Extreme Athleticism is The New Mid-Life Crisis provoked me to wonder if a series of ultra-running events I did when was 44-45 were motivated by fear of aging.
At the time they felt organic. Not like I was trying to outrun my aging or shore myself up for the years to come, as the article suggests. More like I had been trail running for some years, enjoying increasingly longer distances and then thought, “Could I run one of those ultra distances?”
To be clear—I’ve never run more than a 50k, though the trails add challenge to that distance. The longest event, time-wise, was in Cape Town, South Africa. Three Peaks Challenge runs up and down the three smallish mountains that push that city toward the sea: Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. That 50k run took me 9 hours.
I went into the longer distances as someone who had run marathons, done half-ironman triathlons and even the Canadian Ski Marathon a couple of times (a two-day, 100-mile cross-country ski). I wasn’t a stranger to the borderline extreme.
Yet, before I did any ultra-runs, I thought that anyone who undertook such an endeavor was trying to avoid something they didn’t want to think about (not just aging). Even when I did the ultras, I felt like the extremes I participated in were just the right length. Anything longer had a whiff of desperation. Yes, that was highly subjective, probably wildly inaccurate and judgmental. I was thinking like that old joke about the driver who thinks everyone driving slower is an old grandpa and everyone driving faster is a danger-on-wheels. (A side note: Who decides what’s extreme? One person’s extreme may be another’s daily dose in these times of ever more punishing activities.)
If you’re getting the feeling that I’m avoiding the question I opened with. You’re right. Until I wrote this, I didn’t want to think that I had a mid-life crisis (more judgment). Looking back now (at a distance of seven years), I see that maybe I was. I had published two books and still felt like a struggling writer. My marriage was not in the best period. I was looking for some way to feel special and strong. When I finished ultras, I felt invincible.
My foray into ultra-running was sidelined by Morton’s neuroma, a nerve inflammation that feels how I imagine an electric cattle prod applied to the ball of my foot would feel. I finally had surgery to remove the neuroma about 18 months ago.
Summer 2017 was my first back running in the mountains. I was cautious (and elated just to be running at all without extraordinary pain). This past summer, I did quite a few 3 to 4 hour runs, including the Sierra Crest 30k I wrote about in this post: Compare and Despair. As I was training, I kept asking myself, “Do I want to be doing more of these longer runs? Do I want to aim for another 50k or even something longer?” Right now, the answer is no.
Unless I live quite a long time, I’m probably past mid-life. Is that why I don’t feel a zeal for the extreme? According to the Medium article I mentioned at the top prime time for the uptick in extreme athletics is 40-49. I hate the thought that I’m not doing the extreme runs anymore because I’m too old or I can’t. Anyhow, I know that’s not true.
Have I accepted my mortality? I’d like to think that I have after much meditation (plus silent retreats, plus a vision quest), but I’m also sure that I have not achieved such equanimity.
What I do have are other challenges on my plate—finishing my book, my first ensemble play being produced at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in March 2019. I don’t feel like I need the extra scare of an ultra run on the horizon, too. I’m enjoying my sleep and time to read novels on the couch on the weekend with my partner.
I’m happy. I don’t feel like I need to prove to myself that I’m strong. I am.
But … I also love running for long stretches of time in the mountains or forest. Another ultra-run is not out of the question. So, if I’m not in midlife anymore, then maybe I wasn’t running far because of a crisis in the first place.
What about you? Have you had or are you in the midst of a mid-life crisis? What does that look like for you?
I often joke that taking up aerial circus training at 42 was (and continues to be) the best mid-life crisis ever. After having done gymnastics and trampoline into my 20s it also has felt like a positive return to doing things that feel like part of who I’ve always been rather than a negative event where I’m trying to fight time and become something I’m not.
I don’t know if I’m in a mid-life crisis or working toward one, but I’ve found over the last few years that I am stronger and faster of a runner than I ever believed I could be as a teenager or in my 20’s. I just turned 38 two weeks ago and all I can think about is growing into my life deeper with each year. I don’t know that looking for new adventure and exploring the body’s ability at any age could be considered crisis?
Exactly—is always trying to be our best selves and take on new things a crisis? No! We should keep doing it until the last day.
I will be 40 next year, and absolutely think I’m falling into a mid-life crisis of sorts, as I often find myself fretting about “what am I doing with my life?” which has never been a problem before. I’ve made the choices I wanted to make and pursued the projects I wanted to pursue, but now there is a nebulous “what else?” that has no obvious answer. I’ve been entangled in “extreme sports” since I was 25, so I admit I’m looking to attempt something grand for my 40th as a sort of reflective time into past and future. I’ve had some health issues in recent years, and whether or not my body will make it through is still a big unknown.
Good luck! I hope you get to do your grand event. It sounds also like you are in similar spot as me—already involved but also upping the challenge.