For the next 30 days, I am living the fitness tips I’ve learned on my journey to be #OlderFasterStronger, to get ready for the launch of my book on Oct 14. Join me for that celebration!
So thing #1 is, Listen to My Body. That always struck me as frustratingly new agey vague — until I heard it from the fastest 85-year-old marathoner on the planet. World-record holder BJ McHugh does not run according to any pace, Garmin, heart-rate monitor or other external cue but rather by how she feels. I suspect she doesn’t spend much time standing around on the scales either as she’s learned to listen to her cravings for good stuff that helps her body purr along, by many measures, with the fitness of a very fit 20 year old.
But when I wake up on this glorious sunny fall day, my body announces that she wants the impossible: To be 15 and back on the farm I grew up on, moving, hefting straw bales onto a wagon, riding my horse, hauling baskets of tomatoes from my mother’s garden.
Great, my body’s a real jokester. So maybe listening to my body involves some translation.
Clearly, she wants strength-training, a bath of fall sunshine, playful joy and a little utility. So rather than going to the gym or yoga studio, I will literally run my errands during work breaks through the day then take my strength-training outside to an urban park with a stunning view of a valley and downtown. Guided by Christine Felstead’s Yoga For Runners book, I can do a strength-building yoga routine, supplemented with some chin ups and push ups using the kids’ playground equipment.
Kids will laugh at me. It will be fun. Oops, I’ve given away another tip.
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