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Beth explains why she keeps track of her exercise
I live on a beautiful, large lake in Minnesota, and have just begun swimming 2 miles a day. I want to increase my distance, and have plans to swim quite a few miles in the future. I am 60+ and need to improve on my strokes as well as my time. It usually takes me an hour to swim a mile, however, when it gets darker earlier, as it is now, I can swim it in 45 minutes. When it gets too cold to swim in the lake, I'll do my workouts at the Y.
I love swimming and enjoy doing it. My doctor says this is the best exercise I can do for my lungs, as I have had a few respiratory problems in the past. Next year I hope to have someone follow me in a boat while I swim across the lake -- 5 miles or more!
Reed's reasons for using Exersite
Keeping track of what I have done has really helped to motivate me. I am fifty pounds overweight with asthma, emphysema and copd. It would be real easy to blow off my exercise, but those numbers keep haunting me to press on. I am no triathlete by any stretch of the imagination, but I am getting stronger.
Paul's Story
When I joined the Y about 8 years ago, I had every intention of making the experience regular but perfunctory. I wanted to get my exercise but not get involved with people. I had just relocated and had left a small group of close friends behind. It seemed to me that it would be easier not to get involved again.
Well, that resolution lasted less than a week, until I met Paul. At the time, he was in his mid-70s and as full of life as anyone I've ever met. Now he is in his 80s. He swims a kilometer while I swim a mile, and then we sit in the sauna and chat or lift some weights. Practical jokes and horseplay are the order of the day. We've even rolled in the snow in our Speedos!
Paul's only physical problems, as far as I can tell, are that he wears glasses and hearing aids. Otherwise, he seems to be very little bothered by the aches and pains of advancing age, and I have never known him to be sick.
I'm guessing Paul has a genetic predisposition toward health and active older age, but I am positive that physical activity plays an important part as well. And Paul is not alone. The Y I attend offers a variety of programs for all ages, and I have met a number of wonderful men and women of Paul's age and older.
It just seems to me that people who exercise are special in lots of ways. They are happier, healthier, more alert, and interesting.
Giving up exercising would mean giving up my friends and reducing my chances for aging gracefully. I don't want to do either of these, and so you will find me at the Y most mornings, and happy to be there.
Share Your Stories
I'm sure most people who exercise have had interesting experiences with amazing people! Please consider sharing them with the Exersite community. Write to webmaster@exersite.com.
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