Outliers. So what.

I was lucky enough to receive a reviewer’s copy of What Makes Olga Run?

As you know I’m in the process of seeking out a good death. I want to die young, happy, and rich. I figured reading about a nonagenarian who holds world records on the track and field might offer a few insights.

Instead I feel like I’ve been reading about a woman who has allowed herself to be picked apart by science and a journalist and in the process this has shed no new light on preserving longevity. Don’t get me wrong, the book is well-written and Olga is interesting but if I’m to learn something about ageing, then please teach me something about ageing. We already know that exercise can reset age markers. We know the importance of a good diet and getting proper rest. It doesn’t take a scientist to tell us that (we need them only to spend millions of dollars in studies to prove what we know).

The author refers to Olga as an outlier and I’m wondering what good does it do any of us to scrutinize outliers? Aren’t they so far off the curve that the average person shouldn’t even bother to draw comparisons between him/herself and the outlier?

Olga didn’t do anything particularly different in the way she lived her life, except for the fact that at age 77 she started to attend Masters track meets. She caught a little buzz when she won the first event and the other women went nuts, cheering and congratulating her. She (by her own admission) realized there was something to it and kept going to the meets.

As far as I can tell (and I can only go on what I’ve read about her), Olga was lacking in ambition in almost every way. There were no grand plans. She was just living her life. Is that the take away? That I should just live my life? Perhaps.
 

Aren’t Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey just living their lives?

Is the real takeaway that we should follow our passions? Bill and Oprah and Olga followed their interests. I don’t know that Oprah knew she’d become a billionaire when she was 7 years old. Once her career started to head in a certain direction she made damn sure it stayed on course and capitalized on it in a big way.

So maybe we’re meant to follow our interests and be true to ourselves. Maybe there is no secret.  

Olga doesn’t subscribe to a particular diet, she gets regular exercise, she’s connected to her community (through church activities), and she doesn’t push herself into injury. She says, “I’ve got nothing to prove.” 

Two other master track stars are Earl Fee and Ed Whitlock.

Earl, author of  Secrets of a Worlds Masters Champion, attributes his success to intensity training.

"All this indicates the importance to staying younger and living longer of regular weight training, frequent stretching, and maintenance of intensity in training," says Earl Fee.

As a minor note, I love that Ed Whitlock (who, at age 81, ran the Toronto marathon in 3:15) has a diet that consists of coffee and grilled cheese. See, there’s nothing useful to me when an outlier eats like that. I’d feel like crap if I drank coffee and ate grilled cheese each day.

It’s back to the drawing board as far as I’m concerned.