I've had two periods of "intense health" so far. The first was high school through college where I was racing and training year-round. The second was in my mid-late thirties when I had a "full time" job that wasn't terribly busy, and I had kids. I definitely think that the job has a lot to do with it, but geography does too. I move around a lot and can tell you it is much easier to train in San Diego than it is in New Orleans or Norfolk, Virginia. Another key element has been friends to exercise with.

I may be entering a third phase with another job transition which came with a move to a new location with world-class diving opportunities and readily accessible pools with lap lanes, despite working about as many hours as I did at my last job where exercise was next to non-existent simply because of commute time.