I’m a bit of a numbers geek. It probably started early with my love of collecting baseball cards and looking through all of the statistics. In school I naturally gravitated towards math and then on to IT for my career. And boy do I love a good spreadsheet.. I also enjoy solving puzzles, with one of my favorite parts of RUNNH234 being the challenge of planning and charting a contiguous course through New Hampshire connecting all of the incorporated town halls - one county at a time. Not an easy task as I’ve found, but that has added to the spice of the adventure.
Many of us aren’t numbers people - but play along with me here. What do you consider the most important number (to you) in your daily life that influences or indicates how you feel? Pick an all about you number. Yes, there are many numbers in our lives, but I’m asking which one you’d put at the top of your list.
Select a number that you can measure, monitor and that directly impacts how you “feel” (good or bad) right now. Is it your blood pressure, bank account balance, weight, cholesterol, temperature in your environment, books you’ve read, daily carbs, days until you retire or go on a trip, number of children/grandchildren, etc.. ? You get the idea. So what number would you put at the top of your “feel” list today?
One of the “can’t go anywhere without” items in my life is my Apple Watch and it is from this watch that my number is kept - my VO2 max.
Really Dave? Yes, really. We all have a VO2 max - you don’t have to be an athlete. If you have a smartwatch you can track your VO2 max based on walking or hiking in addition to running.
Simply put, VO2 max is the maximum rate at which a person can utilize oxygen and is measured naturally while exercising … and by smartwatches. As we age our capacity to utilize oxygen diminishes, but through exercise we are able to prolong the decline and even reverse the downward slide.
I suspect that most people have never given much thought about it, but I can tell you that it’s a great gauge of overall cardio fitness and affirms for me the shape I’m in and is a powerful marker for longevity. There is a strong corollary between VO2 max and mortality. VO2 max provides insight we can all benefit from. I want to be as fit as I can be - for as long as I can be. Over my 50+ years of running I’ve considered each run an investment in my life - similar to setting money aside for retirement. My VO2 max account that I'm able to keep an eye on.
My prior experience with Afib gave me insight into how it feels when your body just doesn’t want to play along. Now that I’m able to be active without fatigue disruption I feel as strong now at 65 as I did 10+ years ago. There are no guarantees, but keeping an eye on my VO2 max is a way to keep in touch with how my body is doing from an overall fitness perspective.
And if you're at all interested in the topic of longevity - I highly recommend "Outlive The Science & Art of Longevity" by Peter Attia. Rethinking medicine to live better longer. VO2 max is but a thimble full of information that he gets into, but it did grab my attention when I read it.
While there are plenty of other numbers I keep an eye on in my life, VO2 max has climbed to the top of my personal “how do I feel” number list. I encourage you to find out what your number is and then decide if it motivates you into action.
And lastly - here's where things stand right now on the RUNNH234 progress front:
My goal for 2024 is to get to Bethlehem by Christmas and complete Grafton County by year end!
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