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?
Ease, joy and energy! Yes. I want that too.
You are being so wise, Tracy. Now that I am into my 80s, I find fast walking, which I’ve always loved, to be terrific. It keeps me strong and agile, exactly what I need.
Thank you, Madeline. You are definitely a role model for all of us, in so very many different ways.
Long time since I visited here, Tracy. I will turn 65 in a few wks. I agree about sustainable exercise. To me, cycling is still “sustainable” since I ride routes that are at least 80% on bike-ped. paths and that’s not hard if one lives in a city with several hundred kms. of interconnected bike paths. Calgary has one with 700 kms. while Toronto and Vancouver also both have great parks pathway system and bike lanes. There are a few seniors’ bike groups in town, but the rides seem to start primarily in suburbs which is annoying /inconvenient to me ..since right off the bat, I have to bike 10-15 km. to get to start point. (which means 20-30 kms. outside of the bike ride mileage itself). It just signals to me, these riders often bring bike by car to the parking lot area of recreation centre. So I just ride with a 78 yr. retired nurse (mother and grandmother) and meet up to socialize. Otherwise my car-free life still continues onward in retirement.
I will turn 64 in April, and I am wondering if this is when I am approaching a new decade. Approaching the age of 70 is scary, and I am not interested in thinking about it now. But this blog made me envision myself when I get closer to being 70, and I asked myself, “How will it be to be 70”?
Like you, the closer I became to being 50, the more ambitious I was about my fitness, setting goals and pushing myself to do more and be in better shape. It seemed like I was competing 1) with myself and 2) the younger women around me. I wanted to prove to myself and others that ‘age was just a number’ and I was as strong and fit as before. I was indeed, because I achieved so many goals in my 50s. I learned to rollerblade and ice skate; I did a strong women’s competition in Vancouver, I did my Ph.D., I became a grandma, and I went through menopause. And finally became 60 in 2020. Not a great experience to start a new decade, though! COVID-19 ruined our lives in many ways, and we were uncertain about what was next. We all changed our routines and preferred activities, and particularly, we became more cautious about physical activities. In 2020, people like me (gym goers) had a big challenge. I had to limit my exercise routine to simple things like yoga and weight training (not heavy) at home. That made me less active and less motivated. Considering the pandemic, we finally got back to a new lifestyle- and I believe we became more conservative about my health and not getting sick or injured. I am now so close to turning 64, and as I said, I don’t want to think about how it looks approaching a new decade.
Given that my work is research in enhancing long-term care homes and residents’ lives, my feeling at this stage is a bit wired- some days, I think I should take it easy and just be consistent with moderate physical activities like yoga, weight training with a set of not heavy dumbbells at home, running as much as I can ( not pushing myself for being a faster runner), but there is still an inner voice telling me this is not enough, do more, mainly when I watch women/men doing crazy stuff in their 90s in social media, and asking myself “why not me”? If they can do it, I can do it too. My emotions /feelings are not very stable at this point, and what I think is not exactly what I want. However, there is one thing that I am 100% sure -that I have no intention to prove myself to others. How is it going to change as I approach 70? I have yet to learn! More probably I keep on challenging myself and stay positive to follow a healthy lifestyle.
Someone in my office, when she learned of a colleague’s birthday, always said, “Is it a five or a zero?” I guess we all tend to think of it that way to some extent. And it’s not a useless habit. Using a landmark as a time to review the past & contemplate the future is a worthwhile exercise. But the older I get (I am 72), the less I am fretful about the aging element. That’s for a couple of reasons: one, I was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor at age 46, told I was lucky: I could live another 10-15 years, so anything beyond that feels like a bonus; two, I have not yet lost any energy or interest. I moved into a retirement community at 70, one that provides lifetime care when you need it, so the average age is about 85. I found myself saying frequently, “I’m only 70.” That, too, gave me a new perspective, as did the amazing new neighbors who are active and intellectually fascinating.
I spent my 70th birthday on a bike ride that took me to the Suwanee River state park in Florida. I was few days out from completing my second bike ride across north America. I got my first serious bike when I was 51.
What I hope to say with all of this: try not to worry. If you decide what your goals are, and make them a bit flexible and realistic, there is nothing to fear. None of us will be around forever. Would we rather spend whatever time we may have fretting about the inevitable changes that come with age (I have serious knee arthritis, but also a genius physical therapist), and how fast years can pass? Or maybe just taking each day/year and making it the best day/year we can?
Hi Tracey! Followed some mutual connections to discover your writings! This is fabulous! You are eloquent, and on point! And this IS a vital life issue; all my research into fitness and old age, connects likelihoods of loss of fine motor skills, loss of all muscle forms, higher likelihood of falls, osteoporosis, and the general decline of the metabolism placing a hard cap, on how much free energy is available: and the inevitable result being a very high probability of incapacitation, extremely limited mobility, which must be budgeted, and spent on easy to no-challenge survival maintenance movement, and, of course, the horror of broken hips, etc. My Father had a stroke, and his ability to stay upright is compromised due to brain damage, however, for every other senior person, I believe, that, in order to stave off all of these issues, what is life or death, mobility, or bed-rest, capacity, or limitation, comes down to the resistance, & strength training, proper stretching, and the full range-of-motion physical movement practices, like Yoga, or, I think Tai Chi or such provide….if you manage to keep the smallest muscle groups well conditioned; not the gross groups such as quads, biceps triceps etc but the little ones responsible for things like torsion, twist, etc if those groups are well attended to, then, you will NOT cascade into any of the negative complications. When anyone visits a gym, it is ONLY the unfit, the inexperienced, the not knowledgeable, the ones who will damage their body, who will not achieve any of their goals, etc whose idea of a fitness regime is high effort, and maximal throughout. It can be VERY interesting to watch some of the most advanced body builders, when they are focused on training only one, very specific muscle group, to see how much time it takes them to arrange for that groups range of motion to be moved through, and how very little weight these ultra-pro guys require, when you get down to training the muscle groups that give us balance. Getting rid of the mindset that anything more difficult, challenging, effort full, that we are likely to fail at, and assuming that that is where all of our growth is locked up, is a mindset to be eliminated in EVERY area of life, not just fitness. So, good on ya! I knew I felt proud, and priviledged, and unduly blessed, to have you be one of the most regular contributors at the group we mutually attend, but learning about these facets of your interests has taken my appreciation for you, as a person, to a whole new level! You go, girl! You deserve every success you can master.