Lämmchen's Workout Thread

[FredVB]

I am older and these days get little for exercise, and it would be difficult for me to get exercise equipment. I still don't drive but walk to places, half an hour away or so, and I walk briskly, and that is working for some exercise for me. With concern for an issue to my breathing I am not sure what more I can manage. My main body strength is lower down with my legs and feet. And I found shoes are problematic, as one does not walk right with dependence on them, and there is a jolt with that walk, or run, with continued impact on joints and all the posture. With my spine issues that would not be good too. But without dependence on footwear anymore feet do get much much stronger.

Eating right is very important too. Most people know about having the Standard American Diet even while having an exercise routine, but that is no good for it. Even there "balanced diet" with just less of the items not good for them that is not good, there would need to the better way learned, to not suffer worsening of health in many possible ways. But this workout thread is not the place to discuss that further.

 

[Lamb]

It's been so long since I've posted in this thread! I still get 10,000 steps in daily with very few exceptions. Today I got to get outside and do some loops on my block and the sun was shining so that was a bonus.

 

[Lamb]

Since I had my surgery 3 1/2 weeks ago, I've had to take it easy and not be able to do my routine 10,000 daily steps. Today I walked a mile without stopping and it felt really great! I can't wait to get back to normal.

 

[tango]

Forgot about this thread. I went for a morning run today. First time running in a little over a week, thanks to a few other things that got in the way. My legs weren't very happy by the end of it but I got 5 miles in.

 

[Lamb]

Forgot about this thread. I went for a morning run today. First time running in a little over a week, thanks to a few other things that got in the way. My legs weren't very happy by the end of it but I got 5 miles in.

5 miles? Good job!!

I can't wait until I can start hiking 4 miles again!

 

[tango]

5 miles? Good job!!

I can't wait until I can start hiking 4 miles again!

You probably won't want to start hiking in my area, lots of hills around here on the woodland trails. The first three miles of my regular hike involve something like 1400 feet of elevation gain.

How long do you think it will be before you are walking longer distances? Are you looking to jump to a longer distance and take your time covering it, or gradually increasing the distance keeping the pace about the same?

 

[Lamb]

You probably won't want to start hiking in my area, lots of hills around here on the woodland trails. The first three miles of my regular hike involve something like 1400 feet of elevation gain.

How long do you think it will be before you are walking longer distances? Are you looking to jump to a longer distance and take your time covering it, or gradually increasing the distance keeping the pace about the same?

We have hills but most are not as high as what you do. I think the highest that's nearby in my county is 1,000 ft.

I have to go slow in increasing how far and how long I walk because I'm only 4 weeks out from surgery. I don't even get released for normal activity for a few more weeks. Walking is the best for healing though.

I'm really hoping that by the end of May I can do 4 miles again.

 

[tango]

Got a longer run in today. I needed a lot of walk breaks because nearly four miles of it was into a steady 25mph headwind but I got 10 miles in, all told.

 

[Lamb]

My husband and I went to the park yesterday and walked 2 miles. I'm slowly increasing my distance

 

[tango]

My husband and I went to the park yesterday and walked 2 miles. I'm slowly increasing my distance

A 100% increase on the previous one! Good stuff

 

[Lamb]

A 100% increase on the previous one! Good stuff

Yep! The extra activity and fresh air knocks me out early every night though! LOL I can't believe how much I sleep, but that's a good thing.

 

[Lamb]

I think I'm finally back to doing 10,000 steps a day!! It's tiring though.

 

[Lamb]

I think I'm back up to doing my 3 mile hikes again!! My husband and I started going to a new nature preserve that opened up last month and we've been exploring the trails there.

 

[tango]

It's been a while since I was in the woods so today corrected that. It was a hot day, and by the time I got back I was pretty well soaked in sweat. Thankfully I had a dry shirt in the car. I was a bit slower round the loop than I have been but I wasn't really pushing the speed overly hard.

I saw an impressive rattlesnake on the loop. That was an unexpected bonus.

 

[Lamb]

I'm going to try to hike today in the humidity...taking my camelbak of course!

 

[tango]

I'm going to try to hike today in the humidity...taking my camelbak of course!

I took 24oz of water on my hike yesterday. I drank most of it but finished the last couple of ounces when I got back to the car. My tracker estimated I lost more like 64oz of sweat.

For longer hikes on hot days I should think about some form of hydration pack. It's easy enough to carry two 24oz bottles with me and if I think I might need it I take a 64oz water brick in a backpack and refill my bottles as needed.

 

[Lamb]

I took 24oz of water on my hike yesterday. I drank most of it but finished the last couple of ounces when I got back to the car. My tracker estimated I lost more like 64oz of sweat.

For longer hikes on hot days I should think about some form of hydration pack. It's easy enough to carry two 24oz bottles with me and if I think I might need it I take a 64oz water brick in a backpack and refill my bottles as needed.

I highly recommend a Camelbak! I have had this one since it was gifted to me...oh wow, I can't even remember how many years ago but it's been a decade. I clean it out with vinegar about twice a year and only use water in it and empty it out as soon as I get home. I love it because it holds my keys, my ID, credit card, cash, wipes, etc...

 

[tango]

I highly recommend a Camelbak! I have had this one since it was gifted to me...oh wow, I can't even remember how many years ago but it's been a decade. I clean it out with vinegar about twice a year and only use water in it and empty it out as soon as I get home. I love it because it holds my keys, my ID, credit card, cash, wipes, etc...

That sounds really handy. As far as possible I don't carry a backpack, simply because my back gets sweaty enough without having something pressed hard against it. On a longer walk it's handy to be able to sip water without taking the pack off to refill bottles, and it would be handy to have both hands free. I guess I just got so used to having one or two water bottles hanging from the fingers of one hand I wouldn't know what to do with my hands if they were empty.

 

[tango]

Got a run in this morning. It was hotter than I'd expected so I was glad for a water bottle. I really wanted to run my 8 mile route but given it got hotter faster than I got acclimatized to the heat I decided to do the 5 mile instead. I'm glad I did, I drank enough of my water I'd have run out over te 8-mile route. I was doing sprint intervals again - they are easy enough during the recovery phases but as far as possible I time the sprints to run up the hills for maximum benefit. I'm getting stronger without a doubt, even if some of the intervals are really difficult.

 

[tango]

Thinking about the water bladder approach, it would also be good to have something other than cargo pockets to carry trail maintenance stuff. I usually carry a folding saw and a pair of pruners so I can do basic trail maintenance as I go, if it's needed. It's good to be able to deal with a trail obstruction there and then rather than trying to remember where it was and reporting it or, worse, having to turn back if I can't get around it. A couple of times I've encountered fallen branches a few inches across at chest height, and I could use the pruners to cut away the smaller branches from the main one and then the saw to cut the main branch so the trail was passable again.

My hiking shorts have cargo pockets that take them pretty well but my longer pants have slightly bigger pockets, which means they bounce around and slide into awkward positions in the pockets. The crucial thing is that I want to be able to get at them without taking a pack off my back. Maybe I could figure a way to attach them so I can reach them easily but not have them swinging around constantly stabbing me. That would get pretty old.