Caring for yourself as much as your project car

Tom Suddard said:

Yeah, the money I spend on a trainer and gym is cheap compared to the money I spend on race car parts, and seems to be more helpful.  Until I started working out, I didn't have the strength/stamina to be a better driver. I'd be out of energy and start to make mistakes after about 10 laps, which always limited my progression. Now, though, my body doesn't hold me back anymore. I guess there's a reason F1 drivers are always in the gym on Drive to Survive.

That hundreth of a second delayed reaction time, from being tired, makes it impossible to pull off certain manouvers late in a race.

Patrick said:

I'm 41.  I've got 26 years of hard labor on my body on top of car stuff.  I remember bench pressing a cast iron powerglide into place when I was 16.  I didn't always remember to wear my hearing protection, especially using power tools constantly.  
 

for anybody younger reading this, you're not superman.  Take care of your body.  I'm doing that now, but I waited till 40 to start.  I feel way better than I did at 39, but have a long way to go and certain things like the back pain and tinnitus can only be kept in check, they're not going away

Every time your ears ring or everything seems fuzzy after a loud experience (air hammering, open headers, long session with angle grinder, etc) is hearing loss making itself just a little bit more known.

My grandfather lost most of his hearing in the Navy serving our country and welding truck components for the Euclid plant to feed his family.  I have some hearing loss because I had ear infections a lot as a kid and I was too cheap for quiet exhausts as a grown up kid.  Hell of a lot less noble reason to damage yourself.

I started breaking the law and drive with earmuffs in the RX-7 even in its quiet state.  It is amazing how much more refreshed and alert one is after 4-12 hours behind the wheel, instead of feeling hammered flat.

Whoa!

Just turned, 78.....

A almost complete list: Naw, it's way too long......

Now attempting to    re-install the dif in my '79 MGB-0LE [Sebring]

Did an MN Austin Healey driving event. sorta like a autox, but few pylons... 

Whoooeee... gotta git back to this! 

The last years since I retired as a 'mechanic. [1995] Been in sales.... Automotive related of course.....

 As Winston Churchill famously said: 'Never Give Up'

I'm 71 and it doesn't seem all that long ago I was under the car every week preparing for my next event. But time flies and injuries and age accumulate leaving me in considerably less spry than I was even 5 years ago. There are many car projects I won't consider doing now because of the time it takes to complete something now. I just am not mobile enough, flexible enough to do what i once did and I work more slowly than I did, so now I'm way more interested in driving than doing the necessary wrenching. That said, I won't drive an unprepared car for a track event or even an autocross which means I drive these events a lot less often. I wont sacrifice safety and preparation for a little track time that could end badly because of bad decisions before a track day. The bad decisions made on track are sufficient without adding extras before the event. It's not pretty to realize your body just cannot handle what it once did either on track or off.

This is a timely reminder.  My dad probably spent his best years working on race cars.  He didn't take as good care of his self as he should have.  I just visited dad in the hospital and now he is in a rehab hospital.  I'm no longer a young un myself.  I need to take better care of myself.  I really started on this last summer, but it's time to get back to it.  I do events (physical) where I'm towards the slow end, but even a slow athlete is in way better shape than 95% of the population on any day.  Kiddo loves swimming and found her thing at a young age (very happy for her).  She will be in the state swim meet next month.  

I plan to prioritize family and health this year and every year moving forward.  Other things will get fit into the mix in moderation.  

TL;DR: Read it anyway. This may save your life or at least add a few years to it.

Yes, this always a timely reminder. Too many of us neglect the most important component in the car: Us.

I've always been physically fit with bicycle riding/racing and gym work since I was 14 or so. About seven years ago, right after I turned 60, I noted a steep decline in my physical performance. I've been wearing heart rate monitors during exercise for decades and my max heart rate during high end exertion started to drop from the high 180's rather quickly. As a white American male, I first figured I just needed to rest and it would go away. That did not work at all and the HR reduction continued. The stupid thing was other than when I was riding or working out, I felt fine. Absolutely fine.

Finally, I went to a cardiologist and they started with the usual tests: EKG, Stress EKG and all that E36 M3 looked pretty good. At this point, my max HR was about 130bpm. So he booked me in for a CT Calcium Test Score test, which at the time was a fairly new test. This involves a CT scan of your heart. To say that test saved my life doesn't put too fine a point on it.

A good score is less than 50. At 500 they're getting concerned and there will be lifestyle changes being made. My Right Coronary Artery got high score for the month: 1968! Two days later I went in for a Port, Polish and Resleeve also know as an Angioplasty (this audience gets the slang there) I got three stents inserted. As a prelude to the angioplasty, they do an angiogram which is active picture of where and how bad the blockage is. I had a 98% blockage of my RCA and was probably a bike ride or three from a major cardiac event. Or just sitting around too much longer.

Turns out I have a genetic predisposition to calcium deposits in my arteries. Literally, everybody I know was shocked I had this problem, saying, "You're the healthest person I know"! I could not have been more shocked myself. Especially since my family history showed no signs of heart disease; cancer on the other hand...

Since then, I've been able to return to full on exercise with very little restriction. I do bike races and all kinds of stupid things like that. I get tested every year and have had two more PPR's for a total of 8 stents. According to my cardiologist, three things saved me: Exercise, wearing an HRM to keep track of my perfomance limits and the CTCTS.

If you have ANY cardiac health issues in your family (I had none) and/or you're over 50, spend the 150 bucks (most insurance does not cover the CTCTS) and get tested. I've told all of my friends and family about this and a few of my friends got major wake up calls (I don't have to buy much beer when I'm with them).

In reply to rdcyclist :

Continuing on this theme:

My Doc sends me to all the "ists" for an annual check up.

My cardiologist, an avid cyclist, gives me a number to stay below as far as heart rate goes. He says it's not good to be redlining your heart every day.

I have been taking cholesterol meds for years. Despite being 142lbs I have to watch what I eat.

I also have to watch my A1C unless I want to be a diabetic.

I have had a few friends pass because they didn't take care of themselves. Dying young wasn't the worst part; their quality of life for the last few years was terrible.

In reply to Tom1200 :

Thanks Tom, but I don't redline my HR every day or even every month. It is a very unpleasant test and I avoid it assiduously.

You bring up another point I forgot: My cholesterol has been 165 with the correct balance my entire life. That did not protect me from the calcium deposits. That said, I've been on a 40mg statin for the past six years 'cuz my cardiologist wants it even lower so now I'm at 131. This probably effects my physical performance but if it means I still can perform, I'm all for it.

The max HR that they used to bandy about in the cycling magazines used to be something like 220 minus your age.

When I was a teen and lived in the saddle my max heart rate was over 200 and my resting rate was 35.  (I kind of freaked out my 9th grade gym teacher)  Now it's closer to 160 and 100.  Really need to get back in that saddle, but I have an 18 year old's memories and a 46 year old body.

Apropos to thread, the people I work with will don hearing protection if they so much as swing a hammer.  My tinnitus is enough now that it's a bit louder than, say, an S60R at 75mph.  I did not wear hearing protection very much.

Rdcyclist, that hits home.  I'm a cyclist and wear a Garmin all the time, so I've been trying to use it as a bit of a health monitor as well as just a performance tracker.

I'm 57 now and annual checkup looks good, resting HR is still in the 40s and my max HR is still somewhere above 170, but I'm increasingly trying to ride because it's fun, not at a specified power level or interval structure.

I have a minor aortic valve stenosis. Currently we just check it on a annually. When I go riding the doc says keep my heart rate to around 140 bpm. When we do the stress test they run me up to around 175........the valve issue doesn't show up till above 180.

Now as for me hearing..........riding an RD350 with Spec II expansion chambers and no near plugs was rather dumb.

Then there is my broken thumbs (over the bars at 85mph) that I never had looked at.

I finished 69 orbits of the Sun today and i wish I could tell you it gets easier.  Sorry but the facts are that you are careening downhill with a bad master cylinder and even sketchier brakes.  In the past year, I have been to rehab for my right shoulder (still not good but not bad enough to want me to have surgery).  Surgery and rehab for torn meniscus (both sides) on my left knee.  Broken left collarbone from a crash on my bicycle (trying to keep healthy) when I ran out of talent.  My helmet saved me.  REMEMBER: you are not as young as you used to be, however you are just as stupid and full of bravado as you ever were.  Slow down a little and save what few original parts that are not worn out.

Thank you Tim for sharing your insight.

Having recently passed into senior citizen territory, I look back at a lifetime of wrenching.

Some form of pain or another, be it physical or psychological, has been the motivator to protect myself from the potential harmful effects of my automotive hobby.

The lingering pains in my lungs from the effects of a pneumonia early in my life convinced me to start wearing a respirator when employing solvents, generating particles, or any air born harmful stuff.

Experiencing the rapid and relentless deterioration of my elderly mom's mental faculties after she lost her hearing, convinced me to diligently practice "hearing-conservation".

I always wear glasses, as a first line of defense, solely by virtue of my fading optical acuity.

The alarm bells went off in my head in sympathy for my poor liver after I read an article about the harmful stuff in used motor oil, and that is why now I always wear gloves when dealing with automotive chemicals.

Knee pain can really get your attention, so I got a couple of those foam pads so my knees don't scream so loud at my concrete garage floor.

So there you go, pain can be a harsh but fair teacher if you are paying attention in class.

One of my triggers is seeing people welding without gloves. They probably know it's not a good idea*, but probably not how bad it is. It is - literally - radiation poisoning. Shortwave solar UV radiation to be exact, but much like that other radiation, it's all about dosage and time exposed. TIG, MIG, or stick doesn't really matter, as regardless, the skin on the hands are getting an huge overdose of shortwave UV. And, just like that other radiation, there are no immediate symptoms which usually slap us on the back of the head, saying "don't do that." The bill will come due about the time retirement comes around.

* A bonehead neighbor once told me that he didn't know he was supposed to wear a helmet while welding. His tone indicated he honestly didn't know... incredible.