Gina Kolata's column today, "See Jane Run. See Her Run Faster and Faster" (NYT, Aug 30, 07) was intriguing for its premise: once women over 30 get out of their own way, they're not bad athletes. Here's the explanation:
[W]ith average runners, [Ralph Vernacchia] said, older women may be faster because, oddly enough, they are trying harder than younger women and discovering for the first time what they are capable of.Most middle-aged women grew up when track and cross-country teams were for men only. Some of those women, who had no opportunity to race when they were young, are just learning to be athletes and are running faster than younger women who may not care as much.
I am curious to see if this effect extends across other sports. Speaking on a purely anecdotal level: last month, I participated in my first open-water race, and I did well enough that the guy who drafted behind me the whole way was surprised to learn that it was my first outing. I had been skeptical about my ability to complete an open-water race and I only swam at about 80% of what I can do. Yet I still managed to beat my own expectations for finishing, and I discovered that I'm actually not bad at this. And now, I've got a list of races I plan to compete in next year, I've boosted my workout distance by 33-50% (compared to two months ago) and I'm swimming faster.
Here's the kicker: I'm not sure it would have played this way in my teens or twenties. I would have been too self-conscious and too critical of what I hadn't managed to do. Maybe one of the factors that explains older women's racing prowess is that once you're grown-up enough to let go of that embarrassment, you're freer to push yourself without fear.
I'm seeing this very thing with my sister, now in her (very early)50's. She's cycling seriously for the first time and surprising herself nearly daily at just how good she really is. It does me heart good to see it and I'm proud as hell of her.
Posted by: Tom G | 2007.08.31 at 15:18