Health & Wellness

Boomer Edition | 10th Annual | 2014

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But once she started a family and a career as a high school biology teacher, she gave up running. She picked it up casually again, along with cycling, in her 30s, and ironically, an injury brought her back to competition in her 50s."I couldn't ride my bike or run comfortably without pain, so I started swimming. Once I was doing all three things I thought: I bet I can do a triathlon." She completed her first, the Danskin Triathlon in Aurora, in 2004. "It felt awful. I was scared to death I would drown on the swim." But she placed second in her age group and was hooked. She has since competed in five world championships, placing second in her age group in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas in 2012. She credits her superb health, and the fact that she has all of her own joints intact, to a gluten-free diet, regular massage, a daily stretching routine called Egoscue, and a conscious resistance to laziness. "There are times I would really like to sit around and just do nothing," she says. "But every day, I make a point of doing at least one active thing." Dr. Richard Flanigan Cardiologist & World Champion Rower, Age 74 Richard Flanigan was a young oarsman rowing for St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia in 1963, when it looked like his dream was about to come true: He and his twin brother had been invited to go to Tokyo with the U.S. Olympic rowing team. Then, life intervened. "My brother and I both got accepted to medical school and they would not defer us," recalls Flanigan, who came to medical school in Colorado. "We left the team, and the team won the gold the next year. It was bitter sweet." It would be 20 years before he rode competitively again, inspired by the emergence of master's rowing competitions. "Before, most people just dropped out after college. These events have revolutionized things," he says. He came back with a vengeance, with his team winning the World Championships in 1984 and returning every year since - to places like Belgium, Italy and Australia – to place in the top three. Since his teammates are spread out around the country and often don't come together until race day, the pressure is on all year. "That's what's so great about it," says a lean, youthful-looking Flanigan. "You have something to look forward to, and you know your buddies are relying on you." He, too, has benefitted from the miracles of joint replacement (he has a new right hip and left knee, thanks to years of marathon running). But overall, he rates his health as "superb." In addition to working long hours at his Denver cardiology practice, he exercises daily on a state-of-the-art rowing machine in his home, and he has literally written the book on how to stay youthful longer: "Longevity Made Simple: How to Add 20 Good Years to Your Life." Dr. Richard Flanigan, a cardiologist at HealthMark in Denver, advises fitness-seekers to sign up for an event with friends, as competition and accountability make great motivators. Dr. Richard Flanigan's No. 1 tip: Sign up for an event and find some friends to do it with you. "Competition is the best motivator, and if you can share your exercise with someone else who you have to be accountable to, it makes it so much easier." Health and Wellness Magazine • 41

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