For past generations, a midlife pick-me-up might have meant a zippy new sports car. Some older Americans today are choosing intense fitness instead.
A few days before running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents, Jill Jamieson warmed up by paragliding, climbing a mountain and swimming in the roughest seas she had ever experienced. Then came the races themselves, in which she battled subzero temperatures and 30 mph winds in Antarctica, suffered a stress fracture in Dubai, and slogged through 99 percent humidity in Brazil, all while battling a stomach virus.
For Adam Fisher, 54, a writer and editor in California’s Marin County, the element of danger feels like an antidote to his life as “a suburban dad in a fairly risk-averse place.”So, in his late 40s, he began taking skateboarding lessons, revisiting a pastime from his youth, and last year he took a course in freestyle skiing, which incorporates tricks such as jumps, backward skiing, spinning, jumping and grinds.
Rules and regulations have also evolved, creating more possibilities for women. Before the 1970s, women weren’t allowed to compete in marathons, and girls didn’t have access to the array of sports opportunities boys had. But Title IX, enacted in 1972, prohibited sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools, enabling more women to pursue serious athletics.
Some older athletes, like Carolyn Hartfield, 74, of Atlanta, start after a health scare. “I had a doctor’s appointment on the last day of my 49th year, and the doctor told me I was pre-hypertensive,” she said. “The very next day, I started walking.” That led to other activities, including basketball, white-water rafting, spelunking, zip-lining and leading hiking groups.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Most Americans think college admissions should not consider race -Reuters/Ipsos pollSixty-two percent of Americans say race and ethnicity should not be considered at all in college admissions, according to new Reuters/Ipsos polling on policies at the center of high-profile cases before the U.S. Supreme Court this spring. The public opinion poll, which surveyed 4,408 adults from Feb. 6-13, found that 73% of Republicans and 46% of Democrats said they were against race-conscious admissions, or affirmative action, which is a practice used by colleges and universities to boost racial diversity within their student bodies. Sixty-seven percent of white respondents said they were against considering race at all in admissions, compared with 52% of minority respondents.
Read more »
Twitter Files: Sen. Angus King Targeted 'Suspicious' Americans for BlacklistingAccording to the latest drop of the Twitter Files, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) flagged accounts his office disliked to the social media platform, accusing Americans of being 'suspicious' for reasons including being excited by a Sen. Rand Paul visit, mentioning immigration in their tweets, or being followed by a political rival.
Read more »
Post-Roe, Native Americans face even more abortion hurdlesA few months after South Dakota banned abortion last year, April Matson drove more than nine hours to take a friend to a Colorado clinic to get the procedure. The trip brought back difficult memories of Matson’s own abortion at the same clinic in 2016.
Read more »
'People need it': Colorado blood cancer survivor urges Americans to consider bone marrow donationEvery three to four minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer, according to Be the Match. Many will wait months or longer to find a match for a life saving donation. via robharristv
Read more »
Meet the new face of gun owners in the US: Asian Americans | CNNIn the wake of the mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, a growing number of Asian Americans are buying, or considering buying, guns for protection.
Read more »