Sam and I started the blog way back in 2012 because we were approaching our 50th birthdays. We launched it as a place for us to talk about our “Fittest by 50 challenge,” which we later documented in our book Fit at Midlife: A Feminist Fitness Journey (2018). Lately I’ve been reflecting upon how different I feel now, in the year that I am about to turn 60, than I did 10-12 years ago, in that exciting period of trying to be the fittest I had ever been in my life.
Back then I was training hard for my goal: an Olympic distance triathlon. My life revolved around swimming, biking, and running, trying to get comfortable with the requisite distances (1500m, 40 km, 10 km) and with that distinctive element of any triathlon, the “transition” from swim to bike, bike to run. Looking back, I don’t even know how I fit all the workouts and training sessions in each week.
Now, with my 60th not quite nine months away, I’m not swimming, I’ve given up cycling, and after a spate of injuries that started in 2019, I’m on the fence about running. My goals for 60 are more about sustainable routines. I want to do things that I can realistically expect to be doing for at least another decade and likely more: yoga, walking, and weight training. I am aware that I can put swimming back into the equation at any time and likely one day will. But right now I have settled into a good rhythm with yoga, walking, and weight training (the EPIC program I blogged about recently).
The main difference between approaching 50 and approaching 60 is that my focus has shifted squarely onto sustainable activities. By “sustainable” I mean things I can keep doing well into my later years. I am not trying to be “the fittest.” When I was training for the triathlons I was in really strong form with a capacity for endurance that I’m not sure I will ever again attain. For some years into my 50s, even after I gave up triathlon to focus mainly on running, I kept increasing my distance (with several half marathons, a couple of turns at Around the Bay 30K, and even doing one dreaded marathon in 2015).
I realize that lots of people do continue to do those things into their sixties, seventies, and eighties. But I came to realize that I’m not interested in that kind of activity anymore. And though I may re-introduce running at some point, if I do, it will be for moderate distances, maxing out at 10K. For now, I’m enjoying walking, yoga, and weight training at home. I have a good set of dumbbells ranging from 2 pounds to 25 pounds, a couple of kettlebells, and a great solid rack to keep them all off the floor. My set-up for home workouts is great. The majority of my yoga is also at home, with occasional (sometimes weekly) trips to the hot yoga studio. Every Sunday I go for walks with my running group (some of us run, some walk, and we all go for breakfast after).
It all feels very integrated into my lifestyle. Yes, I need to carve out the time, but it’s time I’m enjoying carving out. I love going on trail hikes, whether locally or abroad. I can maintain a decent pace but being in nature has other benefits so I’m rarely in power-mode when I’m hiking.
When I was approaching my fifties, I had an intensity and focus around my fitness activities that was extremely goal-oriented. I had an eye on one thing and one thing only: the Olympic distance triathlon. Though of course the goal yielded some internal change (mostly in the form of perseverance), the goal itself was external.
Looking ahead to my sixties my goals feel closer to home: I want to live with ease, joy, and energy. My word of the year this year is “STRONG,” and I do feel super-energized with the reintroduction of challenging weight routines that are once again making me aware of my muscles. Instead of “product” goals, you might say I’m entering my sixties with the idea of “process” goals about how I see myself living my life.
I don’t think I was worried about turning 50. Nor am I worried about turning 60. It’s an exciting time, with retirement in view, and an evolving vision of what that will be like. In every scenario I am imagining, walking, yoga, and some resistance training are an easy fit.
In the end I’m not sure I’ve successfully articulated the qualitative difference between the last time I was a “nine-ender” and now. But what I can say is: it feels more peaceful.
Who else is approaching a new decade? Do you have a different attitude about it today than you did ten years ago?