I stopped skating for a while just around 29- injuries, not being into it, friends falling off- I decided that framing it like "I've got to skate because I'm a skateboarder" wasn't working. I don't know if I thought I'd be off the board til 35 or really, if i was ever going to roll again.
First few years of skating again were a blast and really...fucking...slow. Was dealing with old injuries/pain, got hurt pretty bad while doing something else, found new interests, whatever, but skating was fun again, so I kept skating.
More changes come, I move to an area with good health care providers, and get approved for physical therapy to navigate a host of things that built up over 25+ years, with the focus on a few acute injuries/incidents. I've been to a PT numerous times in my life and it usually sucked. This time I get hooked up with an exception DPT, someone who is intelligent and curious. Who listens. Who understands soft tissue. Who trusts their patients. I worked with her from March til the 3rd week of October. March-July 2x week. August-Oct 1x week. I did my exercises and communicated my needs/experiences clearly to the DPT. Started going to the gym, mostly to do core/lower body work in line with PT exercises. Started running on the road a few times a week back in April. Now I'm doing more upper body work as well. It's been life changing.
For better or worse, my level of fitness has begun to exceed my level of ability in skateboarding. I'm not jumping down shit, rather at 40, my stamina, power, speed, and recovery are higher than they've been since I was at peak skating age/ability. This is allowing for more time skating and also new vision or outlook on skateboarding; it's not about "i wish i could skate that," it's "how can i skate that?"
I guess it's important to say that if/when you stop, slow down, etc, you lose it. It's taken 5 years rolling again, plus 8 months of intense PT that I'd say is equivalent to having a personal trainer and making fitness a daily aspect of my life, to be able to skate comfortably and confidently again.