(This article first appeared in the September print edition of the Hendersonian.)
This month, when local seniors gather for their annual Games, retired nurse Rhoda How will know exactly how they feel as they seek to win a competition or simply achieve a personal best.
Rhoda has that mind frame. In July she competed for the second time in the National Senior Olympics.
Remember how hot, and humid, it was here in July? Des Moines, Iowa, where the National Games took place, was like that, too.
“I fought through it,” Rhoda said, though the weather conditions didn’t make it easy as she competed in the power walking event for ages 65-69.
Her interest in athletic competition is part of a greater push for improved health and wellness on all levels, but it also goes way back to high school and a physical education teacher who encouraged her to pursue the Presidential Fitness Test in the administration of John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy was a champion of national physical fitness for youth that included awards for high school students encouraging “vigorous life” and healthy activity.
Rhoda embraced the importance of those goals after her teacher told her “you would be excellent at doing this.”
Fast forward to retirement. After working as a registered nurse at Methodist Hospital and Encompass Health Deaconess Rehabilitation Hospital, she decided to make some changes in her lifestyle.
She became an avid walker with a disciplined daily schedule in the Early Riser walking group. She dropped 44 pounds and has stayed in a five-pound range ever since.
As a health coach, she started thinking about Senior Olympics and did some research.
She learned that there was a power walking event that didn’t require qualification at the state level, so she entered herself in 2023 at the National Senior Olympics in Pittsburgh.
She upped her training schedule, adding some weight training to build muscle, and started timing herself.
“When you age, and lose weight, you’re going to lose muscle,” she said.
Then she showed up to compete.
“It was a wonderful experience,” she said. “I did do very well considering what people half our age can’t do. But if I can do it, you can do it.”
This year, she entered again along with 12,500 senior athletes, this time in Iowa, where she recognized people she’d walked with in that previous competition. Though the minimum qualifying age is 50, competitors go all the way up to age 100 and older, she said.
At the Olympics, she registered a 11:57 mile, which she was happy with considering the heat and humidity.
Now she has her sights set on the next National Senior Olympics, 2027 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, Rhoda’s social media posts are filled with healthy recipes, updates about the Early Risers walking group and inspirational messages.
Here’s one:
“What we dwell on grows. If we keep rehearsing our problems, they multiply in our minds. But when we shift our thoughts toward gratitude and joy, we open the door to peace, hope, and even better health.”
Rhoda said the path forward requires building those healthy habits.
“If you don’t change your habits you’re not going to be successful,” she said, noting that because of the changes she’s made she’s been able to eliminate some medications. “I have made great strides with my own health.”
Rhoda describes herself as “very active.” So much so that her 16-year-old grandson recently asked her: “Don’t you every slow down?”
The National Senior Olympics had a side benefit of putting her in the position to be an encourager on a broader platform, not just on her social media.
“During the Senior Olympics, I met a sweet lady named Annette,” Rhoda said. “We only talked for a little bit—just enough time to exchange a few words, share a laugh and wish each other well. I went on with my day, not thinking much more about it.”
They exchanged contact info.
A few weeks later, she opened her mailbox to find a cute notecard.
“Inside were the kindest, most heartfelt words from Annette about how our brief meeting had been a blessing to her,” Rhoda said, adding that she picked up the phone and called her.
“That conversation was the highlight of my day,” she added. “My desire is to help anyone who’s struggling with health challenges move toward optimal health, so you can live your life to the fullest and enjoy every step of the journey.”
