Skip to main content
I am a 58 year old single woman, who is looking forward to an active retirement. However, I have become a couch potato. I was spending hours watching Big Bang Theory, news channels, and HGTV. Mowing the yard was my only exercise. I have watched my 87 year old mother’s health decline as she spends hours sitting in her recliner. I want a different future for myself.
The change began when my company offered $50 to any employee willing to buy a fit bit and begin tracking steps. I accepted, soon realizing how sedentary my life was. Days I work from home I walked around 3,000 steps. Not even close to the recommended 10,000 steps a day.
So I joined Planet Fitness and began walking on the treadmill 2 days a week. At first it was slow and exhausting. But slowly I increase my time and speed. Currently I am walking 45 minutes at 3.0 to get a comfortable 10,000+ steps 2 days a week.   
But I needed more. Not more Planet Fitness, but another goal, something to get my physical juices flowing. My new goal is to hike the Grand Canyon! I am not even considering hiking to the bottom. Rather I found a trip for 3 days with a six mile hike each day. So I need to become physically fit enough to hike 6 miles 3 days in a row. It sounds very doable, especially considering I have given myself from August to May to accomplish it.
On FaceBook there is a 52 hike challenge from some people in California. The page suggests people spend a year hiking outdoors for a least a mile each time. During 52 weeks you would complete 52 hikes. It sounds like the type of challenge I need. So I joined the page and began recording my progress.
Currently I usually hike 2 times a week for 2 to 3 hours each hike. I am getting 10,000+ steps 2 more days a week. Luckily there are several large parks within 30 minutes of my home in Alabama. My favorites are Moss Rock Preserve which is 10 minutes from home. And Oak Mountain State Park which is 20 minutes from home. Both have hills, streams, roots, and rocks to traverse.
This Blog is the story of my progress as I prepare myself for being Active in Retirement. I hope you enjoy reading about my journey.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Still working towards a goal.

The picture is not me! But this is what I am hoping to become after age 60. I am currently 59 and not retired. The process begins with working out 5 times a week and doing gardening on Saturday. Monday is mini-cross fit at the dog park. I am able to do 20 repetitions of jumping jacks, squats, pushups, and squat-jumps. There is a very short distance of running but mostly walking around the dog park for now. Tuesday is a 30-minute treadmill walk/run at Planet Fitness.   Wednesday is a “killer kettlebell workout”. The internet calls it that. I am using a 3-pound dumbbell and few reps. Those will increase over time. Thursday is another walk/run on the treadmill. Friday is another mini-cross fit workout. How long will it take to become a fit-retired-lady. Who knows? But I plan to keep working towards that and hopefully one day my picture will be posted on this site.
Post a Comment
Read more

Back at it!

My life has changed again. My mother under went a hospital stay and is now living in a skilled nursing facility. She is receiving excellent care and I am able to return to my old life. This means returning to activities. Currently I visit my mother most Tuesdays and Thursdays then go to Planet Fitness for a 30-minute walk on a treadmill. It is surprising how much stamina is lost in six months of staying home. It feels like starting from the beginning again. Thirty minutes and a 3.0 speed makes me sweat. So, sweat I do. Hopefully the speed will begin to move up as time goes on. Additionally, I am doing a mini cross-fit workout on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There is a pet park two blocks from home. It has a circular track which I walk around one time then do 5 jumping jacks. Then walk again followed by 5 squats. This routine continues through pushups and squat jumps. It adds 3,000 steps to my day. The plan is to add one repetition each day. Yesterday 6 repetitions of each cal...
Post a Comment
Read more
Hike #15 at Moss Rock Preserve on October 14, 2017. 2.75 miles,  2 hours 16 minutes. Today’s hike began at 7am on a cool morning. I traveled the white trail beside a stream then uphill for a mile. I turned off the white trail onto a cut through to the green trail, also called the power line trail. The green trail is a slim path through tall grass underneath very high power lines.  I took the green trail to avoid the rocky stream beds of the blue trail. Little did I know the green trail had two ravines of rock covered streams. After hiking the green trail for ½ mile the path ahead seem to drop straight down out of site. It dropped down about 10 feet to several big rocks with a small stream running through. I slowly made my way down the hill and stepped onto the first rock, then stepped on the second 4x4 foot rock only to lose my balance and fall backwards onto the rock. I struggled to get my feet back on the ground. Then I continued by crawling across the remaining roc...
Post a Comment
Read more