What makes you live your best life in your 80’s, 70’s, younger? We introduce listeners to life-long athletes Christel Donley and Rob Rodine. They celebrate life after 60 with insights on being active and connected. Their stories are not much different from ours, yet they validate and inspire us to keep growing, learning and championing our health.
Aging with Altitude is recorded in the Pikes Peak region with a focus on topics of aging interest across the country. We talk about both the everyday and novel needs and approaches to age with altitude – whether you’re in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida or Leadville, Colorado. The Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging is the producer.
BEACON Senior News is a proud sponsor/partner for this podcast. BEACON Senior News empowers Colorado seniors with inspiring local stories, timely coverage of senior issues, health and travel features, retirement and financial guidance, senior expos and local resources — all presented in a fun, engaging way that helps older adults lead happier, healthier lives. Catch all the news at: beaconseniornews.com/
Transcript
MELISSA MARTS:
This episode of Aging with Altitude asks, what makes an athlete over 60 tick? What can these athletes teach us and help us to champion our health as we go forward? The May theme for Older Americans Month is “Champion Your Health,” and we are so excited to have Rob and Christel telling us their stories as we get ready for the Colorado Senior Games coming down in June.
Hear from our athletes, be inspired, and learn to champion your health.
VOICEOVER:
This is a Studio 809 podcast. Engage.
MARTS:
Today, I have a quick thank you for our critical sponsorship and support from the Beacon Senior News. The Beacon Senior News is the go-to source, both in print and online, for all kinds of current, great news stories, as well as a source for events to get involved with in the Pikes Peak region, Pueblo, and Fremont counties. Seek out your copy today at libraries, grocery stores, and more.
Welcome to Aging with Altitude, a podcast providing information, advice, and resources for seniors, families, and caregivers to help you live your best life, courtesy of the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging.
We’re coming to you from the Studio 809 Community Podcast Studio at the Next Us, a professional, cooperative environment for small businesses in downtown Colorado Springs. I’m your host, Melissa Marts, with the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments’ Area Agency on Aging.
I have two special athletes with me in the room, as we get ready to launch and celebrate once again, the Colorado Senior Games, happening in June. We’re coming to you in the month of May. May is Older Americans Month, and the theme for this year’s Older Americans Month is “Champion Your Health.”
And I’m so happy to be able to have these two athletes in the room with me today for our listeners to learn a little bit more about what it takes to be an athlete and champion your health, and be able to get into the Colorado Senior Games, which, again, are happening here in June, June 5th through the 7th.
And so in the studio with me, I have Christel Donnelly and Rob Rodine. Christel has been doing a lot of competing over many, many years, and so her story is pretty interesting.
And then Rob is a newer athlete to the games, but he’s been doing his sport for a long, long time too. I’m going to go first with Christel. I know that age is really just a number, but I would like for you to tell us how old you are and how you have gotten involved with the Colorado Senior Games.
CHRISTEL DONLEY:
Well, first of all, my age is 91 and a half.
MARTS:
Thank you, 91 and a half.
DONLEY:
Sounds like a little one who says I’m four and a half.
MARTS:
91 and a half.
DONLEY:
I have gotten involved with the Colorado Senior Games when I moved here from California in 2001, but I’ve been involved with the Senior Games for a long, long time.
MARTS:
Yeah. And what are your sports?
DONLEY:
My primary sport is track and field.
MARTS:
Okay. And track and field to somebody like myself, who last year was the first time I was on the track and field field. There’s like a lot of sports there. So what sports do you do?
DONLEY:
Okay, track and field entails track at the running events and field events, jumping and throwing. So these are the three main things in track and field.
MARTS:
So running, jumping…
DONLEY: Running, all kind of distances and hurdling. And then hurdling, steeplechase, it depends on the age of an athlete.
MARTS:
Okay.
DONLEY:
And then jumping, long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault.
MARTS:
Wow.
DONLEY:
And then throwing, it’s quite in a way, it’s discus, shot, javelin, hammer, and weight. It’s expanded over the years.
MARTS:
Yeah. And do you do all of those events?
DONLEY:
Not all of them, but quite a few. We have one event, it’s called heptathlon. Hepta means seven. There are seven events. And the men do decathlon, and that’s 10 events.
MARTS:
Oh, my goodness.
DONLEY:
So that’s in a way mostly done over two days.
MARTS:
Okay, great. Yeah, that’s why you guys are busy over there at the field for a while. So you mentioned some throwing events. And in the room, we have Rob. And Rob, tell us again, that age number and how you got involved in the Colorado Senior Games and what your sport is.
ROB RODINE:
I’m 68 years old.
MARTS:
68.
RODINE:
And I threw the shot putting discus in high school. And I was a district champ here in Colorado Springs. I went to Cheyenne Mountain High School.
MARTS:
So a real local here in our region.
RODINE:
And I’ve always loved track and field. I’ve coached it. I have been a part of it for a long time. I even did the Senior Games probably 20 years ago or so. But when I saw it was back in Colorado Springs again, I just got excited. And I hadn’t done it for a long time.
And bought a shot put and bought a discus. And I got throwing last year. And I had a super time at the games last year and wanted to do it again.
MARTS:
I’m glad to hear that. And so shot put and discus, are those your go-to sports? Or did you have to pick? Like Christel, she does a lot of them. Are those your two go-to? Was it a no-brainer? You just grabbed them? Or did you have to think hard on which sports you wanted to do?
RODINE:
No, those are my go-to. I’ve had two knee injuries. So I used to run and love to run. But I just wanted to focus on those. And I’m so impressed with Christel. I think that’s really, really cool.
MARTS:
Yeah. Christel, thank you. And you’re going to get put on the spot a little here too, for sure.
RODINE:
I’m a mere 68 years old.
MARTS:
I know.
DONLEY:
We call you people, you’re toddlers.
RODINE:
That’s exactly right.
MARTS:
Love it. And Christel, what did you do as a working adult? What was your career?
DONLEY:
My career is from teaching PE to mainly coaching. I coached 20 years at Occidental College, Was an assistant coach. but then mainly sprints and hurdles and PE and officiating. I think my whole adult life was PE. Very brainless, we say at times, and it isn’t in many ways.
MARTS:
No. Why would you say it isn’t brainless? What is it about it?
DONLEY:
Because you have to do a lot of explaining, you have to do a lot of counseling, especially when you get athletes in, they’re highly cerebral, but they’re lacking some ideas about sports or movement. And so you have to tell them you have both. So it takes a lot of, yeah, it takes a lot of talk besides just coaching or teaching techniques.
MARTS:
A lot of training and focus and those things that are important. Yeah.
DONLEY:
Absolutely.
MARTS:
Yeah. And so when I was at the Senior Games last June, our agency, the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging, is the sponsor for the volunteer side of things. And so we were at the track and field event with a table, and I had another athlete come up, I was actually talking to a man out of Boulder. He was doing the high jump, and I forget how old he is. I want to say, and Christel, I think you know him, I want to say he might’ve been in his late 80s.
And here is this man, incredibly fit and doing a high jump, right? Running and doing a high jump. And he said, I’m nobody. You’ve got to meet Christel. And so he literally tracked me over there to meet her.
And Christel, you were running and doing the long jump. So you were running down the little trail and then leaping into the sand pit and took a few minutes to say hello to me. And just then you had to go on to your next event.
And I was able to watch Christel most of the day, she doesn’t know that, compete in multiple events. And so, you know, how do you do that? You know, both of you lead a kind of active life, it sounds like, you know, you both were coaches and you were involved in sports.
So, and I’ll come to you, Rob, too. But Christel, how do you stay active? And how does it work that at 91 and a half, you’re doing this?
DONLEY:
Let’s put it this way. Last year, I was a year younger. And it seems every year added now, you’re going down in energy and everything. I think this day you concentrate, you know, it’s a local meet, you don’t have to travel, do a lot of travel, which drains you a lot.
But locally, and I knew the facility because I’ve been the meet director there for many years.
MARTS:
Oh, that’s interesting. It’s like going home in some ways,
DONLEY:
It was. I think it was just a whole surroundings, all people met a lot of older friends. I don’t know right now who the gentleman is, who is a high jumper, who knows me.
But it’s a whole morning or whole day of competing, going from one to the other. It’s not a lot of warm up. It’s just, you go, you do your thing. And you go to the next event. And that’s something we’re used to, or I’m used to for many, many years.
MARTS:
Yeah.
DONLEY:
It’s not always that intense. It can be fun. But it’s an ongoing thing for one day, one from one event to another.
MARTS:
Yeah. And being around like minded people.
DONLEY:
It’s amazing. And you see people you haven’t seen in a while, and you’re happy for them, but they happy they get a medal, and they can still do things like, I mean, that’s my admiration. Shot put, as I used to say, I can long jump better than shot put. I’m just not a big person. I’m not a very strong person.
MARTS:
Yeah, she says that.
DONLEY:
Yeah. Yeah. So Rob, how do you stay active and ready for the games and competing? And what does that look like for you?
RODBINE:
You know, I’ve always liked lifting weights and running. And so I go to the gym, and I like to get on the treadmill or on the step mill and warm up. But I always look forward to getting done with those, the cardio part so I can go lift weights.
It’s just something about that that I’ve enjoyed. And then I think on a day to day basis, I just like to move. I’m a handyman for my wife.
MARTS:
Okay.
RODINE:
And I go work on her rental properties. And I’m putting down floors, and I’m building decks, and I’m changing out toilets. And so just staying active like that and keeping on the move is something I enjoy.
And then on the side, I’m a musician. So, I was a band and orchestra director for 44 years. And along my time of being a teacher, that’s when I got into coaching to high school and middle school. And just love that. So those things just keep your mind fresh keeps me going.
MARTS:
Yeah. Well, I do think that when I talked with athletes last year, I did talk to quite a few people who had been teachers or had been involved in some type of education, whether it was, you know, your elementary, junior high, high school, or whether it was college. A lot of people who were there competing had this common background of, you know, working with younger people. I think that’s interesting.
And so for Rob, you’re also music as well as the sport side of things, too. So you’ve got both of those covered.
What do you guys think about the fact that there’s so many, you know, kind of people who are educators are involved in teaching that actually have stayed the course and compete today. Any thoughts on that?
RODINE:
I would say that I think as teachers, one of your main jobs is inspiration. And so the encouragement and inspiration you give to others is what I received growing up from many coaches and mentors. And so I think it’s our responsibility to further that.
MARTS:
Yeah. Christel, any thoughts about that, too?
DONLEY
Yeah, I can add to that. I’m starting at the other end. I remember when I was in my 20s and 25s, before I came to the states, we had some people, some mother-daughter combinations in track and field. And mother was a little bit over 40. Mother was really fast.
And so we younger ones at that time thought, we will never do this. That was our thing. When we get to that age, we’ll never do anything anymore. Did we ever reverse the whole opinion? Now we’re here.
MARTS:
91.
DONLEY:
Not everybody’s 91, but we’ve heard all our lives. You guys are an inspiration. And I think my students over the years that I taught and that I coached are still saying the same thing.
I get little notes saying, you inspired us. And I want to be like you when I get older. That’s the saying. So we’re there to encourage and just practice what you preach as one of my mottos.
MARTS:
There’s a lot to say for having role models and role models across the age spectrum. I feel like working at the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging, we have a lot of conversations around ageism. And we don’t want to have the stereotype of this older adult who’s super physically fit and nobody else could possibly be like that person.
There’s this kind of narrative out there. It’s literally called changing the narrative. We want to recognize that there’s a whole spectrum of age out there. And wherever you’re at on that spectrum is okay. It’s where you’re at personally.
But I also think that it’s nice to be inspired. And have role models and have, you know, I mean, you guys said it, that word inspiration is really also important. And I don’t want to underrepresent that. Because I’m hoping this year and I’ve heard from the Colorado Springs Sports Corp, that one of the things we’re doing different this year is we’re having an opening ceremony experience happening at the Olympic Museum here in town. So you know, that’s going to be some nice positive press.
And then one of the news stations in town has signed on to be the exclusive news station. So we actually have a television crew this year. Hopefully they’ll be out, there won’t be other more pressing press that needs to get covered.
And we’re also hoping that the Gazette, our local newspaper will be covering some stories too. So all of that is in line for this year, in hopes that we can champion the health, you know, the Older American Month theme champion your health. We can have more stories that are showing that right.
RODINE:
It’s ironic today is my junior high track coach’s birthday. And he’s still alive. And I’m going to give him a call today.
MARTS:
Yeah.
RODINE:
And he’s a guy that in seventh grade was just an inspiration to me. And he’s one of the nicest men. His name is Daryl Lay. And he was an amazing man and a great coach.
MARTS:
Good, yeah, I’m glad you’re gonna give him a call.
RODINE:
I am.
MARTS:
Do you know by some chance where he’s at? Is he still in the community?
RODBINE:
Yeah, he is. Yeah, he still lives here in the community. And I’ve got friends who stay in touch with him as well.
MARTS:
That’s great to hear.
RODINE:
Yeah, I just, thanking people and Christel was saying how over the years, you know, students have gotten in touch with you and the same kind of thing for me.
It’s such a rewarding part to be able to give and then get that back from your former students.
MARTS:
And I felt that way at the senior games last year, just to, you know, have a moment to be able to touch base and talk with some of the athletes that were there and hear their stories and feel that hope for living a healthier life. And it can happen. So we just need to keep doing some good things and taking care of our bodies and our minds for sure.
And so Christel, you talked about running hurdles. What does it take to run hurdles? And are you still running them now?
DONLEY:
No, I gave up about two years ago.
MARTS:
Two years ago.
DONLEY:
I was not limber enough anymore. There is a provision you can either run a hurdle or you can step over. And when this step over came, I said, No, that’s not hurdling anymore. But there’s still people that do it. And I have to admire it.
I think personally, I didn’t keep up with enough for myself to be limber enough. I did too many events. And I definitely didn’t practice what I preach. But it’s so easy to tell other people what to do. If you stand on the sideline, we have some 80-year-olds that get over hurdle.
But there’s so many other events. And I would like to go back on something. What we noticed last year at the senior games where you were. There were a couple ladies that said, we have never done this, and they want us to run, I think we were in the 50 meter. I can’t remember. It was 50 or 60.
And she said, I’m so afraid. I’m so way back. And I said, Don’t worry, I can do two things. I can run with you. But at the end, she was so happy. She made it through. And I said, That’s the idea. She’s coming back, and she was a little younger.
We went all age groups or a few age groups together.
MARTS:
So that means in those running events, you could be running against multiple aged individuals.
DONLEY:
In many things now, in track and field, we have the seniors and then we have masters all the same age groups. Masters is only track and field. Your senior games, you have this whole array of events from baseball to swimming.
I don’t know. That’s the idea of senior games.
MARTS:
Yeah. Interesting.
DONLEY:
Because you have about 20 different events.
MARTS:
That’s right.
DONLEY:
And you have a full schedule. And that to me is very hard because I used to do that for Pasadena. For over 30 years, I was their meet director for track and field, so I know the difference between seniors and masters. But it’s competition for older people. And it’s, it’s just great.
MARTS:
Yeah, it is.
DONLEY:
Even if you don’t win.
MARTS:
Like you said, the woman who finished the race and kept going and did it for her own.
DONLEY:
Yeah, she was just happy. And she will definitely come back.
MARTS:
Yeah.
DONLEY:
And you tell anybody if you can run, you can actually really jump. And basically, you can even throw if you learn how to, because the implements are small, as you know.
RODINE:
Yes.
MARTS:
Wow. And so Rob with the shot put events and discus. Are you competing in age categories? You said you were 68.
RODBINE:
And yeah, there’s 65 to 69.
MARTS:
Okay.
RODINE:
Yeah. And so I’m competing in that category. I was going to mention that, what I enjoy is that, you know, the ego is kind of gone. And it’s gone for, I think, most of all the people doing these at this age.
The thing I love is that, whether you win or place wherever, but you are watching and encouraging the others to do well. And that part’s really cool. There’s just a very friendly competition going on.
But everybody’s going, when there’s a good throw, or even you want to kind of help them and give them some technique tips. And they’re, you know, and they do the same for me.
MARTS:
Yeah. So really a good community of people coming together.
RODINE:
It is, it is. And so that part is really fun. It makes me want to come back and do it again. And plus, I’ve seen many friends over the years, I’d like to see these people again.
MARTS:
And people are coming to these games from all over, not just the Pikes Peak region. Right. So where are some of the places that you’ve seen people come from? I don’t know if the shop put discus. Did you guys have people from outside?
RODINE:
Oh, sure. Yeah. Yeah. I know a lot from Denver and Boulder were coming down to this. And one of the things that I didn’t do last year, but I was encouraged and think it would be great, is there many multiple track meets that go on for seniors around the state. I think Boulder has one or Denver on a regular basis throughout the summer.
MARTS:
So, so you could be doing some other activities during your training time. So my dad is competing in archery. And so it’ll be interesting to see where people come to compete in the archery event.
You know, Colorado Springs, we’re the Olympic City. And we have, I believe, archery as part our Olympic training program here in Colorado Springs. So I’m wondering if he’s going to have some really tough competition with people who’ve stayed in our community over the years and have been Olympic archery people, but we’ll see what happens. I don’t know what to expect, but it’ll be something interesting.
DONLEY:
I’m just thinking was so focused on our event on our subject here. There are people coming from other states, and so they’re allowed to participate.
They are not allowed to place in first place or second place winner as far as medals go. Some of them give separate medals for outsiders, quote unquote. But the great thing again, it comes down that some people will come, oh, I’m going to come to your meet and they might come from Minnesota or even from the East Coast.
I want to see you guys again. And then that’s another incentive.
MARTS:
Yeah. You talked a little bit about traveling and that it’s nice that for this event, you don’t have to travel, because travel can be a little taxing. Do you see that you, Christel, are going to be traveling to the national competition? Is it going to be next year?
Because this is a qualifying year, if I understand that, right? So do you see that you would be traveling or are you going to have to say, well, I might not go? What does the future hold for you?
DONLEY:
Depends on really how well my health holds up, or my strengths. Seniors or masters, we’ve been all over the world, but the senior games are just a little bit more, I would say, hang loose. It’s a little bit more fun at times.
It is competitive, but not like masters. In masters, when you see each other, it used to be, hi, how old are you? And now when you say, oh, it’s so great to see you again, let’s go to dinner or something.
MARTS:
I love it. And thank you for humoring me with the age thing, because sometimes I don’t always want to ask people, but I do think it’s something to be proud of and acknowledging, but I also get that you want to go out to dinner.
DONLEY:
Very blessed, yes.
MARTS:
Let’s just go out to dinner, who cares? And so, Rob, are you going to plan on traveling to the nationals? What does that look like for you?
RODINE:
I probably wouldn’t plan to go to the nationals. I guess in my own mind, I know what needs to happen for me to be good enough to go to that. And I just feel like I need to be better. I need to throw further. And I just don’t have that anymore.
But one thing I did want to add, I’m going to backtrack a little bit, but my first coach was actually my father. He threw the shot put in the discus in college, and he was my first coach. And I was thinking back, he did the senior games back about 30 years ago. And I was fortunate to go there, and this was over in Montrose. And I was fortunate to see him compete. And so, I still have a couple of his medals from that. So that’s special for me, too.
MARTS:
Yeah. Oh, that’s very good. So see, the dad’s coming back. Christel, do you have a dad story of your father?
DONLEY:
No, I don’t. I don’t know my parents. But I think it’s different too for Rob, because you still have family and everything. I am now alone. And so my incentive is to stay with it and travel. But it was something interesting when you mentioned hurdles.
MARTS:
Oh, yeah?
DONLEY:
Hurdles are not in the senior games. They’re in masters, but not in senior games. And the reason is, I’m actually responsible for it in California. When that came up, I said, there is no way we all run different heights of hurdles. People at that time were 55. Now it went down to 50.
I don’t know if that’s familiar in events. And I said, there’s no way, and it was me, director, that I can set up all these hurdles, different heights. And then a lot of people in the seniors had hardly won it. They were going to try it. I said, that is too dangerous. And I had one very good athlete in California who said, Christel, you have to do it.
I said, okay, if you want to run before we start the meet, I’ll be there. But you set up the hurdles. It’s a nice little episode. But that’s it. I’ve heard that some of the senior games have hurdles. But that is a big, big task. Different distances, different hurdle heights for different ages.
Yeah. I don’t know if you knew that.
MARTS:
No, no, no. I just love learning all these parts about senior games.
DONLEY:
You do so many sports. Look at you.
MARTS:
I don’t do any sports. I like to go watch the sports. But I am a very physically active person.
I mean, we live in the Pikes Peak region. It’s hard to not be out and about with your sport of choice, whatever that might be. So whether it’s dog walking, or, you know, biking, or whatever it might be, or in your guys’ cases, really official, you know, sports.
DONLEY:
Maybe we can convince you to do a power walk. We’ve done this with some of the meet directors. There’s a power walk, usually, I don’t know if it’s a mile or so, whatever.
Just walk and then we cheer for you. That’s true.
MARTS:
I just might do that. I did see the power walk last year. And I will tell you those people will definitely beat me. Even though I’m a good walker. They are serious.
DONLEY:
It’s not for win or lose.
MARTS:
Yeah, it’s about doing it.
DONLEY:
Yeah, I was amazed to how many people did it. Yeah, quite.
MARTS:
And they did it really early in the morning before it got too terribly hot, which was interesting.
DONLEY
It’s not my forte.
MARTS:
So yeah. So this is a really crazy random question that I’ll ask.
And then I’ll be bringing this to a close here in a second. If you were to be coming from outside of the state, an athlete that’s coming from, you know, someplace else, do you have a favorite hotel that you would be encouraging them to stay at here in our region? What do you think?
Would it be Christel’s house? Just kidding.
RODINE:
I’ve had the privilege of a few times staying at the Broadmoor. It’s like, the Broadmoor is such a cool place.
MARTS:
Yeah, I like it.
RODINE:
To stay there. I just think Colorado Springs is just such an amazing place. It’s a beautiful place. But that would be my number one choice.
MARTS:
You would give them the Broadmoor as a recommendation?
RODINE:
Yeah, I’d give them the Broadmoor if they could.
MARTS:
Yeah. Great. Christel, do you have a recommendation for a place to stay?
DONLEY:
I really would not know because I haven’t been to many hotels.
MARTS:
Thinking about it much. Yeah.
DONLEY:
But that’s something for the meet director or whoever is a research and make that suggestion too. I would say what’s beautiful to see here. Because people coming out from outside usually stay a little longer.
MARTS:
So true.
DONLEY:
And see some of the sights.
MARTS:
What would you say is your favorite place in Colorado Springs to visit? What would you tell people that they should check out and not miss?
DONLEY:
Well, everybody would say Garden of the Gods, but I think there’s some, you just drive around. Mountain, everything.
Go to the museum. That is a wonderful-
MARTS:
Which museum are you talking about, though?
DONLEY:
Our new Olympic Museum.
MARTS:
Oh, great. Yeah. Super.
DONLEY:
Yeah. Now, there’s a few other ones.
MARTS:
There are.
DONLEY:
We have some phenomenal, if you stay longer, as you said, music. I call it the Music Center, Pikes Peak Center. It’s one of my favorites. I like classical music too.
MARTS:
That’s right. We had a little story at the beginning here before we went online about sitting in and listening to some music. Anyway.
RODINE:
I just think of someone coming from out of state where there are no mountains. I just imagine if you’ve never been to Colorado Springs and you drive into from the east and you see these mountains rising up before you. It just to me, that would be an amazing sight to see.
MARTS:
Yeah.
RODINE:
And there are so many things to do around this area.
MARTS:
Yeah, there are. And it’s so, you know, we’re crowded in some ways, but not anywhere near as crowded as our sister city up north, you know? So it is really nice to come here and be able to explore and poke around and see things.
And you’re so close to the mountain, you know, it’s right there. So Pikes Peak is here and you are in it, whether you acknowledge it or not, it’s right here. So it’s a lovely spot.
As we come to a close, I would like for you guys to reflect a little bit on maybe your two things that keep you healthy and happy. What are the two things we could close out from each of you? Healthy, happy, inspired, champion your health.
RODINE:
For me, it would be music, playing in a number of different groups, different styles of music is something that keeps me young, keeps my head in the game, and then being able to still do some level of sport, athletics, keeps me young. My confidence is so much better.
I live a happy life. Sure, we’ve got our ups and downs, but overall, it’s a very happy and fulfilling life right now.
MARTS:
Great, so music and sports, music and sports, super, great. Christel?
DONLEY:
I, a few years ago, would have said nothing could stop me, but activity-wise, traveling, sports, my husband and I did a lot of big traveling together, and he was an athlete as well. But he’s five years older. Since he passed, and I think that’s three years ago. I have physically and mentally, I can’t say I went down, but it is quite a drop. I’m trying, and I feel the loss of strength, and I feel the loss of energy.
I’m pulling myself together, but it works very nicely. I have friends around. I still have family, my kids, so every day right now is a day of good morning. Everything is going to be good today. You go work out, even if you don’t want to go work out,
And it’s like maintaining day by day, but I’m still also interested in cultural things and music for sure. I can’t read as much anymore because my eyesight has gone down, and you hear ad nauseum, what do you want at your age? I’d like to be healthy, and I’d like to do things would be one answer. So basically, I’m happy for every day goes by, and I’m happy to be with people. I need people. I’ve noticed that over the years, and I spend a lot of time talking and visiting whenever I can.
In other words, don’t give up, and if I work out, do some running or jumping or throwing, come home, I’m totally tired. I’ll take a nap.
MARTS:
Yeah. You know, you did your workout.
DONLEY:
I did my workout, and I eat. I try to eat well. I cut down on sugar or on chocolate, which was very difficult, but summa summarum, that’s it. So I’m happy to be here on this earth still, and I’m happy to be here this morning. Thank you.
MARTS:
Yeah. Thank you to both of you, reminding us about championing our health and looking forward to those Colorado Senior Games and all the people who will be here in our region for those couple of days, feeling the same good vibes and honoring the aging process. And taking care of ourselves.
So thank you, Rob. Thank you, Christel. Good luck in the competitions, and I look forward to seeing you guys.
That’s the show. Thanks to all of you for being with us today. Aging with Altitude is created by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Government’s Area Agency on Aging. Visit us at ppacg.org and click on aging services for more information about the programs of the area agency on aging.