John Force famous drag racer crashed this weekend at 300 MPH. He’s 75 years young. 
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Aleksander Doba made his 3rd crossing of the Atlantic at the spry young age of 70.
Kayaking is safer than climbing:
He died at age 74 climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.
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Being already fairly competent in a canoe at age 46, much younger friends at work convinced me to consider canoe racing with them, beginning with the Adirondack 90 mile race that they had already done, and so I began training with them. I continue to race the 90 miler each September with my 28th annual 90 mile race coming up this fall, plus all the training that is necessary each season.
At age 57, other 90 mile race friends invited me to race the Yukon 460 mile Yukon River Quest race with them next season. By now I was experienced and enjoyed being the bow paddler, responsible for setting the winning paddling pace for my voyageur canoe team of 6-7 paddlers in our shared 32’ long cedar strip wood canoe. A year later we raced (and won our class) in the first ever 1000 mile Yukon river race, and repeated it a couple of years later, to be followed by two more of the shorter races in 2013 and 2015.
During the late summer of 2016 I was painting a metal camp roof and stepped on a drip of paint, sending me sliding to the ground while still holding a 5 gallon pail of aluminized paint. No immediate obvious injuries to me, when I then looked like the “tin man” covered in silver paint. But the next day I could not raise my right arm above the level of my chin due to significant pain. But I was due to return to the Yukon the following June with my race team and we had to begin training that fall. followed by individual winter training indoors on our paddling machines.
So I visited an orthopedic sports medicine specialist, who after an examination and MRI diagnosed me with a severely torn rotator cuff. But, but… what about my canoe racing? He advised that he should do the surgery to repair my shoulder. I had known people who suffered and survived that surgery. Their arm was restricted and tied to their stomach for up to three months. I wanted none of that. The doctor said he could try injecting cortisone directed to the exact injury torn location in my shoulder. I couldn’t believe how much that helped to relieve any and all pain of motion, including while canoe paddling. About five months later with some pain returning, I asked if another injection was allowed. Although he still wanted to perform the surgery, he did give me another cortisone injection. Visits to a physical therapy facility several times a week initially helped, but I soon learned that I could do the same specific to me exercises at home for free, so I terminated those site visits.
I was able to again paddle the 460 Yukon River race in 2017 with only minimal twinges of discomfort, depending on how I managed to use my shoulder while paddling, and we did well in the race.
I have been training and doing local 90 mile and other races every year since, and also cutting and splitting my winter firewood for my primary home heating. I credit my paddling and training activity for “curing” my problem and being pain free to this day at age 73.
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@raisins he was following his passion. If you don’t die doing something, you’ll die for nothing.
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@yknpdlr my rotator cuff injury occured lifting landscaping stones for a wall. I should have known better, but I lifted them with my arms straight out in front to prevent scratching my realtively new truck bed. Didn’t feel pain until a few hours later. It started to improve, and a doctor visit found no issues in x-rays or blood work. Three days later, the shoulder was hot to touch, swollen and painful. It developed sepsis, and they had to flush the infection and load it with antibiotic. Five weeks of direct intravenous antibiotic treatment. If you believe you damaged your rotator cuff kayaking, you would be wise to analyze your paddling cycle to figure out how to isolate and lock out the shoulder joint.
Its hard to interpret the medical jargon, but it’s suspected that the bacteria was present in my system and incubated at the injury site. The mystery is that the damage didn’t match the action I attributed as the cause of the injury. The surgery found a lot of micro tears (old damage) from repetative stress. I interpreted that as high effort paddling from high angle paddling.
I was restricted from any lifting for 8 weeks. Muscles atrophied. I couldn’t lift a one lb weight. 9 months of therapy, three to five times each week.
When I returned to kayaking, the results were abysmal. The shoulder was painful after paddling. Through experimentation, I learned to lock out the shoulders with a rigid paddlers box and core rotation.
I’m convinced that proper, efficient paddling technique is as important as physical ability, maybe moreso.
Over the past four seasons, I could expect speed gains of .05 to .1 mph with each trip. My avg speed over the past four trips stalled at around 4.5 mph. After reviewing my trip speed graphs and Craig’s heart rate records, I changed my paddling strategy and the last trip speed average jumped by .5 mph. Thank you Craig, and input from Steve about the issues he experienced with the Kalliste paddle, helped me improve my paddling efficiency. One thing is certain: I’m not physically stronger than I was 15 years ago, and my bad shoulder is a benefit only because it forced me to improve paddling technique and efficiency.
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That sounds rough, and much worse than my experience with a bad shoulder. I had a torn rotator cough, extensive osteoarthritis and a torn labrum. I religiously did my PT, got some bands to workout at home. But, I think the thing that has helped in completely regaining range of motion and adding strength in my shoulders was finding mace bells. I use them regularly as part of my resistance training, and my shoulders are pain free and stronger than they have been in years. Of course no one should take this as medical advice, just my experience and a recommendation to check them out (I’ve been told Indian Clubs have similar benefits.)
I should say I’m a big fan of functional resistance training exercises for this old guy to keep moving.
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Interesting. I had never heard of a mace bell nor seen one.
I hadn’t either until about a year and a half ago. I should mention because of the offset and rotational nature of mace bell exercises it really builds a strong core which would be another benefit to paddlers. I’m not saying mace bells are the complete answer for resistance training, but I have found them to be a valuable addition to my resistance training regimen.
Jyak, first of all, I am sorry to learn of your complications. That just sucks to go through that. However, I do not kayak, all of my paddling is strictly in canoes, anything from several models of solo to C2 and C4 canoes on up to a 32’ voyageur canoe with me setting pace and initiating post turns from my seat in the bow. All with either a single blade bent carbon racing canoe paddle, or a straight wood otter tail recreational paddle, never a double blade. I have never to my knowledge done any further damage, nor felt any strong pain while using a single blade paddle while canoe paddling. If I sometimes get a slight reminder twinge in my shoulder, then I will change my paddle catch angle and torso rotation (making my stroke more efficient), then it is fine from then on for the next hundreds of miles. Sloppy paddle handling is not good for anything. If I can’t keep my flat water solo paddle speed close to or slightly over 5mph, I am not doing my training or racing correctly. For non race recreational paddling, I have no trouble performing all the standard power and control strokes, including all of the specialized freestyle strokes that canoes can do with a single blade paddle while continuing to paddle on the same side.
Since most of my post injury and post cortisone injection recovery exercise was done by continuing a few of the home exercises that I learned from the PT facility, and also frequently working out on an indoor Concept2 canoe paddle machine attachment during the winter months, I credit single blade canoe paddling with what I consider a fully successful recovery that also has allowed me to cut down trees, lift and stack a winter supply of firewood for both my home and also for my camp (for the past 8 years since I slid off that roof and tore my rotator cuff.
" Aging gracefully "
There is nothing gracefull about me and some days neither is my attitude about aging.
I think old men have a reputation for being grumpy because we remember being young men.
I’m still waiting for babes in skimpy clothing to line up and partake of all the knowledge I allegedly have.
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Nothing is rough if you recover. Always someone who had bigger troubles.
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The canoe stroke is different than the kayak stroke. I can still paddle on the left. The right side is harder but managable. While the canoe stroke is mostly on one side until you switch, the high angle paddle stroke keep crossing sides and the power stroke is like awardly holding a snow shovel and throwing the snow behind you. Low angle techique is misunderstood and much maligned.
I don’t have enough time left to spend being grumpy. To much like work. Far easier to be happy.
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Obviously.
Hence I don’t own a kayak, never will, and will always do my paddling in a canoe of one type or another, while personally perfecting the many wide varieties of available and linked canoeing strokes the best that I can.
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Canoes are good. Kayaks are good.
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Slipped the Disk of Curmudgeon
Young ladies lined up
in a String
bikini cladded
“Just some ole thing,”
they coyly stated
was their goal.
To arise from elder
they’d needn’t cajole
and in short big stretch
many seasoned thought
tumbled forth though details
oft overwrought
for some ole men
like Humpty Dumpty
soon sit that wall
peace milled in grumpy.
There i nothing graceful about it at all. My balance is not so good, I just sold my last canoe after paddling for 64 years. This week I was out in a drift boat having a great time on a big lake with an outboard motor.
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I started with a PT program last fall after hip pain started bugging me - osteoarthritis of course, same as my knees and wrists. After seeing the results in strength, pain reduction and balance, I asked for a shoulder evaluation and PT program because of pain at certain angles; figured I’d get ahead of the game in terms of rotator cuff problems. I paddled a few times a month this winter in the Adirondacks due to mild weather and felt better than ever paddling, entering/exiting and perching on uneven shores (pack canoe, mostly double paddle).
I’ve never heard of mace bells before but what I’ve read sounds interesting and well worth checking out; almost a perfect addition for shoulders and core.
Only about eight years into paddling and at 72 I’d like to do whatever I can to keep it going.
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Slowing down isn’t a failure. We live in a 15 second sound bite world that values quickness over quality.
I’m lucky in that I’ve never been athletic or coordinated so taking time to do things isn’t a new skill for me. I don’t have a quick twitch muscle in my body. I preferred cross country skiing to downhill, a road cruiser motorcycle to a crotch rocket and an SUV to a sports car. Consequently, I’ve never had a problem working smarter not harder and have always valued moving at a measured pace. Whenever someone in line ahead of me apologizes for taking a little extra time, I tell them “no worries!” the world move too fast and I’m doing my best to slow it down a little.
I think I am less patient in certain circumstances though. It is difficult to give room for people who assume I need assistance when I’m just moving at the speed of me instead of the world. I know they mean well, but people mistake me not jumping out of my kayak like a monkey woman with the need for assistance. I’ve always taken a moment in the cockpit, after landing and before getting out, to touch in with my body and let the muscles know that I’m asking them to move differently than the last few hours; to take a moment to breath at the end of a great paddle.
My balance is getting worse, injuries hurt more and take longer to heal, I’m not as strong as I used to be and now have to think about how I’m going to do strenuous things that were inconsequential in my 30’s. But that’s how it works.
It is the American culture that fails to understand elders, not elders who are failing.
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Do what you have to do! Nothing at all wrong with taking a little longer to do the difficult or unpleasant tasks, like ending a kayak trip, or motivating yourself to go on the next trip rather than stare at the ceiling a little longer.
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