Thanks for listening.
Thanks for sharing! I want to hear it.
Just wanted to spill it out somewhere.
That is the point of us! Or, one of our many little points on our little pointy heads.
I'm turning 60 on my birthday next month and one of the conversations I just had with JZ was basically, "As we do our financial planning, let me be clear that travel is a priority for me because I don't know how functional my body is going to be from 65 to 70. So in these next five years there are places I want to go."
My whole experience with sciatica was a huge wakeup call/existential crisis for me. Realized I needed to lose weight and maximize my health as much as possible because shit's falling apart. If I want to go walking around Scotland I need to keep running the steps every weekday.
Laura, the brain thing would concern me, too. Are you willing to take meds this time? I just want your spicy brain to stay spicy.
travel is a priority for me because I don't know how functional my body is going to be from 65 to 70.
Obviously everyone is different, and you can't know for sure what the future holds, but I will say that my mom went to Ireland when she was 72 or 73, and that trip was full of long-ass rambling walks and whatnot. Granted that she's an outlier for her age, but honestly, what makes her such an outlier is her ironclad priority to exercise most days of the week. Yeah, she teaches yoga, but she also takes long-ass walks and lifts weights. She also walks (not runs) up and down 1 flight of steps from the living room to the basement, 25 times. Not sure if she does that every day, but she does it several times a week at least.
Anyway, my point is that you've really killed it with your commitment to running the steps, and (this feels like a tautology) activity is what keeps people active for a long time. (Shit, my dad is a shambling horror, medical condition-wise, and yet at 79 he still works at the grocery store 4 days a week, and I really believe that kind of activity has kept him in the acceptable shape he's in. If he just sat around, he would either be in assisted living or probably dead by now.) So, you know, you might be hiking the Grand Canyon at 75.
So, you know, you might be hiking the Grand Canyon at 75.
More likely touring Tokyo, but yes, I'm not quitting yet. I'm just conscious that I need to do more regular maintenance if I want to do those things. Thinking about doing Pilates because my friends that do it
love
it and I think that's a good way to build up core strength and flexibility, but having the support of the machine.
I say all that while giving the calendar the side-eye since I'll be 50 next month. Ramping up my exercise after Covid has reminded me of the same thing -- I feel better and function better when I prioritize exercise most days of the week. And being forced to slow way way down for a while made me realize that if I can get back to where I was before Covid (and I'm close at this point, which: yay!), the only way to be active for a long time is (another tautology here) to be active.
Plus I fucking got trekking poles for hiking as a Christmas gift and I want to use them more than once, god damn it. Though I'll hold off on any hiking until the cicadas are gone, because fuck that.
Plus I fucking got trekking poles for hiking as a Christmas gift and I want to use them more than once, god damn it. Though I'll hold off on any hiking until the cicadas are gone, because fuck that.
You can probably spear an entire skewer's worth of cicadas on your trekking sticks.
Sending love, Laura, and am really glad you have lots of medical experts on speed dial.
My mother, at 78, would still be a pretty active traveler but my Dad has advanced Parkinson's and she's his primary caretaker. I'd love to take her any number of places but I don't think she'd feel ok traveling when my dad's not able to. They did do a fair amount of travel around the US, and to Ireland, the UK, and Italy, though, when he was able to.
Mom was still well enough to enjoy travel into her 90s.
I told DH this morning that the last 30+ years were business and kids and the next 30 has to be us. He replied that he probably only had 5-10 good ones in him. Of course I responded that I had to get in shape for DH#4 then.
In waiting room for MRI.
Laura, that sounds scary and I am glad you are having matters looked at. May whatever work you undertake to make you feel better in your body be rewarded.
Did someone mention Reformer Pilates? {does the excited meerkat dance} It is my favorite thing. It is not everyone's thing - my yoga teacher who danced professionally for years haaaaaaaates it - and you absolutely do want at least one private session before you start dropping money on classes. But one of the requirements for our next place is enough space for me to have a Stott machine at home, that is how much fun I have on them.
Did someone mention Reformer Pilates? {does the excited meerkat dance} It is my favorite thing.
Good advice on the private lesson first. I have several options within walking distance. Just been waiting to feel safe to go into an indoor exercise space.
