On August 1, 2011 I was a 53 year old woman who was not overweight but not healthy physically at all. I never enjoyed strenuous physical activity. I did not like to do cardio activities because it would cause me to breathe hard and I did not like it. And I most certainly If I could at all help it, never ran. There was even an instance with a personal trainer who told me to run and when I explained that that was not something I did, I was ridiculed. Yet I still continued to avoid any type of cardio activity to keep myself from getting out of breath and perspiring.
I started taking regular walks at about age 40, the same time my knees started giving me problems. As what happens when we age, the leg muscles weaken and do not hold their elasticity as when we are young.
It began slowly. For the most part I was not in pain but some days I’d falter when trying to go into a crouching position or when trying to stand from a kneeling or crouching position. There were times when I could only climb up one flight of stairs and my knees would be painful. My knees also began making what I called a “ratcheting” noise. This was a painful sounding noise that happened when ever I’d bend in any position.
Even though I detested any sort of cardio activity that caused me to become out of breath, when an opportunity came up to lead a water aerobics class at the community pool for the disabled I decided become a water aerobics instructor. The cliental of this facility are recovering from injury and or are disabled so I fit right in as an instructor. I could pace my classes to suit my own level of cardio endurance and the exercises that I demonstrated were a lower level of physical activity that was accepted by my clients. Exercising in water has quite a few benefits but for myself I found that I benefit from the no impact movements. Staying cool while working out is also a bonus (although you can still become dehydrated). Water exercise also offers resistance to movement. It is as if you are carrying weights all over your body when you move and bend in water. I could tell that If I missed a day at water aerobics my knees would feel poorly, be stiff and just feel weak. But if I kept up my 3 day a week attendance my knees felt a little better. However, out of the water I still had a general weakness and aching in my knees whenever I tried to do even the most benign activities. Was this to be my life now? Fifty-something and only able to do the most minimal activities? It just didn’t seem fair.
My son is an Ironman, which is a tri-athlete that competes in competitions of swimming, biking and running in succession. My daughter is an athlete who enjoys running, hiking, as well as strength training and has a wall of medals from all of her marathons. When I would get together with those two it was like they had discovered a secret language that only they spoke and understood.
“I PR’d last weekend.”
“My heart rate monitor fluctuates if my skin is dry when I put it on.”
“Staying upright at intersections while clipped in is difficult”
“Use the foam roller on the hips.”
“Dynamic stretches to start, static stretches to end.”
“Have you seen the new Asics, Saucony, Mizuno (insert name here) shoes?”
I was more than a little lost but I thought it was great that they had running and marathons in common and enjoyed sharing their experiences.
Then through his Tri-Club running group, my son began a program for beginner runners or runners that had experienced and injury and were just attempting to run again. “Hmmmm,” I thought. Even though I have never actually enjoyed running I really wanted to try it out! I wanted to experience the excitement and the physical benefits of running that my kids were always talking about!
So, in October of 2011, I started “running”. I use quotes here as what we started with could hardly be called running. First off, our group walked for 1 minute. Then we “jogged” for 5 seconds. Yes. Five seconds! This was continued for the course of the first meeting. Over the weeks we progressed from 5 seconds to 30 seconds “jogging” then 60 seconds “jogging” with intervals of walking between. When our group finally reached 2 minutes of jogging I felt as though I had accomplished something. In my mind I was a runner.
Over the next few months in my son’s run group I gained stamina, strength and endurance and truly became “a runner” with very little knee discomfort. As a result of running I feel as though I know my body better and can tell that the running, even though it is an impact activity, has actually helped my knees to recover from whatever weakness made them painful. I have been running every week since starting and my leg muscles are so much stronger and my muscle tone is much better than it ever has been!
This past weekend my daughter and I went to Yosemite National Park and I was able to hike Mist Trail up to the base of Nevada Falls. The climb is listed as strenuous and it was very difficult to do but I made it up 3.4 miles of steep granite rock steps and back down again for about 7 miles with no pain and no injury to my knees/body.
Thank you Bobby!
I started taking regular walks at about age 40, the same time my knees started giving me problems. As what happens when we age, the leg muscles weaken and do not hold their elasticity as when we are young.
It began slowly. For the most part I was not in pain but some days I’d falter when trying to go into a crouching position or when trying to stand from a kneeling or crouching position. There were times when I could only climb up one flight of stairs and my knees would be painful. My knees also began making what I called a “ratcheting” noise. This was a painful sounding noise that happened when ever I’d bend in any position.
Even though I detested any sort of cardio activity that caused me to become out of breath, when an opportunity came up to lead a water aerobics class at the community pool for the disabled I decided become a water aerobics instructor. The cliental of this facility are recovering from injury and or are disabled so I fit right in as an instructor. I could pace my classes to suit my own level of cardio endurance and the exercises that I demonstrated were a lower level of physical activity that was accepted by my clients. Exercising in water has quite a few benefits but for myself I found that I benefit from the no impact movements. Staying cool while working out is also a bonus (although you can still become dehydrated). Water exercise also offers resistance to movement. It is as if you are carrying weights all over your body when you move and bend in water. I could tell that If I missed a day at water aerobics my knees would feel poorly, be stiff and just feel weak. But if I kept up my 3 day a week attendance my knees felt a little better. However, out of the water I still had a general weakness and aching in my knees whenever I tried to do even the most benign activities. Was this to be my life now? Fifty-something and only able to do the most minimal activities? It just didn’t seem fair.
My son is an Ironman, which is a tri-athlete that competes in competitions of swimming, biking and running in succession. My daughter is an athlete who enjoys running, hiking, as well as strength training and has a wall of medals from all of her marathons. When I would get together with those two it was like they had discovered a secret language that only they spoke and understood.
“I PR’d last weekend.”
“My heart rate monitor fluctuates if my skin is dry when I put it on.”
“Staying upright at intersections while clipped in is difficult”
“Use the foam roller on the hips.”
“Dynamic stretches to start, static stretches to end.”
“Have you seen the new Asics, Saucony, Mizuno (insert name here) shoes?”
I was more than a little lost but I thought it was great that they had running and marathons in common and enjoyed sharing their experiences.
Then through his Tri-Club running group, my son began a program for beginner runners or runners that had experienced and injury and were just attempting to run again. “Hmmmm,” I thought. Even though I have never actually enjoyed running I really wanted to try it out! I wanted to experience the excitement and the physical benefits of running that my kids were always talking about!
So, in October of 2011, I started “running”. I use quotes here as what we started with could hardly be called running. First off, our group walked for 1 minute. Then we “jogged” for 5 seconds. Yes. Five seconds! This was continued for the course of the first meeting. Over the weeks we progressed from 5 seconds to 30 seconds “jogging” then 60 seconds “jogging” with intervals of walking between. When our group finally reached 2 minutes of jogging I felt as though I had accomplished something. In my mind I was a runner.
Over the next few months in my son’s run group I gained stamina, strength and endurance and truly became “a runner” with very little knee discomfort. As a result of running I feel as though I know my body better and can tell that the running, even though it is an impact activity, has actually helped my knees to recover from whatever weakness made them painful. I have been running every week since starting and my leg muscles are so much stronger and my muscle tone is much better than it ever has been!
This past weekend my daughter and I went to Yosemite National Park and I was able to hike Mist Trail up to the base of Nevada Falls. The climb is listed as strenuous and it was very difficult to do but I made it up 3.4 miles of steep granite rock steps and back down again for about 7 miles with no pain and no injury to my knees/body.
Thank you Bobby!
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| PS Why do I look like George Washington ? |
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