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Comment by bitwize | Hacker News Reader

I'm 47. 50+ is looking a lot like "struggling to run the red queen's race to keep my wife and furbabies safe, sheltered, and provided for, while watching the eventual deterioration of my body into uselessness and decrepitude begin, and watching ageism diminish my opportunities in the field". Affordable rejuvenation therapy in the next couple of decades is pretty much my only hope. Maybe then I could claw back another decade or two of vigorous life with my wife with greater wisdom than I had the first time around.

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I’m 50 now and have plans to run a 5K in at around 30 minutes by the end of the year. I haven’t run a 5K in over 15 years. Even though I have worked out continuously since I was 12.

But from my current training, I don’t see any reason that isn’t achievable. No part of my body is giving me warning signs and the training isn’t any harder than it was 15 years ago.

As far as “ageism”, I changed jobs at 40, 42, 44, 46, 49 and last year at 50 and neither time did it take me more than 3 weeks to get a job. I got my first only and hopefully last job at a “FAANG” at 46.

None of those were management jobs and I’m now a “staff software engineer” at a third party cloud consulting company.

I’m well aware that my body will decline over the next 20 years. But no need to give up prematurely

I listen to a podcast called Crushing Iron. One of the two hosts realized he was in poor shape and his friends were starting to decay. I think he was about 50 when he had that realization.

He decided not to let it happen to him, so he got into triathlon. Now, he’s doing Ironman races every year for the last ~10 years, and he started at around 50 (maybe 49 or 48, don’t remember).

Other host was an alcoholic who bounced back into a very healthy life. Both are inspirational, but I think the other applies to you more.

Point is, you can do it! You don’t have to do a whole Ironman, obviously lol, but making choices to be healthy like you are is an amazing step. And it’s absolutely possible to start at 50.

If you want motivation, the Crushing Iron podcast has some great episodes (and some kinda boring ones). Check out this one, “Out alone in the dark”.. I like their episodes from a couple years ago (and older) the most. Also 667 and 685 are a couple I had saved recently as good ones.

Out alone in the dark: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crushing-iron-triathlo...

#667 Play like a kid: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crushing-iron-triathlo...

#685 stop waiting for life: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crushing-iron-triathlo...

Couple bonus episodes I love:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crushing-iron-triathlo...

These comments are spot-on as far as physical health is concerned. Make an effort and you'll significantly improve your quality of life. I'd say you don't necessarily need to run marathons or triathlons, though, and I'd also suggest that cardio is not the best way to maintain good health, strength training is better.

I have been lifting weights for years now, and it does wonders for my health (for example: all my back pain and back injury problems are totally gone).

I would highly recommend to past myself reading "The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40" (https://www.amazon.com/Barbell-Prescription-Strength-Trainin...) and starting earlier.

Or you can be a couch potato and suffer.

Look up Clarence Bass [0]

You can stay impressively fit well into your 80s :)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Bass

My dad is still active in the yard and is mobile and independent at 82. But age is slowing him down. His eyesight and hearing is deteriorating.

My mom is 80, active and I don’t see her slowing down, she is still comfortable driving from south GA to central Florida where we live and the other surrounding states as long as it’s daytime.

I’ll be happy if I can still be as active as my dad

I can barely run a quarter mile in one shot. But at least I'm running!

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