VERY disappointing. The Rotary Club advertised the Rotary Stakes Rowing Competition, so I rang for two $25 tickets and asked: "Are you accepting entries for the over-80s and over-90s?" There was a sound as if someone had fallen off the other end of the telephone.
The tickets were delivered and the money accepted. We sat there, on the evening, at the Collegiate table, waiting for the age group competition. It became a little cool, so I donned my Superman t-shirt. I thought if I wore it in the over-90s it might intimidate the opposition. Alas! My super-fit 86-year-old beloved and I waited in vain. There were no age group events.
We have long relied on the exercycle for indoor inclement weather use. It also fits television viewing. EPL soccer games make for pleasurable 45-minute exercise sessions. We cycle one 45-minute half each. The Dr Michael Moseley 3 x 10-sec race-ups are also valuable for ageing circulatory systems.
On the exercycle, all the work is done below the waist; the top of the body just lazes around. So, I looked up rowing on the internet and found an astonishing 83 per cent of muscles used, including all the important ones around the middle. Next thing I see a Chronicle for sale advertisement: "Rowing machine, older type $100". We drove out to Marton to meet a thoroughly nice 88-year-old, and the rest is history.
I started on tension one, 30 pulls on the way to a target of 50 and encountered breathing difficulties. This necessitated a more gentle pace for the remaining pulls. I wrote it down, with the date. The record shows personal progress. We both now do 200 tension-three pulls. It is good to get seriously old and steadily stronger. If we can do it, we think most anyone can.
