Running to get fit

[Mo]

I'm not convinced about that.
A lot of my dancing friends have had knees and hips replaced. (in their 70s probably). Not that the sort of dancing we do is high impact, (unlike the Ceilidh and Morris factions), but all the pivot swings must stress the joints.
And it might cost the NHS more to repair us and keep us dancing into our 80s (and 90s) than for us to be unfit and drop down dead earlier.

[Meanqueen]

I didn't do the Parkrun last week because I was on holiday. I haven't gone this morning because I have just walked 158 miles. Do you think that's a good enough excuse to be let off this week, ha ha. Hopefully normal service will be resumed next Saturday.
Ilona
Bye the way, my joints are all fine, so won't be needing new hips/knees just yet.

[Kuikentje]

I'm not convinced about that.

And it might cost the NHS more to repair us and keep us dancing into our 80s (and 90s) than for us to be unfit and drop down dead earlier.

Ah, but the fact is that few of us drop down dead earlier. Maybe I see a disproportionate number of old people because of my job, but medical care is so good that even the illest people and the unfittest and unhealthiest can be kept going for a long, long time. Not necessarily having a good time. But certainly getting their money's worth out of the NHS. And the hospital population is ageing - when I started training, you saw relatively few people in hospital in their 80s and 90s; and likewise, in the community - I have a number of patients who are very old and who have all sorts of co-morbidities along with their mental health problems.

There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the fitter we keep our bodies, the better chance we have of delaying or preventing dementia - probably the first generation to understand how to protect ourselves against it. If that means we need surgery to fix our joints, it will still cost the NHS less than the hefty expense of looking after people with dementia.

All things in moderation is probably the answer. Serious sports people, or serious dancers, may give their bodies a tougher time than the rest of us. Pat Smythe was crippled with arthritic hips when only in her 60s. But if we don't work reasonably hard at looking after ourselves, we are certainly storing up problems.

(end of lecture)

[Mo]

Fortunately the sort of dancing I enjoy isn't hard work, it's all pleasure.

Ilona, glad your joint's are in good order, and if my sister is to be believed all that pounding of the footpaths and running track will protect your bones from watsitsname (you know that bone weakneass thing that old folks get, along with that memory thingy)



Ah, I've remembered as soon as I stopped trying - osteoporosis)

[Kuikentje]

(you know that bone weakneass thing that old folks get, along with that memory thingy)

[Meanqueen]

Thought I would come back with an update. I missed several weeks of running due to being busy with other things, also I don't think it's much fun running in the rain. Maybe I'm not committed enough, but now I am retired I want to do things as and when I feel like it, rather than stick to a timetable. If I run every week it will become a chore and I will resent it, so I will do it if I feel like it, or not do it. I get exercise in other ways, so as long as I keep moving and keep busy that will do me.

Mind you, saying that about not wanting commitment, I do go to a crafting club every Monday morning in my village. That is fun, we have a natter and knit and sew. And I write a blog post every day, something I enjoy doing, but that can be flexible. I make my mind up about what I am going to do on a daily basis. I prefer it that way.
Ilona

[Mo]

Quite right too.
I'm feeling 'at my age' I'll do what I want. Of course there are commitments, if you've told other people you'll do things - but other things can be flexible.

[kate egg]

I am definitely feeling my age after our weekend away, hubby thought it would be a good idea to take the train up Snowdon and then walk back down. We researched it and had the right footwear etc. but nowhere did it say be prepared to walk 5 miles down a steep, uneven rocky staircase interspersed with 25% slopes on wet grass.... by the time we got to the bottom my legs were like jelly and my knees about to give way! Three days on and I still have calf and thigh pain

Don't think I will be taking up running any time soon... and just imagine how much worse I would be feeling if I hadn't lost 2 stone earlier this year, I think they'd have had to send out the mountain rescue and resusitate me

[fabindia]

walk 5 miles down a steep, uneven rocky staircase interspersed with 25% slopes on wet grass.... by the time we got to the bottom my legs were like jelly and my knees about to give way! Three days on and I still have calf and thigh pain

Walking or running down hill is probably more traumatic than doing the same up hill. I have seen more running injuries from people running down hill than up, in fact I have not know any one to get knee injuries running up hill.

[kate egg]

People I have spoken to fall into 2 categories - those like you Michael who know about mountain walking and have said pretty much what you have said, and those who don't and who think walking down is just a cop out / easy option!

Today finally my calves and thighs have stopped screaming at me and the blisters on my toes are heeled

[fabindia]

Today finally my calves and thighs have stopped screaming at me and the blisters on my toes are heeled

lol! Shouldn't laugh really but glad you are getting there. And, think of all the good the exercise has done you - no gain without pain, or so they say.

[kate egg]

Definitely had the pain, the only gain (apart from blisters) is the wisdom to not listen to hubby's dafter ideas

[Mo]

We had the bright idea, some time ago, that we would do that walk in reverse.
Walk up Snowdon, then decide whether to take the train down.
So set off with toddler, teenage son + friend, near-teenage daughter. Got up OK except that the mist had come down, we could see nothing at the top. Never saw the summit- went into the station to eat lunch to the sound of the tannoy "Everybody leave the mountain, everybody leave the mountain".
The train had stopped running, so having carried toddler most of the way up we had to get down again. We thought the Pig (or was it Miner's) track was a bit rough on the way up, so we'd try the other - it was worse, very steep.

We've never been back!

[kate egg]

Crikey, well done for going up, although it is supposed to be easier on the legs I don't think my lungs would stand it! We understood that if you hadn't got a return ticket it wasn't easy to get one to just come down on the train (hubby was thinking of walking up and getting the train down).

Like you we saw nowt of the views, we were in the clouds. I would like to go back sometime when it is clear but we've been to North Wales so often and the mountains seem shrouded in cloud no matter what it is like on the ground. We thought to book it on the day if it looked nice but the clouds come down so suddenly that you could end up buying a ticket (and they're not cheap) and still not seeing anything....

We did the Llanberis path, supposed to be the easiest, with Pygg, Miners and Rangers being toughest - OMG I wouldn't like to attempt any of them

[Mo]

The Pyg & the Miners start/finish at the same car park. We could have gone down by the LLanberis (along the railway?) but would have had to walk back to the car, and we'd already walked far enough when we got to the top.
In those days it was just you and the OS map, no helpful advice about routes and tickets online.
The toddler now has a toddler and schoolboy of her own.