I launched this blog naively expecting to motivate myself by tracking my improving fitness in spite of aging. It is becoming apparent that improved fitness may ever elude me; perhaps the best to hope for is maintaining the health that I have at this time.
When I took up jogging many years ago, it was easy to see gains in a short amount of time. Soon I was jogging three-five miles, three-four times a week, often challenged by a neighbor 10 years younger and 8” taller than I. The last sprint of a block or so, followed by a fully-clothed jump into the pool was an exhilarating reward, a memory I relish.
A recent Facebook post compared two elderly women, purportedly the same age, one lean and muscular, the other decrepit. The caption implied that we choose how we age. I’m sure that as a young woman I would have agreed, but having seen people deteriorating for “choosing” bad genes while others thrived in spite of poor choices, I realize that Mother Nature isn’t fair.
As I continue to recover from a partial knee replacement, I appreciate what my body is still capable of doing. My list of medications required for surgery read more like the pantry shopping list than a medicine cabinet: fiber gummies, Tums (for gas????), daily multi-vitamin, daily aspirin (my choice for colon polyps). Of the two prescriptions, I choose to take one for anxiety.
So I celebrate my independence, my generally intact cognition and senses, and the lack of chronic debilitating illness. Everyone has different needs, even when it comes to fitness. I choose to continue to strive to improve my strength, if only to push back against aging, to maintain fitness for MY life.
My goal is to keep moving. That’s it.
Mary
Just the luck of the draw