyone had told me back then I'd type that sentence today I'd have said take a hike. Over the decades this site and all of you have shared experiences that have helped me understand, learn, and enjoy Colorado high country.

Background; raised on a farm, high school gymnast, owner-operator of a greenhouse/garden center most of my career. The physical lifestyle and high school gymnastics, in my opinion, have been invaluable in my adult activities. I'm not a gym workout guy, enjoy heavy and speed bag workouts in my basement, and prepare for August trips to the Rockies with flat river hiking near my home. Back surgery in 2022 for what I describe as farmer's back...lumbar disc issues after a life of bending and lifting. The closest I get to a gym is my physical therapist, I describe her as my guardian angel. I always leave her by saying it's not a question of 'if' but 'when' I'll need her help again.

Observations; After the first two years of climbing I settled on a three day acclimation routine that has worked for me. Ten years ago, 2016, I climbed 10 fourteeners in three weeks at 62. Back then I was able to climb a peak and then another after a day of rest and recovery. There have been only two occasions over the 20 years of climbing that I climbed on consecutive days. Those days are long gone for me now and I accept the reality of slowing down as I age...there's no other option for me but to accept. Mind over matter, right? Two years ago I needed six days of rest between Crestone and Wilson Peaks. As I went through the days needed to recover I was quite disappointed in not being able to get back out there. But my body said no so I listened.

Crestone Peak was a 21 hour day for me from camp at South Colony lake. I've turned that turtle pace molasses day into a story for the ages celebrating the accomplishment rather than lamenting the time and subsequent recovery period. I left my tent at midnight, spent the night alone on the trail, and got back at 9:00 pm alone again at the end. Don't get me wrong, the solitude is a huge reason I enjoy climbing, that wasn't an issue. Negotiating Broken Hand Pass at the end of the day took all I had left in the tank. And to be able to follow that climb with, finally, after years of wondering if I could, tackling Wilson Peak's final pitch...I'm in heaven. The slow pace and fact that Crestone was my fourth attempt and Wilson my third made everything that much more special. What a story I created for myself. Those of us who take pride in having discipline and patience will agree that both are virtues on the fourteeners. I'm grateful to an agricultural lifestyle for having both of those traits.

I've been fortunate to have received plenty of encouragement from this website's community, it's such a pleasure for me to be in a position to offer the same to our OP. Crestone Needle is my next objective. Even if I don't summit I want to stand at the dihedral and examine in person both options that I've read so much about. I can't make the trip this summer so if it's next, I'll report back with a thumb up or not for making it to the summit at age 73. I'm sure there are several fellow senior climbers reading this and ready to call me the pup. Age is just a number! Great thread, thanks again.

[daway8]

@peterkfes: epic story of endurance - thanks for sharing! Very impressive that you're still targeting challenging peaks! Keep us posted on the Needle!

[Jay521]

Not sure I can contribute anything of substance to this other than just keep at it. I'm 78 and several of you know me and have hiked and climbed with me and know that I am not any sort of serious athlete nor am I fast (understatement). But I think the key is to keep active. I try to do something in the mountains at least once a week and keep my weight where it's been for decades. I do find that some arthritis is getting to me now but I think I'll just keep going as long as I am able. Which will do a lot for my mental attitude as well.

Keep going Larry - You have lots of years left.

[LarryM]

Thanks for the additional contributions. Just to update briefly:

-I've started working on a lot of the suggestions, but it's a long process, so no immediate dramatic improvement.

-That said, my most recent foray into the mountains went quite well. Much less ambitious, just Parnassus and Woods, and at an intentionally sedate pace with my 81 year old friend Tom (who is still in amazing shape - I should be asking him for advice), but I managed it easily without fatigue.

-The one notable fact about that hike (we didn't run any of it, so I can't really call it a run), and the main reason for this additional response, was that I used my poles, and they made an IMMENSE difference on the downhill. Which I should have realized sooner. But better late than never.

[peterkfes]

Jay, you're one I referred to earlier as being generous sharing experience, I look for your posts knowing you're one who can call me the pup with your earned wisdom. Keep on keepin on, bud...it's an inspirational boost. Larry, I call my trekking poles my "Four Wheel Drive", that sums up what they do for me. After climbing the first two peaks without them, not knowing anything and wondering out loud why so many climbers I met on the trails used them, I bought a set. Haven't left home without them ever since. My hiking boots and trekking poles are a single item on my gear list.

Luckily this next story ended well so it's funny now. As I entered Crestone Peak's Red Gully I was lazy and didn't shorten my poles. One of my first "straighten up" moments I pushed on them and, being too long for the steeper terrain, immediately encountered an oh-oh flash realizing I had lost balance and was falling backwards. All I remember is hitting the ground twice before coming to a rest. It all happened in a split second, many reading this have had similar moments. All I'll say is this wasn't the first time a tumble backwards was saved by my backpack cushioning the fall and preventing further injury to an already bad back. And helmet protection. A big bruise on one shin swelled up pretty good in the thin air but otherwise, none the worse starting that slog up the gully. Later in the morning, butt scooting down the upper, polished red rock section I slid on the smooth rock into its small stream of water, immediately accelerating like a childhood slip and slide. For an instant thought I was gone, done, in big trouble. Luckily for a second time in the Gully the rock leveled a bit after about 20 feet and I came to rest in the water. Got myself up the sloped side to dry rock and saw my water bottle had continued and landed fifty feet further down. Counted my blessings, settled myself, and downshifted another gear until exiting to flatter terrain.

A week later Wilson Peak's final pitch was more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Perhaps the Crestone day subconsciously accompanied me, that's another topic I pay attention to in these forum threads. I tell non climbers I somehow have done my Fourteener climbing bass-akwards in that I'm older now with the less challenging peaks done and more challenging remaining. Then I calm down and reflect on how much I've learned on this site and on the mountains and how the experience is helping me with the intensifying challenges. I'm hoping when I do stand there at the Needle's dihedral I'll be able to tell myself you got this, either cross over or head straight up. Or, for kicks and giggles...do both after finally making it here!

I hope our younger climbers find a nugget or three in all these shared experiences. It's always a good note to end on thanking Bill for everything he's done to bring us together on this site.
Thank you, Bill.

[painless4u2]

Just returned from spending a week hiking with my much younger nephew (a recovering alcoholic), camping at Winfield. We are both flatlanders, he's in his 30's and I'll be 72 in a month. I'm doing repeats now, mostly different routes to keep it interesting. We were able to summit Huron (via 4wd Winfield TH), La Plata (via 4wd Winfield TH) and Missouri (via 4wd Clohesy Lake TH) in 4 days. They were not especially easy for me, or fast climbs. We generally took 4 hours up and 3 down. But they were still thrilling to do and to see the excitement through much younger eyes was great motivation to keep me moving along.
To prep, I stopped the booze, walked a lot with jogging up a steep hill near my home, and took 2 days to get to camp for acclimatization. During the hikes, I drank both water and an electrolyte mix, had cliff double espresso gel packs, and protein bars. We were back at camp by around noon each day, with lots of recovery time.
I mainly wanted to show folks that age and physical difficulties don't have to stop you from continuing climbing, at least up to a certain point. I've had 4 spinal surgeries, 2 rotator cuff surgeries, both hips injected with platelets for arthritis and still manage to keep getting out there. Finding motivation and creating goals is a large part of it. Rust never sleeps; keep moving.

[John_Hughes]

I’m turning 73 in a month and am a Colorado native with a bunch of mountaineering experience, and I will be climbing Boreas Peak tomorrow with an 80-year-old friend. I tried and failed to climb the high Mexican peaks this past February, never getting higher than Pico de Malinche at 14,600 due to high altitude pulmonary edema, manifested as a cough and inability to sleep on my right side at subsequent camps at 14,500 and 13,990 ft. A month after I returned, a cardiac echocardiogram still showed findings consistent with HAPE, and I am due for further evaluation. I just climbed a 13,600 ft peak, and didn’t have much coughing or fatigue afterwards. So, I’m starting to see the envelope of my high altitude capabilities close. Good luck, and listen carefully to your body!