The Value of Experience

Last year was my peak running year. I ran 5 half marathons, including a PR (Personal Record, for those not familiar with the term). I trained hard and I was killing my times. I thought I had finally found my running groove.

But running, like most things in life, is not linear.

Fast forward to today and I can honestly say I’m running slower than I ever have since I picked up the sport. It’s the first time I’ve actually noticed considerable signs of aging. A week ago, I ran my third half of the year. It was going to be my redemption race. You see, my two previous races this year were extremely disappointing. Both of those races I had ran the year before and both of those races were much slower than last year.

While I’ve noticed some physical changes the past few years, this has been the first year I’ve really felt...dare I say, OLD. The aches after a race last longer, my breathing during runs is more labored and things that never hurt before in my life, are now coming out of the woodwork.

Each race that I’ve run and each race that I’ve failed to meet my own expectations, I berate myself. I shame myself because I’m not as fast as I used to be. My muscles hurt way more than they ever have and frankly, my pride has taken a beating also. The whole point of running isn't to beat anyone else, except my past self...and now I seem to have failed at that.

But I, like society, have it all wrong.

I was listening to the Ten Percent Happier podcast with Dan Harris...episode 612: Can you Get Fit without Self-Loathing featuring Cara Lai. And Ms Lai mentioned that our society promotes youthfulness rather than celebrating aging.

Let that sink in.

We value the young and deride the old. The anti-aging creams, the diets designed to keep us looking young, the cosmetic procedures — from tummy tucks to botox, and even the instagram photo filters designed to blur out the fine lines and erase the love handles. As we age, society has conditioned us to make us feel that our bodies natural life cycle is not just underwhelming, but shameful and even ugly.

Yet, as Ms Lai pointed out, we should be doing the exact opposite.

Instead of harping on myself for not achieving some arbitrary goal, I should be celebrating the 19 half marathons and 2 marathons this body has completed over the years. The 14ers, the yoga classes, the Zumba sessions, the miles of walks and skips and jump ropes and everything in between. It is because of my age that I have accomplished all of these physical feats. I have learned what not to do when injured because my younger self would have pushed the boundaries and created more harm.

It is because of my experiences that I have learned how to be disciplined when training. It is because of my experiences that I know training slow is better than pushing at your hardest effort most days.

Age brings experience and from experience comes wisdom and knowledge. But it should also bring gratitude, acceptance, pride and value.

But, as this is mostly a tech-focused blog, what does running slower have to do with the tech industry?

Well, it's not just our physical appearance that is put to the test as we age, it is also are ability to do work. 

A few of the questions I’ve seen on communities like Reddit and Quora lately, include:

• As a software developer, how can I ensure I remain employable after age 50?
• Are you over 40 and employed as a software engineer in a large company? What are you doing that is keeping you from being laid off?
• Is it true that companies fire old programmers (around 35ish) to hire young programmers who recently came out of college just because they could pay the young ones a lower salary?

We are told to respect our elders, but do we actually value them?

In the tech industry, 40 is old. You’re past your prime and you’re undesirable. Too old...but too old for what? Too old to learn new technologies? Too old to solve complex problems? We've been conditioned to believe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but is that actually true? Don't we all continue to learn throughout our lives?

Why do we place more value on the young, inexperienced developer than the one who's lived through not just immense changes in tech, but who has a lifetime of experiences to bring to the table?

Don’t we need a balance? Ying AND yang?

The eager, bright-faced, fresh-out-of-college graduate provides a variety of different perspectives and ideas. But the more experienced developer provides a lifetime of mistakes and successes, lessons learned and views shaped by a wide range of experiences.

Aren’t companies most successful when they combine both those perspectives? It might do the tech industry some good to re-evaluate how it creates teams and the viewpoints it actually needs to build successful products and platforms.

Age should not be a detriment to being considered for or hired for a job or internal role. In case anyone needs a reminder, here are some of the ages when a few of the most accomplished individuals of our time rose to success:

• Toni Morrison wrote her first novel “The Bluest Eye” at 41 and won the Pulitzer Prize at 56
• Henry Ford created the Model T at age 45
• Julia Child wrote her first cookbook at 50
• Harland Sanders, aka Colonel Sanders, was 62 when he franchised KFC

(See even more accomplished individuals in the article "30 people who became highly successful after age 40")

Maybe we never actually have a prime in life. I often think of my 70-something running friend Bill who runs multiple half marathons during the year and skis more days in a single season than I have most of my life. I don’t just want to be him when I reach his age...I want to strive to be him now! It’s less about the number attached to our age than it is about how we choose to spend our days — how we treat our bodies and engage our minds.

So let’s stop turning our noses up at the “over the hill” tech professional and embrace them for all they have to offer.

After all, I'm not giving up on running. In fact, I'm planning to run my third marathon next year...it's been 7 years since my last. But old or not, I'm determined to keep pushing myself – both physically and mentally!