The longest month…

There’s something about February… It just seems to go on forever, and at least here in the midwest, is pretty relentlessly frigid and gray. Compared to last year, my activity days on Strava are way down. The biggest, most active of our dogs and I are doing shorter, less frequent hikes than we did last winter. In short, I haven’t yet reversed the sedentary trend I lamented at the end of December. We bought a treadmill at the beginning of January, received it three weeks later, discovered it was too heavy to move on our own and had to hire somebody to help us get the heaviest part – the motorized bed – to the basement “gym” just this past week. I assembled it last night and intend to turn this month around starting today. I can still reclaim my rhythm!

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Meanwhile, I’ve found plenty of stories to inspire me. First, there’s 73-year old “Igor” whose ease and fluidity on his longboard make it look like he was born skateboarding (or at least born slalom skiing!). I can’t even count the number of times I watched this Instagram clip.

Then there’s 73-year old Stephanie Walsh, who dances with the energy and endurance of someone a quarter her age, and probably MORE enthusiasm.

There’s also the relay team comprised entirely of over-70-year old runners (including Jeannie Rice and Gene Dykes, both featured here before [also both 73-years old; what’s up with the magic number 73 in these links?!]), who completed the 200-mile Hood to Coast Relay – the first in their age group to do so.

And this profile of track and field standouts, 87-year old Florence Meiler and 90-year old Gloria Krug. Both took up their respective sports in their 60s, and both are still breaking records! Krug says, “I just wish I wasn’t getting so old so fast—I like this stuff…” And she adds, “The main [message] to anybody is, ‘Don’t quit.'”

Lastly, check out this super-simple, mostly low-impact bodyweight routine. It requires no equipment, and very little room! In our funky little 1918 home, where the basement ceiling is so low we can’t do an overhead press, space matters!