Way to go Joe!

I came across an article about this guy a couple of weeks ago, but somehow I didn’t get around to blogging about it. His name is Joe Rollino and I have a bit to say about him.

I’m not sure exactly why I have such a fascination regarding exercise and old people, but I do. I guess it has to do with the fact that exercise is something you can never give up on. Well, there are a lot of benefits to never giving up on it. Doesn’t mean we need to go to the gym every day…but we do have to be fairly consistent to enjoy the benefits.

Anyways, when I first heard news blurbs of how this guy died I thought, “what irony!” 104 years old…and hit by a minivan. Well, I found an even more informative article here, and I think it makes the story all that much more interesting. So here are some of the facts:

• This guy was very famous for his strength (in his day) but was only 5’5” and about 150 pounds.
• He was a vegetarian.
• He swam every day for 8 years straight.
• He could bend quarters with his fingers even in his old age (apparently he could do dimes when he was younger-thinner, but smaller makes it tougher).
• He was about 2 months shy of his 105th birthday.
• When he got struck by the mini-van, he was on his daily 5-mile walk.

So I guess he did slow down a bit as the years went by (not quite doing his polar bear swims in the atlantic every day at 104), but a 5-mile walk for a centenarian is pretty darn good. I consider my grandpa to get around pretty well for his age (90, going on 91), but frankly, there aren’t enough hours in the day for my grandpa to be able to walk 5 miles.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more and more indifferent to how long I live (within reason). 70, 80, 90, it would all be good—provided I have a good quality of life. I think it would be pretty awesome to be able to walk 5 miles a day until the day I die. And if I get killed while trying to get some honest exercise…so be it. Dying while still living is the best way to go.

Oh, and fortunately, he was reported to have lost consciousness immediately upon getting struck. The story is not without sadness…but kind of cool at the same time.