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Tahoe Family Guy: Balancing aging, exercise and family |
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Written by Andrew Cristancho/Tahoe World - View Profile
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Tuesday, 04 September 2007 |
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Aging - Exercise - Family. How does one balance these competing interests?
I always thought those recommendations about getting 30 minutes of exercise per day were lame, mainly because I led a lifestyle where everyday revolved around exercise.
I used to be a fanatic doing my own versions of daily triathlons. In my early 20s I would surf for hours during the day and pour drinks all night. Upon moving to Tahoe in my mid-20s I would go for first tracks in the morning, take the dog out for a cross-country ski later, then workout at the gym in the early afternoon; all before rushing off to serve dinner at a restaurant until midnight.
Exercise just made me feel good and it was a big part of who I was. Not to mention the secret satisfaction of getting the goods before my clients for dinner got them. I knew they spent the day driving while I spent the day skiing.
This was all before becoming a dad.
Four-and-a-half years later, as I write this, I haven’t seen the inside of a gym more than three times, skiing has changed into something that I used to do, and a regular exercise schedule is something that I can only read about on the National Heart Association’s Web site.
To make matters worse - I now have a desk job.
Some friends - if you can call such critics friends - have commented that I am beginning to take on the shape of a pear.
If the pear shape is an exaggeration, which I hope it is, than I have to at least concede that I am noticing lumps and bulges appearing in places on my body that I used to swear would never see such manifestations of middle age. Not to mention the hard reality of not being able to fit into anything with a 32-inch waistband, even the 34s are getting snug.
Ten years ago this was unthinkable. This falling out of shape was never the plan. I wanted to be one of those hot dads; you know the ones you see in magazines cradling their newborns close to their chiseled pecs? At this point with my pear status I am far from chiseled and am fearful that if I cradled a new infant to my chest it might mistake it for its lactating mother’s.
All I can say is, it happens. Not the mistaken mammary identity, but the inevitable slow down of metabolism. Tthe switch in priorities from, I would never miss a powder day, to, I would never miss a ballet recital. I’ll tell you a secret - it’s not that bad.
These days it is more fun for me to be watching my child learn to pirouette than for me to be riding some killer mountain bike trail.
Don’t get me wrong, being a father isn’t some emasculating experience. Things just change and suddenly watching vicariously as your child gains confidence and skill in their sports is as invigorating as surfing in the ocean.
The good thing about all of this is having my priorities shift. Which has helped me to slow down and realize that huffing it down the bike trail pulling my daughter on a Trail-a-Bike is more fun than doing the Flume Trail - at least for now. Every physical activity that I do does not have to be a competition or a race. I guess I had to believe these things for myself before I could hope to instill them in my child.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 September 2007 )
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