Yes, I have heard that name, Macintosh Lake. My friend dog sits and we were out with one of her dogs. Windy but not too bad. Went to another nearby where herons nest but that day the wind was exhausting! Great places for exercise!
I’ve done a lot of gardening and a bit of running this week. It’s great to have nice weather so that I can ride my bike over to the lake trail. (I wear a cheap thrift shop jacket and leave it with the bike.)
Any newbie walkers/runners out there? Or folks that can add encouraging progress?
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Some days I get discouraged that my running time is not faster. Then I realize that when I started walk/run in winter 2017 (age 54), I could barely do 30 second run intervals. When the weather got warmer, I had to learn to suck air through my teeth to avoid inhaling insects. Now I enjoy running about twice a week, at least 5k.
So my recommendation is that if you are tempted to get outside and do some walking (and/or running)… Just Do It 
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Excellent advice!
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My mantra is “there is no such thing as a bad run!” I’m a bit frustrated with both my speed and my endurance right now, but I keep telling myself that I am a 60 year old non-runner who is RUNNING. Not long distances, but still - I don’t have any other friends my age that can do it! So I keep on chugging along! 
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I’ll be turning 60 soon and am just finishing up yet another round of PT. I definitely got sucked into a mindset of thinking that everyone ran 7 or more miles pre-dawn before a full day of work because that’s what all my friends did! Monday I was very happy to walk 1.35 miles, very slowly, pain free. I enjoy running. I don’t enjoy competing with others. I’m looking forward to being able to extend my walks and hopefully return to running.
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If you are running then you are a Runner!
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I long ago threw too many running expectations out the window to just focus on what “I” wanted. If I only have time in the morning for 1.5 or 2 miles before work (which is sometimes all early morning darkness will allow) then so be it. I still enjoy it, it’s still good exercise! I’m generally pretty active again in the evening so it all adds up!
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I’m on the comeback. After meeting some big running goals in the last 6 months I moved, the weather here was unseasonably cold (I don’t have a new treadmill yet) and then I was knocked out with Covid/Pnuemonia. The past week and a half I have been slowly building back up. I literally started with very slow one mile run. I am up to 3 miles now but my pace is a few minutes slower than it was a few months ago. Today I am celebrating the fact that my pace was somewhat better than it has been. I am realizing that right now I need to focus on just getting out there consistently and trying to improve a little at a time.
Unlike the past few years, I have no races scheduled right now. That’s not my priority.
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I’ve been running for 5 years now, and I think my trick has been to be flexible about when I go. Since retiring, I also can cherry pick best temps (my ideal is about 58 degrees starting temp).
On Wednesday I woke up at 7am and the weather and timing for a run was perfect (I had done a run on Monday and like alternate day runs). However I opted to enjoy the retirement perk of turning over and sleeping in, after a night out celebrating hubby’s birthday. Later it was too hot for me. But then on Thursday I was up around 6am, did some puttering until it was ideal temp to hop on the bike and ride over to the lake trail for a run. Then back to the garden to do some mulching and plan out covering schemes for the upcoming snow… but that’s a topic for a different thread
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Upcoming snow? It is currently in the high 80’s here today with a lot of humidity. I walked this morning and enjoyed our beautiful neighborhood flowers. I’ll be at the gym this weekend - in the air conditioning. I’m hoping to be released from PT soon so I can truly walk/run. I’m definitely learning to be more patient at least!
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Yesterday in Denver it was 88 and HOT (as @Colorado_mom said, too hot for walking or running). Even at 7 pm it was 80 and slowly heading down. Midnight? 60. 7 am on Friday? 40. Now noon and it is 37, raining, and they are predicting into the 20s and snow by tomorrow morning. Colorado laundry is indeed interesting in this season with wool socks, t-shirts, shorts, heavy jeans…
I’m going on the NAMI walk tomorrow, and it will be cold and snowy. I prefer that to 88 degrees (which it will probably be on June 4 for the Heart Walk).
Agree that somewhere between 45 and 60 is preferred by me and the Husky I walk with.
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Good to hear you’re going on the NAMI walk! Ours is in October.
One advantage to exercising. We just had a security camera installed and when I saw myself on the video it wasn’t altogether terrible! 
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I saw this in the “AAA Bulletin” magazine. So many threads where I could post it…. retirement 
, exercise 
, gardening 
, bag-a-week-declutter 
(I was climbing under a bed today), healthy habits 
etc. But thought I’d bump this thread, since perhaps we have a brand new retiree here (or somebody thinking about it).
#3 from HOW TO HAVE AN A+ RETIREMENT
“… a brisk walk, salsa dancing or gardening will do the trick.”
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Ha… no salsa dancing for me. My husband only dances at weddings (sometimes…. usually the ones with open bar). But if he were game it would be great fun to take a dance class, even though I am a bit clutzy.
Too dang hot for running today! So I rode my bike to our local lake trail and did a 3-mile loop. Then a little bit further so I could come home through a beautiful neighborhood with fancy houses and impressive gardens.
I like the way being on a bike enables me to roam further from home than I would on a walk. And the breeze keeps me cool. Admittedly if there were any hills I’d be more reluctant.
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It’s been the gym for me - I need to stay off pavement for a while. Saturday was a very slow hill workout on the treadmill as I’m doing LHR. This morning I did some “running” on a contraption called the zero runner. Testing everything out now that I’m feeling better. I’m not missing the outdoors much - it’s 90 degrees and 51% humidity right now.
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It’s good you are finding a good indoor option. LHR = ?
This morning I woke up around 5:45am and eventually talked myself into getting up for a run. At 6:30 it was already mid 60s temp and sunny (which can make things brutal). But the sun was low enough that there was more shade than usual - liked that! It would have also been lovely for walking.
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So, LHR = low heart rate. I enjoy running but I have a few issues I need to be mindful of. In the summer I try and keep my HR at or under 118 when “running”. That basically means 180 - 58 (age) - 5 (recent injury), which I guess is technically 117. Lots of walk/run, very slowly. Hopefully cooler temps in the fall will see an improvement in pace, but I’m at the point I don’t really care about pace. I am starting with a trainer next week to work on strength and endurance.
We have a beautiful day here today, finally! It was close to 100 with high humidity yesterday but this morning is gorgeous! Temps in the low 70’s today and low humidity. Exercise might be a walk in the park with the pups.
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We’re at our cabin. It’s 55 and windy. My exercise yesterday was mowing the jungle in our “yard.” Literally mowing over small trees, ha. It’s incredible how fast vegetation grows here. We have our property selectively logged every 10 years and we don’t even miss the trees.
My exercise today will be to walk down our 1/2-mile long grassy road and clip tree branches that are overhanging the road. It’s a big job. I love doing this kind of work.
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Today on my run around the lake there was another gal there, and we were passing each other. I was about to let her go past me when she said, “no - time for me to switch to walking”. We later chatted about how I started walk/run 5 years ago and have been doing my 5k (sometimes more) runs a few times a week… but the first months were definitely the hardest. Ha, forgot to give her the hint about straining the air through the teeth (if sucking in a lot of air) when it gets buggy in the evening.
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