David, what people don't seem to realize is that simply being able to do a marathon at ninety doesn't preclude getting cancer. What healthy habits do, for which I am damned grateful, is that a healthier body allows me to better battle what I fully expect to happen as I age. I think the ulginess to which you're subjected is the highest and silliest level of denial. I mean, shit, within the next year I have two surgeries, both of which are likely to be deeply painful. Being healthy helps me heal. But being a super geezer DOES NOT give us a get out of jail free card. Such attacks speak far more to the lack of character and deeply-seated fear of aging rather than the acknowledgement of the truth. We do age. We do deteriorate. Healthy habits help. But they aren't a guarantee of being Superman or Wonder Woman very late in life. That's very unrealistic.

I might add, however, that it's not particularly fair to criticize those folks- and I am one of them- who do extreme things later in life. What is inappropriate is when, as you say, their lording it over others is the point. No it's not the point. I want folks to be healthy enough to have options and genuinely enjoy life, which is likely to hand us our butts on a dinner plate if we're not moving and eating well. What troubles me, perhaps, is that it isn't an either-or, black or white issue. A billion shades of grey, and what works for each of us. I find my aging body hilarious. God help me, consider the alternatives. By the same token folks at the opposite end of the bell curve accuse me of browbeating them for not working out. Not at all. That's an internal voice that has nothing to do with me. If we want to be able to play on our terms late in life, overdoing it is NOT the day. Too much extreme training damages the body. But you can't say that to people who do it. They are too identified with how special they are.