You are so dedicated. And consistent. Others don’t see you rope climb and want to give it a try??
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I played pickleball outside today, and it was cold. In the 30s, but above freezing. I think 28 maybe the lowest I’ve played in.
2 balls cracked, probably bc of the cold.
That I know of, 2-3 people climbed it. And maybe 2-3 other people tried. Most are scared, can’t do it or have no interest.
A popular workout in my programming may be 5-4-3-2-1 of rope climbs paired with another movement for cardio. There’s one other person who does similar programming, but I haven’t seen him climb yet.
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I didn’t do the Friendsgiving 5K. I worked too long on Wednesday.
But I did run nearly 4 miles playing soccer yesterday morning. My other exercise for the week was spreading about 1600 pounds of dirt in our front yard–we are trying to fix a drainage issue.
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Nuff said!!! 
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I had my DXA scan yesterday. I was curious to see how the past few months of running affected lean muscle mass, etc, as this is the first DXA while I’ve been a runner. Really interesting. Even though my weight was two pounds heavier than my lowest ever, my visceral fat hit a new low as well as fat % in my trunk. I expected to lose in my legs but was kinda surprised to have lost in my arms, especially because I feel like I’'ve been slacking on my weight training.
Anyway, I wasn’t sure how much I would continue to run, but I will say that seeing the changes in body composition certainly makes me want to keep running 3x/week. And I continue to be shocked by my bone density as I eat nothing with calcium.
My trainer and I had an interesting convo about endorphins. I have a friend who claims that she just doesn’t get them. I would think it’s because she doesn’t work out hard/long enough for them to kick in, but I don’t really know. But I’m curious … Do y’all get an endorphin high?
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The answer for me is I think….no. I feel “success” after finishing a run but I’ve never felt I had that runners high.
What I will say - with all forms of exercise not just running- is that I have a real need and desire to move - a lot! I find myself needing to move upon waking, at least once at work and if I can, after work. It’s like I NEED and crave that movement. But the runners high, no, not really!
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Just found this thread. I’m intrigued. I do fitness of all sorts. Crossfit, running, hiking, mountain biking…not bad for 51!
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Welcome - this thread has been a long running (pun!) thread for years and years in various editions. We are a mix of levels - some die-hard, some not, but all interested in keeping pretty consistent with some sort of fitness, sharing nutrition ideas for better health!
We all have a story - maybe a good time to re-up our stories (ahead of the New Year’s fitness bandwagon!)
I started running at age 53 - never an athlete, not competitive in the least and most interested in fitness for myself and mostly BY myself. Races are not my thing. I do it for me. I walk alot, run some, swim when I can, have an indoor AirDyne bike and love, love, love “hikes” in local parks or on vacation.
To be honest, this thread was really key in my fitness journey. The encouragement, accountability and sharing of highs and lows shaped my journey.
Now at 64 I continue to be dedicated to daily exercise and my Apple watch rules my life, lol. I’m ok if I run 3 miles or if I just do an end of work day shake out run of 1.5 miles. I do what I want!
Others can introduce their story if they like. 
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Welcome! My life story since I don’t feel like working at the moment… One of the best things my Mom did was make sure we were very active. I tried almost every activity (I was even in an ice skating show at age 8!). I varied from completely terrible to pretty good. Ironically, I was a TERRIBLE runner as a kid. I went out for a local youth track team. The coach watched me run and steered me to the high jump. My mom said I looked like her Dad’s cow with a broken hip. Swimming was my main sport, swimming (USA)20 hours a week in high school. I was good, but no colleges were knocking on my door with a scholarship and I was completely burnt out anyway. To this day I can’t have fun in a pool. Water is not fun.
I also had a terrible swim coach - probably considered abusive by today’s standards… So instead of weight training with him, I signed up for weight training as a high school class. best thing ever. Looking back now, that coach was amazing. He taught me everything - all the Olympic lifts, powerlifting, etc. Our program was very balanced. Girls (there were 3 of us) did not get off easy. Ever since, weight lifting has been a big part of my life, almost as much as running.
I started running XC and track jr year in high school, though very casually. I was definitely nothing special in high school, didn’t even get out of districts, though ours was super tough. a 5:12 mile was 6th! I was a distant 8th. And why I remember that, who knows…
In college, I quit swimming and used running (and lifting) to stay in shape. A few weeks into my first semester, my sister (a senior at the same school - and a complete NON ATHLETE!) showed me a marathon brochure for a race in the city where I was born and asked if I wanted to do it. Sure! Road trip!!! When it is? 6 weeks. OK. How far is a marathon? 26 miles? OK! I ran 25 mpw with 1 long run of 12 miles and I was ready! Ha!
Long story short - my years of 2-3 hours of swim training a day and dumb youth carried me through. I wound up negative splitting the race and qualified for Boston and won my < 20 age group in the process. I had a biker escort the last 6 miles! So yeah, I was hooked. I’ve been running ever since. I have definitely slowed down a lot. decades of hard running have taken its toll. I haven’t raced in years, and don’t really plan to any time soon. I always say “we will see,” but it never happens.
So now in my 50s, I usually do 80 minutes of a mix of running/stairmonstering/biking and then lift. 5-6 days a week. And there’s my novel.
P.S. I also met my H in a gym!!! He’s been lifting even longer than me - over 40 years now…
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Every story is a rockstar…but I love your story about your sister and the marathon - “when, where, how far?!”
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and note - she didn’t want to run! She just wanted to do a road trip! Ha! Actually, she did get bit by the running bug about 12 years later and also ran Boston herself. Unlike me, she actually has the distance runner’s body. Tiny and lightweight! I’m bigger than the elite men…
We were SO clueless about the whole thing. I made a reservation at a Marriott. I worked for one, so I got an employee rate of $29! Didn’t know the city had 4 Marriotts! We had no idea which one! We showed up at the wrong one and the hotel had to call around for me. The next morning, my sister dropped me off at the starting line and went off to sightsee. We made NO plans where to meet - no cell phones… I just told her to be back in 4 hours. I figured I’d finish in 4:30, but said 4:00 just to be safe. I finished about 30 minutes faster, but I was sooooo cold - a blizzard was coming in and I was in shorts and sweaty and tired… I was shaking from the cold trying to figure out how to find my sister in the crowd. And then I was watching the runners finish and this “old guy” tripped and fell and blood was pouring out of his nose and I completely lost it. I started bawling. A volunteer asked if I was OK and I said I couldn’t find my sister… so they took me up to the announcer’s booth and announced me as a lost child!!! HAHAHAHA!!! Stupid kids we were… But my sister found me and we went home.
And those days, there weren’t any chip times, no internet results. The entries were mailed on paper! Gels didn’t exist. Just water and Gatorade. And all cotton apparel. I ran in all cotton for at least 10 years - even a marathon in the pouring rain.
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omg this is a STORY!!!
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Wow, any Boston win is a big one. You go girl!
I came to this thread as a “lightweight.”
I am NOT a runner. For years I walked a lot, went to the gym a couple times a week, and biked when the weather was good. When COVID hit we canceled gym membership and got a good elliptical, indoor bike and rower. When I retired I decided to try pickleball. I realized the only way I would have people to play with regularly was to ask others in my class (most of us considered getting it over the net “success”). am now PB mom to a group of 10ish people (most was maybe 12), and we play 3-4 times a week.
My normal week is 3-4 pickleball days, 2 biking days, and some walking. When the wether is bad I can play PB indoors, bike indoors and use the elliptical.
I did manage a 500 day “streak” of 500 or more calories of exercise per day, but then my watch died and I sprained my foot. I now tell myself it’s Ok to take rest days.
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Great story. I was eyeing a pickleball rec center class yesterday in the community winter/spring booklet
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It’s great fun, and MOST (but not all) PB people seem very friendly and don’t take themselves too seriously.
We did have to kick one person out of our group because she was just cranky.
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The last thing I ever expected to be in my life was an athlete. I was born in the last 1950’s and grew up in a small town in a family with a tight budget. The town had sports leagues/teams- boys only. Same for my high school (a few girls teams started my senior year thanks to Title 9). No money for dance classes. In addition, I was terribly uncoordinated in a family that did not understand/accept that. I was made fun of by adults including some in my family and some PE teachers. (interestingly, the kids were great. The adults were the problem).
As an adult I made a few fitness starts but nothing stuck except walking (which I still love). I was made fun of by trainers at gyms (yep!) or met the “nice” ones who did not believe I couldn’t (really I.could.not. do something). Ugh.
When I was 42, my then 3 year old child was referred to O.T. for a few issues including issues with " proprioception dysfunction". A light went off in my head - that was also me! I was not imagining things, lazy, not trying, etc.
At age 57, I decided to try yoga. I figured I was fairly flexible, I might be OK. I was wrong - I was terrible. But unlike at the gyms, the yoga teachers were kind, patient and willing to work with me and show me modifications. By that time I was confident enough to tell them about my proprioception issues. And being in a non competitive, inclusive atmosphere helped.
A year and a half later, I decided to start running. 1. I wanted to join my kids in running the annual Turkey Trot and 2. I knew I needed cardio. I was fortunate in that a running club near my then home in Northern Virginia had a Running/Walking program for women. The first time I went, I knew it was the thing I needed all along. I finished the program, ran my first 5K and kept at it. Kept returning to that program (a few years later as a coach) and kept increasing my distance. I was training for my first half marathon in March 2020 when the world shut down, but a small group of us continued to run together (outside, socially distanced). I kept up the yoga via zoom. Ran a marathon in the fall of 2021.
I ran the New York City Half in March 2022 and moved to a new home in a midwestern city a week later. The last year and a half has been a challenge. I had a bad case of covid/pneumonia, a few other viruses and multiple injuries and other heath issues. I still run but am doing a lot less.
The future? I hope to keep running and start racing again. Not sure if I have another marathon in me, but never say never. I am definitely hoping to get back to running 10K and 10 mile races. I have a new yoga studio here which is also great. I have joined a running group and run and do strength sessions with them. My new city neighborhood is very walkable and I take advantage.
I really feel best physically and mentally if I get some sort of activity in every day. I try to do at least 30 minutes but I take occasional rest days too.
Sorry this is so long.
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It’s long but oh so interesting and really an inspiring journey - especially the part of learning through your child’s PT about a trait in yourself! Wow.
Isn’t life interesting?
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I decided to run yesterday (gloomy, temp in low 40s) before the snowstorm. After about 15 minutes, I felt a bit of pain on on the back of the left calf, about 4 in above ankle. Turned the rest of my workout on the lake trail into a mostly-walk (once in a while I had to do short run to get warmed up). Luckily I had dressed with a variable layered approach, including hood and gloves, so I didn’t get too cold.
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