Golden Years,Male Fertility, and Tom Christofk

"Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over."
– F. Scott Fitzgerald

I am liking my Golden years and feel very fortunate. Yesterday, Chris ,Carrie , Tony and I ran the trail. Tony and I are tapering for Saturday’s 30 km run in the Sierras. It is super to be able to run and play in the mountains. Being in the fresh air in gorgeous physical settings is an unbelievable experience. To take advantage of what nature has to offer is very special. Being healthy requires a will, dedication, knowledge and effort. Taking a pill does not do the job.

Unfortunately, the number of friends who are injured at the moment is saddening. For example, Chuck Mather had to cancel because of his undiagnosed injury. Tony was disappointed for a number of  reasons. Other running friends such as Farah, Randall and Diane round out today’s list. Get better my friends so you can join us on the spiritual trail of health.

An article in the Wall Street Journal , dated  July 16, 2013 was titled “the decline in male fertility.” According to the article, there is a decline in sperm counts. Some of you may say so what. However, sperm count has been linked with life expectancy. Of course, like other health conditions, sperm counts are likely related to critical periods perhaps even in the womb. Anyway, some of the threats to sperm counts include the following: maternal smoking ,Phthalates(shampoo) found in plastic bottles, sedentary jobs like sitting over two hours at a  time, frequent hot baths,  high fat  diets and even marijuana use. Once again, these factors are associated sperm issues and can affect sperm count. Once again, critical periods such as between eight and 14 weeks of gestation can have irreversible effects.

Tom Christofk

There are likely critical periods that interfere with taking advantage of the Golden years. Perhaps it might be important to do a self-evaluation and determine where you stand. It might be good for you.

I’m delighted to announce that Thursday’s TV Guest is none other than Tom Christofk. A glimpse about Tom  can be found in “It Has Nothing to Do with Age,” Chapter 8. To set the stage for this next section, I was competing in my second endurance ride of the year. I was competing in the Whiskey town 50 mile ride. “Michael and I rode until we reached the last vet check. I was in front of him and stayed in that position until the last vet checkpoint, about 44 miles into the ride, where ultra  runner Tom Johnson(three-time winner of the Western states run) was assisting. I didn’t realize it that Tom Christofk  and Tony were only a few minutes ahead of me; I used Tom and Tony as my yardstick for speed !Raider and I were in about fifth or sixth place at the time and  I was surprised Raider was that fast! Unfortunately ,Raider  clipped his rear hock and was sore. This resulted in us being pulled from the race, which was a huge disappointment. There was one more endurance ride before the Tevis. My  spirits were  still high at  that  point, but I was in denial. With Raider pulled, it was unclear what that meant for the next race.” 

To find out more about Tom, watch the show. Remember to keep moving, smiling, laughing, and deep breathing in the process.