Keep Fit & healthy over 65.

I am not writing this article pretending to be a guru on how to keep fit and healthy over sixty five There are many more qualified than I to do this. Rather this is my experience of this phenomena which I hope may be of interest or even inspiration to those of you who have yet to get there or are at or above that tender age & given up!

I would class myself as just an ordinary guy. Retired from active farming for over 15 years, sort of semi-retired not doing any particularly strenuous physical labour.

I played a bit of golf, even joined a bowling Cub for a while, swam every now and again but generally cruised through the physical stuff. A few years into retirement I accepted a job with an accounting firm which was a nine to five and sitting at a desk all day. This was a temporary position which stretched into 12 months or so. Coincidentally I noticed a change in my weight & shape! I had never consciously been aware of trying to keep fit & healthy over 65 up to this point or even considered my fitness at all much having always taken it for granted.

After a "day at the office" I would get home about six, grab the paper and pour myself a good whiskey or a beer and sink into an easy chair until my ever loving wife produced the evening meal. This became a bit of a routine some of you might recognise! I did play a bit of golf or bowls in the weekend but this also involved "bending the right arm" in the act of consuming more liquor which probably negated any effect the exercise had.

However this change of shape & weight suddenly pulled me up. I was getting tired more easily lost a lot of motivation and suddenly did not like what was happening. Just maybe I did need to keep fit & healthy over 65!

We were living on a 10 acre block at West Melton out of Christchurch at that time so I decided to start running. I don't really know why I chose running except that I had enjoyed my rugby as a youth and did remember what it was like to feel really fit and that sport certainly involved a lot of running.

So I started running a few times round the section. High hedges on two sides prevented the neighbours from watching me running in circles as for a start I was a bit self conscious of my efforts. Sometimes I would run in the morning other times in the evening after work. The beer always tasted better after a run and no I was not going to give up life's few and simple pleasures and become a "Fitness freak".

I had a box on one corner of the section. It was 250 metres once around the back part of the section. Each round I would put a small stone in the box as I ran past, four stones to the kilometre!

I did not intend to kill myself doing this so I started of running at a pace that I could breathe comfortably at and ran a couple of K's for the first week or two. After this I just increased the number of circuits I did while still feeling comfortable. To my surprise I found that within four or five weeks I could run five kilometres this way without too much effort or effect.

I would have to be honest and declare I did not run the five K's every morning. Missing the occasional morning did not worry me but I would keep to at least four or five times a week.

We left West Melton after my temporary job finished and decided to do our big OE ( Overseas Experience ) as our children had by then all done. I was by then Sixty years young and the challenge was to work overseas and travel as well without using our capital. See our Hub "travel & Work Overseas" We had a work permit for the UK and that is where we made our base.

The problem of "keep fit & healthy over 65" ( OK I was only 60 but we were getting there) while travelling was not too much of an issue. Primarily because the work we got was for me quite physical. We used our Kiwi farming background to good purpose & I found myself fencing, building, establishing lawns etc . We brought ourselves a small car and a couple of bikes. Got some flack from the family over this as we had to use our capital .This was the only time in what turned out to be nearly 5 years away that we did.

We spent weekends exploring the countryside on our bikes or hiking so keeping fit was never a problem. Working for six months we saved enough to buy return tickets to South Africa into Nairobi and out of Capetown. Three months backpacking, sleeping in a two man tent and hitching through Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe & South Africa we were both very fit. We had a policy also re buying souvenirs which helped, " you buy it you carry it ". We did get some great stuff which were able to post home without having to lug it too far.

We repeated this, work for so many months then travel, for the next four and a half years. Travelled Morocco, South America, hitching again through Argentine Tieraa del fiego, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador & the Galapolis. A Seven day Hike through Le Pines National Park in Chile carrying 20 Kgs of gear & food tested the keep fit & healthy over 65 theory very well. We managed eight months travelling through North America Canada & Alaska, this time with a borrowed vehicle, ( and included three months fencing in Canada)

So we arrive back in NZ in 2002 fit & healthy and over 65!!

At this point we sold our West Melton property & after much deliberation brought our section, originally 10 hec, . and built our B&B Charwell Lodge.

Now how to keep fit & healthy over 65?

Running the B&B the major work after setting up and Landscaping the garden fell mostly to my dear wife Judy. I found myself wanting to run again. The road we live is a side road , no exit, and three kilometres from the turn of the main road to a farm property at the end of the road. I would run to the corner for the paper and then run on down to the end of the road and back About 6/7 klms. Took a little while to build to this but I soon felt pretty good.

Hanmer Springs is a great Village for Hiking , Biking, running etc and they have among other annual events a Half Marathon and a ten Km. run. I thought to myself, at by now the tender age of 70, I could do this Ten Km. run. So I did!! Took me one hour 5 mins but didn't kill me and after a Guiness or two I felt fine. ( You won't find that recommended in any training manuals.!!)

One thing leads to another so I started thinking about the half Marathon. I brought a book Training for Masters written by Arthur Lydiard & Garth Gilmour. Arthur Lydiard is a well known sports Identity in New Zealand. Recognised as the world's greatest running coach Arthur's Book got me thinking maybe I could run the Half marathon next year myself. If you are serious about training for any of this sort of thing I would absolutely recommend the book for a sensible and achievable training schedule.

So yes the next year I ran the Half marathon 2 hours twenty three minutes. No records broken here but my first attempt at 71 , a massage and a guiness later & I was fine.

My next Challenge is the Buller Half Marathon this weekend Feb.11th. I read another book I would recommend "Born to Run "by McDougal. As a result of reading this I have been running "Barefoot"or in Vibrams or five fingers as they are called for the last two years. Great to run in and far fewer problems with Strains or pulled muscles.

To keep fit & healthy over 65 I still run. I don't think the method you use matters a dot. You may do it swimming, cycling , strenuous walking, whatever you choose. I have a friend my age who plays regular tennis & would be just as fit as i am. The benefits are huge, just the feeling of well being and its "great to be alive " . I like the saying "we are a long time looking at the lid " so make the most of every day.

I don't take any medication, but I do take calcium and fish oil every day as does Judy who also enjoys good health. All the different cultures and lifestyles we witnessed in our travels overseas our good health , be it largely because we keep fit & healthy over 65, is something worth making an effort for and money alone can't buy it or replace it.