On 8 Sep 2004 at 18:42, Doug Lloyd wrote: > alleged pace, but rather indicate the fact that the man paddles fast, > long and hard without a GP, yet appears to maintain joint/muscular > integrity - and that in the context of fairly dramatic seas. This is usually done by choosing the right parents. :-) Some folks have unusually tough musculoskeletal systems. Others. like me, don't. I toasted my knees with bike racing and running many years ago. There's this American guy named Armstrong that keeps winning the Tour de France - you may have heard of him - unlike me, he obviously can handle cycling up lots of big hills. My family has joint problems - one example: arthritis is common and inherited. My grandmother, mother and older sister all had or have it. I'm not showing signs yet, though my knee problems mimic it. I'd bet you won't find much of that sort of thing in ole Lance's family tree. However, my mother's side of the family gives me lots of other genetic traits, like longevity, very little grey hair etc. Also, the family tree is honourable old French Canadian (Acadian) stock with First Nations blood mixed in, so I don't know if it would be a reasonable trade to have had a different mother just to get tougher joints. Besides, a different mother might have meant cycling into an auto accident due to so many more years on the road. Also, if I hadn't been forced to quit cycling, I'd have never taken up paddling. And just so it doesn't sound like I'm blaming my mother - I might have inherited the bad knees from my father's side. If you chose your parents well, enjoy your sports accordingly. If not, do what you can to alleviate problems and enjoy what paddling you can. Your family is what you're stuck with, so enjoy them if you can :-) Mike PS - it would seem that serious joint problems aren't too common for those that follow reasonable levels of activity. If you are showing signs of wear and tear - back off and enjoy it for more years. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Sep 08 2004 - 21:58:20 PDT
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