Running, Over Age 50

Jimmy Carter Jogging

I used to run when I was in my 20s, 30s, and 40s. Then as the aches of getting older kicked in I slacked off. I always used to say to myself, "Use it or lose it." Because I have slacked off for so many years in a row, I have lost that easy conditioning. Now I want to get it back. 

     If you are like me and taking up running after age 50, the first thing to consider (besides asking your doctor, if you have health issues) is that you need to take it slow. Running slow is a good thing. Building up mileage or time slowly is a good thing. It will allow your heart and lung conditioning to keep pace with your muscle conditioning of legs and body. Slow is good. And running every other day allows time between runs to recover.
     I find it best to keep a comfortable easy pace. For me that is very slow, even slower than someone who is walking at a good clip. It's healthy to take it that slow, but it also has the added benefit of being easy on my motivation--I don't mind getting out there to run when I know it is easy and feels good.
     The important part of early training is to do the running regularly and make it a habit. Remember the saying 21 days to a habit? If you can keep up your runs for three weeks straight, it becomes a habit and that means you are less likely to lose motivation because its always harder to break a habit than to build one. Run slow, run easy, keep it fun and pleasant for those first three weeks.
     If you are training for a race or a fund-raising run, like a 5k, it would be easier to begin that training after those first three weeks. You will have a level of cardio-fitness built up. And the habit you've set is a good framework for beginning to build up the length or time of your runs.
     If you are like me, you are running to stay healthy and moving. I am not training for high mileage and and race speeds. I approach my running like I would do walking meditation. My big goals are to work towards good posture, breathing deeply, and relaxing my body. I count breaths or find markers that remind me to relax, just like I describe in the article I wrote for my website, SimpleTens, Muscle Relaxation of the Head and Back. I check in, scan my body, and relax everything. It feels good, I finish with good posture, and I want to keep running regularly.

Walking Meditation

Two things I do regularly can easily get my blood flowing, increase my concentration, and give me a boost to good feelings. One is simple— I take a nice walk. The other, meditation, takes time and needs practice but has great effects every time. I’ve discovered it’s easy to put the two together. It’s different than just plain walking, and it’s different than seated meditation. Walking meditation is controlled, thoughtful, and focused. It’s easy to learn, and likely takes a lifetime to master. However, “master” is not the right term for meditation since its really about process or practice and not  about mastery. If you’d like to learn how to do walking meditation, go to this article Walking Meditation Basic Techniques I wrote for the website www.SimpleTens.com.

I use the walks to practice my posture corrections, get my breathing going good, and for getting clear in the head. It helps me to relax all my tight back, neck, and head muscles. And it feels so good.

O, Sweet Nature in Balance

The topic of this blog has always been about nature. I feel strong connections to nature and seek out ways to bring it into my life. I do botanical illustration, as well as other art. For the last couple of years, the art has been the biggest focus, if not sole focus of my life. Well, that kind of singular focus leads to an unbalanced way of living. So now I am trying to get back to a balanced life. One which involves many different kinds of activities and people. Work, travel, the arts (music, poetry, art, dance), relationships, exercise, eating well, and nature. Those are all the things that will help to create a sense of balance and fullness of life. Joy, friendship, love, play, accomplishments of many kinds are all a part of it. To all my faithful followers who have been reading O, Sweet Nature for the art tips, this blog will expand out to other topics that I hope you will enjoy as well. I like things small, compact, organized (and natural) and so I will be writing about how to live simply. A simple, balanced, life. That's the goal.

Save Your Local Turtle

Save Your Local Turtle

Found a box turtle strolling along the street while I was out walking the dog. At first, I didn't want to move it, just to look at it and enjoy it. But despite the intelligence of turtles, I don't think it would understand how to avoid the wheels of cars. It was just outside the solid wood fence around the pond, so I'm sure it came from there. With all the rain we've been having I bet it came out to try to find a dry spot to sun itself. Unfortunately, there weren't any gaps in the fence that it could have crawled back easily. I hope it didn't have a place it meant to go to, because I picked up and carried it back inside. The only gate was not too far away, and I walked it a ways off the common trail so that it could rest undisturbed. Are you happy now, Mr. Turtle?

I'm back in the saddle, again. O, Sweet Nature is on a roll! Look for future posts about ways to link nature with simple, balanced living.

More from SketchCrawl

Sketchcrawl is part of urban sketching groups. It's organized periodically in many and various locations around the world. Groups of artists get together for a day and walk around sketching what they see.

Watercolor Tree Sketch

Watercolor is very nice for sketching. Here is a small crabapple tree, done with a few loose layers of watercolor paints. Simple and pleasant. I did a graphite sketch first. Then drew a few pale lines in pencil on the watercolor paper to act as guidelines for my washes. Mainly to remind me of where the highlights of the branches should be. A few details were added with a small brush. And then a few little background shapes, suggestive of plants or distant foliage, to ground the tree and make it seem connected with Earth.

SketchCrawl April 2011

This sketchcrawl was organized by artist Jim Stigall. A small group of artists wandered through downtown Denver sketching various scenes along the way.

Painting in Progress

This is the beginning stages/underpainting for an oil painting I am currently working on. It is a common street scene in India, at a street vendor in the marketplace. I did a lot of sketching while I was there, and then I have been doing artwork from photos since then. This is a composite from photos, sketches, and memories of various street scenes and people that I observed. People watching is always my favorite activity when I travel.

Avian Anatomy

This is a drawing of the articulated skeleton of the rufous-sided towhee.