Autum's Grand Finale...How to Keep Up

 

It has arrived! Seemingly overnight, golden leaves paint the landscape. The grandchildren rake them up and jump into the piles while Dewey-the-dog runs circles around them. The dog pounces into the pile and disappears under the leaves. The adults sit in chairs and laugh at their antics while we catch up with one another. 

It has been a little over a year since our family was all together. Daughter #2, from New Hampshire, chose this week to bring her family for their annual visit to Virginia. Her annual visit is usually the impetus for the Daughters #1, 3 and 4 to find a way be here as well. It is always a joy to have our girls visit all at the same time. These gatherings are so rare nowadays. This year we are all together for Halloween. The beautiful autumn weather is the icing on the cake. 

My role during our family gatherings hasn't changed much over forty years. I dote on the grandchildren and I feed everyone.  One thing that has changed over the years is that Steve and I are getting older. We move a little slower and tire a little easier. I like to keep up with the children's activities but it movement and energy have diminished over time.

Yesterday, the kids planned a hike. I was going to stay behind and relax. At the last minute, I decided to go. My daughter said she chose an easy hike that was suitable for the kids. Several years ago I learned the hard way that an "easy" hike for one person may not be "easy" hike for me. However, I was familiar with where this hike was and I figured I could do it. I thought I heard her saying the hike was one point two miles and I thought that would be easy for me to do. Once we arrived and began hiking, I learned that it was actually a four mile hike with an elevation gain. I tried not to worry ahead and I just put one foot in front of the other. It was a clear trail and the path was easy to follow. I got into the groove and I lost track of the physical work of it.

My daughter chatted away. Every once in a while she would exclaim how beautiful the Virginia woods were and how excited she was to be out here. I listened to her three boys sing and talk along the way. They gathered nature finds and carried leaves, pine cones, and acorns in their hands. We studied leaves and trees, exclaimed over seeing squirrels and a deer, explored a little cave, and enjoyed a snack at the summit. It was a glorious hike, full of color and dappled sunshine. At some point I became aware that I was acing this hike! I took quick stock and realized nothing felt sore and I was not out of breath. I had been careful stepping over rocks and leaves in order to avoid a twisted ankle or a fall but otherwise everything was grand.

Two years ago, this hike would have felt uncomfortable to me. It was this moment of realization that I knew my ability to do this hike and enjoy this time with my family today was because I have been going to the gym for the last year and a half. My muscles and lungs are in better shape. This simple truth amazes me.

I noticed that increased strength and stamina sneaks up in small, almost imperceptible, accumulating amounts over time.  For sixteen months I have done forty minutes of weight resistance exercises, followed by forty-five minutes of aerobic exercise, three times a week. When I began this journey to feel better I was limping from hip pain. I had continual back issues, sciatica, and very low energy. My trainer started me on ten to fifteen pounds of weight resistance, which is about the minimum. Over the year and a half, I have worked up to between forty to eighty-five pounds of resistance, depending on the machine. The goal was never weight loss. (I wouldn't mind losing weight, it just hasn't happened.) I just wanted to keep doing all the things I enjoyed. Above all, I wanted to be able to walk without pain. I put no time limit on achieving it.  

The entire challenge has been mind-over-matter for me. I hate gyms, I have never liked going to gyms, and I hate to sweat. I hate routines that make me get up and go out to exercise at the gym in the morning. I hate missing another cup of coffee in my pajamas because I need to go to the gym. I hate changing into a bathing suit and getting into water on a cold winter day to do aerobics. I honestly hate the process of it all. But I did it anyway. That Nike commercial holds a lot of truth when it says, "Just Do It."

 In the end, it has paid off. The physical and mental reward of accomplishing activities like hiking, ice skating, and paddling are empowering. I marvel at the fact that simply moving ones body on a regular basis results in this amount of strength. It requires no prescriptions, no special diet. Aches and pains still come and go but they are not debilitating. My husband began going to the gym last month. He saw what was happening to me and he wanted to feel better too.

I hiked with my grand kids today and the view was magnificent!