Walking Forum
Main Boards => General Walking Discussion => Topic started by: GnP on 14:46:23, 28/06/20
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Apologies if this has been covered before . I love walking but I have noticed as I age , that less is more . When I was in my thirties I wanted to walk further and faster . It was an ego thing I suppose . I know this topic may have been covered in some ways , about distances walked etc , but I`m thinking more along the lines of how others feel the following few days after a challenging walk (or not)
I am now 65 and one thing I notice more nowadays is that further is not always better for me in terms of mental & physical well being , especially two days after the walk . I can sometimes have a drop in mood around two days after those natural highs I always get during the walk and the natural high stays with me for around 36 hours or so . Is it withdrawal symptoms after the endorphins disappear . ? ???
The heat especially of late , has more than likely had a big influence on how I feel physically after a walk of 12 mile or more . It seems to me that my personal optimum distance is at the moment is around 10 mile depending on ascent etc .
I am not after starting a more is best or not thread . I`m just curious what feels best for others & if their moods change during the following few days after a walk . :) O0
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My body has been the problem for walking any distance since my forties, but since physio advised walking to strengthen back I've gone from only being able to walk a few miles, struggling with leg movements going up hills and steps and basically legs seizing up, to the number of miles I never thought possible.
So I have been able (until current knee issues!) to lengthen the distance I can walk, which allows routes to be undertaken i.e. on Pennine Way, that would not have been possible. I am not in any way a fast walker and enjoy stopping to look at views and behind to see where I've travelled. Aware some Pennine Way walkers are just after challenging themselves rather then enjoying their surroundings.
I still get a massive satisfaction from being out in various landscapes, challenging myself to plan then undertake walks and with meeting people from all over the World, but have not noticed any change in mood afterwards, unless I've struggled too much on route, but that's more down to medical issues.
A couple of years ago I started to walk up Great Shunner Fell from Hardraw and met an old guy, well past 65, reading his map. We chatted and started to walk up together. He said he had heart problems, he had some seriously worrying gasping moments, but was determined to get to the top. Was a good athlete and mountain climber in 'his day', realised his time was up for doing such strenuous walks.
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I find that these days our preferred walking regime is veering to little and often. We used to walk 2 or 3 times a week, weather permitting. Each walk usually involved a drive of between an hour and an hour and a half to get to the start. By the time we had finished, driven back, showered etc the day was virtually gone. These days we tend to walk any day the weather is favourable but travel less distance to get to the start and walk perhaps 2km less then we used to. That way we can bang in a walk and still have time for other things.
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I personally find that my desire to hike is as strong as ever, although the Covid-19 problem has knocked me sideways. I'm very lucky that I do not have any muscular, arthritic, or any other problems or issues at the moment. Mind you I do wake up most mornings and think is this the day when I'll get my comeuppance? It hasn't happened yet but I'm sure it will, but I just don't know when. I only have one small problem which I just 'walkthrough,' after a day or two my toes 'burn,' its a most unusual pain but after 24-48 hours it just goes away! Over the years I've also had a few days when I just put up my tent, get in, and just 'sleep off mood' but in the mornings I've always managed to bounce back. Mornings have always been the best time for, the evenings can be but not always.
When I've hiked the first couple of days for me are always the worst, it really takes me a while to get into a rhythm. I also never feel at my best at the start of a hike and if I'm going to feel miserable and under-motivated it will be in the first 2 or 3 days.
I've learned to live with it, I recognize that no matter what it's going to happen anyway, and nowadays having this personal knowledge is also what helps me to get through it. I'm also one of those who prefer longer walks (7 days or more) rather than short ones and I'm not a keen day walker either. That's one of the reasons why I run each day.
My greatest problem when hiking is usually after a week, personal loneliness moods can set in, one of the reasons why pubs are important to me, I like to go in one each day and make the effort to talk to people. My worst memory was walking in the Pyrenees and not seeing one human being for 4 days! That was really depressing.
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I have never been one for breaking records, even personal ones.
Doing a physical job in the evenings also stops me doing longer walks. I don't want to turn up at work tired, that is how accidents happen.
So I tend to do between 6 and 10 miles, preferably with a coffee break.
Last two weeks I have not been out on any adventures, had too much work related stuff to deal with now that there are more and more holiday makers down. Hopefully in the next week or so we should have workable systems in place, that will free up some more time.
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Injuries over the past few years have limited my walking. In my mind I can still walk for long distances, I just need to get my fitness back and lose the weight I have gained. My big problem is trying too much too soon, which can lead to injuries being aggravated. I am still a fast walker, but am not interested in setting any records.
I find it takes me a bit of time to get into a walk and it can be tempting not to start. However, once I am on the move, I am always glad I made the effort.
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I think you seem to be walking the sort of distances we did a bit over a decade ago, I am now 77 never really went into challenges and the longer distances were usually a shorter route being extended by and urge to find out more.
I have friends, who got into walking by supported a friend through a bad period of grief. The more I reflect my experiences, I realise that the mental health issues that can be aided by being out in the countryside are as if not more important than the physical, which can be cloned in a gym. I grew up have freedom to roam about 2000 acres freely, half of it unofficially. To find fences is to find queries and queries need solutions, as my areas become reduced with age, the map in my mind come up with different conundrums
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I took up walking as my main leisure activity just under 4 years ago and a few months after I'd stopped smoking. I'd been walking for pleasure for a few months before that (with hourly fag breaks), but when I was given a GPS watch (as an early 64th birthday present) I began to walk further and faster, and I explored further afield and mapped my walks.
I'm very definitely one for breaking personal records. I like to think that if I can do something this year that I couldn't do before, then (in a sense) I'm not getting older just yet. Last month I walked more miles and recorded more steps than in any previous month in my life and 2 weeks ago I walked further at my maximum cruising speed than I'd ever done before. At the present time, I'm fitter than I've ever been. I know this can't go on forever, but I intend to keep it going for as long as I can!
I don't restrict myself to any particular style or type of walking. In non-pandemic times, I like to go to a faraway part of Kent at least once a week to explore new paths and places. Last winter, I completed my target of walking every single road and path in my nearest town (and most in my next nearest two towns too). I like to walk my local country lanes, farmland and woods just as much as I like mountain- and hill-walking in Scotland, Wales and national parks. I like to see how fast I can go over long distances, but I also like to amble and enjoy spotting and identifying wildflowers, trees and crops. I've never understood why some seem to think that walking is an 'either / or' - as in '...challenging themselves rather than enjoying their surroundings'; surely it's entirely possible to do both!
I think that variety is important and that if I were to do only one kind of walking then I'd get bored and probably do something else instead. Targets, aims, new things to try and new places to go are what motivate me. Becoming fitter (or at least maintaining my fitness level) is probably even more important and I've very recently decided I'd like to get into trail running (or perhaps fast-packing or whatever a combination of walking and running is called!). It might never happen, but I've started to run a bit (something I thought I'd never do in a million years), and my first pair of trail running shoes should arrive tomorrow... :)
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What feels best for me is little and often, slow and steady. I do feel better, mood-wise, after a full day walk, ideally in the wilds of nowhere. This feeling lasts a couple of days. Wears off about the same time as my aching leg muscles too ;D
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My walks have got longer and I think this is partly because the more I've walked the more stamina I've built up and partly just because I so much love walking. But I don't set myself challenges. Enjoying the walk and seeing the landscape are for me what matters, and I'm happy to do short walks as well as long ones.
I usually set off with a sense of adventure, and walking often brings me life-enhancing feelings of freedom, peace and exhilaration. Sometimes I wish I could just go on and on walking. The feeling of well-being fades on the journey home but if, when I get home, I'm able to have a quiet, chilled out evening, the sense of well-being reasserts itself. But by the next morning it's worn off.
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GinAndPlatonic, I really agree with you. It is not about distance or speed but what good you get out of your walk.
Personally, I'm not at all interested in speed (never was), but I do admit taking some pride in covering long distances (covered at leisurely pace), especially on multiday/weeks/months walks. However, for me the main driver is always to be in nature and admire all the beauty around me. I do like the exercise, but for me walking is mainly a means to an end: to admire nature and the beautiful planet we live on. For me, this also includes wild camping and enjoying the starry skies. A holistic nature experience. :)
My most enjoyable walking is thru-hiking long distances, continuous over many weeks/ months. Not for the bragging rights, but it is simply the best way to experience the gradual change in landscapes, habitats and even to see the seasons change. Therefore, my best walk ever was also the longest: my 2650 miles Pacific Crest Trail Thru-hike in 2018, 5 months from Mexico to Canada, through deserts, mountains, forests and spanning 4 seasons (from spring to first snow of the season). Report of this (and other adventures) can be found in my signature.
Having said that, also short walks can be very rewarding to me. As you go slower, you have more time to take in and admire what is around you. More time to concentrate on that singing bird, that beautiful flower, that stunning butterfly... You just zoom in more into what is around you :)
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For me, the only way to be intimate with the world around me is to walk.
It may have been OK when I was young, to drive past everything but it doesn't work for me now, I feel the same about cycling, on my bike I'm 'here' in this millisecond of time and then I'm not 'here' because I am now somewhere else. Walking for me is experiencing the world in my personal space in slow motion. I like it, it suits me.
I remember the time when my wife and I used to 'do' package holidays, we would just be 'onlookers' to other people's lives and the countries they lived in and then 14 days later we would fly back. For us, a most unsatisfactory experience and once we recognised our problem we stopped going on package holidays.
I always remember one of my neighbours (she moved house a few years ago) who loved to tell people she was going somewhere special and loved to tell everyone where she had been, but HATED actually being there! The reason why she hated being 'there' was because she couldn't tell people where she was going or where she had been!
I also like hiking because the 'experience' I get from it is much more varied than any package holiday I've ever been on. No two days are ever the same.
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Obviously everyone gets their enjoyment for different reasons, that's life.
Have a friend who loves the challenge of cycling up steep hills; Alps, Pyrenees..
When I ask what he'd seen or taken photos of he just looks at me blankly, it's the challenge!
Same guy walks past a beautiful garden and doesn't notice anything!
Went up tower of cathedral, all he was interested in was getting up first!
For some people that's the way it is, for others they like to take in and enjoy their surroundings and nature, that's me. :)
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I'm a bit like that, when I have cycled out of my city, the 'pleasure' of cycling is going uphill and getting to the top. Downhill is easy and it's over quickly, no fun in that!
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This year, I've walked more than ever, because of the use it or lose it principle. I've been putting on weight, and I decided I didn't want to be limited by my fitness and weight as I get older.
I've lost a little weight, and I'm a little bit fitter but I am having regular aches and pains in the muscles/bones of my left foot. It may be this which slows me down in the future.
I don't get deflated at any point after a walk, I only get down if I think I'm not gonna get out again for ages.
As for walking itself, I've been out this morning, just 3 1/2 miles. Took me over 2 hours cos I kept stopping to check out butterflies, creepy crawlies, plants and flowers, birds, anything.
I love being outside. I love the views, the hills, the openness, and I love finding out and learning about the massive variety of wildlife and plants that we have.
I hope I can still get out when I'm 75 and beyond. 🤞
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There are a whole host of reasons why I walk. Because I can, is the obvious one. O0
I have been fortunate to cycle and surf all across this fine planet of ours in former years. I can't surf any more and going back to cycling I just know I would not get the pleasure from it I did once, due to the traffic on the roads.
Some walks are merely training for other planed activities. The Dartmoor marathon being the main one. Fortunately/unfortunately I am one of those people who love simply training hard.
Some walks are to get away from the world and clear my head of work.
Some walks are to enjoy a day with others.
Every walk I am aware of what is around me even at full tilt, I always have a camera device with me and almost always stop and take pictures of interesting things and animals that I come across, even when racing. Let's face it I'm never going to win any speed endurance prizes, so I may as well stop and take in every experience I can.
The list of places to walk, things to climb and the knowledge I still need to acquire is long though and time never waits. ;)
When I was young I climbed and walked and was free. Now I'm approaching retirement I am experiencing that all over again and it is a wonderful thing. Thank you walking for reminding me.
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This year, I've walked more than ever, because of the use it or lose it principle. I've been putting on weight, and I decided I didn't want to be limited by my fitness and weight as I get older.
I've lost a little weight, and I'm a little bit fitter but I am having regular aches and pains in the muscles/bones of my left foot. It may be this which slows me down in the future.
I don't get deflated at any point after a walk, I only get down if I think I'm not gonna get out again for ages.
As for walking itself, I've been out this morning, just 3 1/2 miles. Took me over 2 hours cos I kept stopping to check out butterflies, creepy crawlies, plants and flowers, birds, anything.
I love being outside. I love the views, the hills, the openness, and I love finding out and learning about the massive variety of wildlife and plants that we have.
I hope I can still get out when I'm 75 and beyond. 🤞
Great to hear. I don't want to 'tell anyone' anything, but as a personal anecdote going to a chiropodist and getting a gait analysis really helped reduce my foot paint and allowed me to buy better shoes which support in the right places. If you have some space cash, some also do custom inserts (you can move them between shoes) which massively help with reducing foot fatigue and the resulting aches and pains.
Understand this is a bit of a luxury, but to my mind investing in your long term health and reducing those minor injuries which sometimes develop to larger ones is well worth it.
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I walk to get away from it all and I love the solitude and wildlife. I have company in my dogs as I do walk alone sometimes. Sometimes I can walk for miles and not see anyone. At the moment I have the joys of a dodgy knee so have not been up on the moors for a week. I dont set goals or times. I do a walk as there's something I want to see on route. I love being outside all weathers except the heat .
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I`m just curious what feels best for others & if their moods change during the following few days after a walk.
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The heat especially of late , has more than likely had a big influence on how I feel physically after a walk of 12 mile or more.
It might depend on your situation.
For instance if you are working, particularly in an uninspiring job, you might boil it down to a binary choice: being at work or being out on the hills and trails. Shortly after a good satisfying walk you're back at the daily grind and likely to bottom out on the mood curve.
We are retired and have other interests as well, no daily grind to lower the mood. A good backpack, even a short one as they all need to be these days, does elevate the spirit for quite a long time afterwards.
The recent heat is a big negative, after my 15-mile walk to a hospital appointment last week in 29ºC, parts of which were quite enjoyable, I was unusually glad to arrive back home.
We still enjoy mountainous walks enormously, they are just a lot shorter and take longer now. We learned years ago the great value of pottering about at a slow pace exploring unknown pockets in the mountain areas.
It's still satisfying to do long daily distances on a non-strenuous trail backpack, last year I comfortably covered 27 miles in a day on Hadrian's Wall trail, but I started very early and finished late, walking at a quite relaxed pace.
All these types of walking, pottering or challenging, have their place, just pick the style that suits your mojo at the time.
That's one of the reasons why I run each day.
Evidently quite a few seniors do running, but it really surprises me due to the tremendous impacts and pounding on the old joints. Maybe I'm overly cautious but I wouldn't run even for a very short distance, the risk is far too great and I'd be grounded for weeks or months if I damaged anything.
My worst memory was walking in the Pyrenees and not seeing one human being for 4 days! That was really depressing.
Bliss!. ;D
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Evidently quite a few seniors do running, but it really surprises me due to the tremendous impacts and pounding on the old joints. Maybe I'm overly cautious but I wouldn't run even for a very short distance, the risk is far too great and I'd be grounded for weeks or months if I damaged anything.
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I'm a 'senior' who has recently and carefully started to add some periods of running to my walks and naturally I've done some reading about whether running can be harmful to joints - and knees in particular. It's a complicated subject and to a large extent the answer depends on an individual's fitness, health, weight, pre-existing conditions, and so on. While running may be bad for some, it can benefit others and actually help prevent the very conditions that some claim running is likely to cause.
Generalisations are rarely helpful.
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Generalisations are rarely helpful.
There was no generalisation there, I gave my perception of it, the fact that it surprised me and that I wouldn't do it. I'm even careful when stepping off a stile these days!.
I hoped to invite informative comments, of which yours was one - thank you, interesting. :)
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There was no generalisation there, I gave my perception of it, the fact that it surprised me and that I wouldn't do it. I'm even careful when stepping off a stile these days!.
I hoped to invite informative comments, of which yours was one - thank you, interesting. :)
You're most welcome. :)
I took your comment, "...the tremendous impacts and pounding on the old joints" as a generalisation.
Perhaps you should have said: "...my old joints" (meaning yours)?
Also, the degree of impact depends on many factors - including a person's weight. Therefore, "tremendous impacts" and "pounding" might apply well to some physiques, while less dramatic terms might apply better to others. ;)
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There are some wonderful insights into others mindsets . It still surprises me how different at times , we perceive our walking , what we gain from it and how it fits into our lives .
One thing I have learned is that circumstances will always change and walking is no different . I`ve learned to get what I can , when I can from my walking . :)
It was confirmed for me the other day in the heat , that like beer , there are no bad walks just some are better than others and every day is different . (sorry about the metaphor and if you don`t like beer. ) . :)
This time last year , I had surgery and thought my walking days were over . Now with new found confidence , I am thinking about a wild camp in Wales when circumstances permit . I have camped as a teen but never on my own and never while walking . I feel blessed to have a second chance at "things" .
About thirty years ago I remember passing a child walking up Snowdon with his family . I was totally inspired and bemused , as the boy had crutches , which I assumed at the time were long term , but have no way of knowing for sure .G&P
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It was confirmed for me the other day in the heat , that like beer , there are no bad walks just some are better than others and every day is different . (sorry about the metaphor and if you don`t like beer. ) . :)
You have obviously never drunk Norwegian non-alcoholic beer (or any Norwegian beer for that matter). Also some of the fruity autumn brews are truly disgusting. In Norway, the price of the beer makes it taste even worse.
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I know all about second chances. Go for it!
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Having a stab at something again is a good thing.
Some people feel it is immature and that people, particularly males, should have grown out of it.
I still find the world/universe a fascinating place, and it is even more fun now I have more knowledge.
A few years back I made a catamaran, many people said it was not possible, but 5 sheets of cheap ply, a saw, clamps, nailgun and glue later, I had something that fitted in the back of the car (made it to fit), almost watertight, and was great fun on the estuary.
But back to the wonders of the universe, Richard Feynman had this to say on it.
I have a friend who’s an artist and has sometimes taken a view which I don’t agree with very well. He’ll hold up a flower and say "look how beautiful it is," and I’ll agree. Then he says "I as an artist can see how beautiful this is but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing," and I think that he’s kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me too, I believe, although I might not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is, I can appreciate the beauty of a flower.
At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty. I mean it’s not just beauty at this dimension, at one centimeter; there’s also beauty at smaller dimensions, the inner structure, also the processes. The fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds. I don’t understand how it subtracts.
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Ye gods. Wot yer bletherin' on about man?!
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Why not go for a good blether,
for me it is quality of way, to the Greater Red Socked Rambler as spotted by Ninthace that might be a couple of feet of misguided ploughing or an errant patch of nettles, even an neglected top rail of a style, but I sympathize with Steamy Teas breathless awe at natures wonders. Where will our wandering take us, some seek destinations, and others want ways that cover distance or physical challenge. Terrain gives us those, when the harvest is finished Mrs BWW loves to walking stubble and hear the rustle and clatter of crisp short straw against her boots, to me the wonder of her exhilaration releases endorfins that the confuse the adrenaline pumping out of the distant viewer raging, 2your off the right of way 2. Is it the panoply human experience that fascinates us, there those who look at a map and see little and others may seek a cupboard door and find Narnia beyond.
Phew now my fingers are really knotted up :-[
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there those who look at a map and see little and others may seek a cupboard door and find Narnia beyond.
Now you are talking. We have a stock cupboard at work, and when customers are allowed in, I sometimes, when we are really busy, have to go into this cupboard.
I tell everyone that I have had enough and the unknowns of Narnia are preferable.
Usually come out with some bags or flour.
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Why not go for a good blether,
Phew now my fingers are really knotted up :-[
quote : " When you think out loud you detect and explore ideas and concepts which are either unknown, or as yet unexplored " . O0
Now you are talking. We have a stock cupboard at work, and when customers are allowed in, I sometimes, when we are really busy, have to go into this cupboard.
I tell everyone that I have had enough and the unknowns of Narnia are preferable.
Usually come out with some bags or flour.
O0
A bit like life . But sometimes , just sometimes , we come out of the flour cupboard with magic in our hands ...
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quote : " When you think out loud you detect and explore ideas and concepts which are either unknown, or as yet unexplored " . O0
O0
A bit like life . But sometimes , just sometimes , we come out of the flour cupboard with magic in our hands ...
Only in Columbia.
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This is not a thread for an engineer to try and follow... ;D
Some one get me a cup of strong tea and a set square, I need order.
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This is not a thread for an engineer to try and follow... ;D
Some one get me a cup of strong tea and a set square, I need order.
A rule and compass, can do most things with that.
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Only in Columbia.
British? Or District of? ;)
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British? Or District of? ;)
The way the world has gone, any of them.
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Where
This is not a thread for an engineer to try and follow... ;D
Some one get me a cup of strong tea and a set square, I need order.
Where`s Mel . She will bring order , especially as this thread is drifting , well more like changing continents . :)
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I am interested in more posts following up the last word of your thread title. So far we have quite a few which could just as well come under the title "I walk because". It is that "but" that interests me.
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I did notice that 8) but I thought if I put the most obvious it would be met with, "Here we go again". ;D but strolling off the righteous way is rather fun and keeps me feeling young, Well enough along as I can come up an excuse that allows me not to have to leg it.
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I did notice that 8) but I thought if I put the most obvious it would be met with, "Here we go again". ;D but strolling off the righteous way is rather fun and keeps me feeling young, Well enough along as I can come up an excuse that allows me not to have to leg it.
8) it seems that any forum , like life , is organised chaos and we deceive ourselves if we think it is under our control . Leg it..? I thought you were of an age that to leg it would be detrimental to one`s health . ;)
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Yes the age of legging it successfully have passed me by, sadly. I led an unofficial visit to a girls boarding school, some 60 years ago in a one time baronial hall, as the school captain of cross country running it fell to me to lead the schools gym mistress off on a diversion, when we were ambushed through some loose talk.
Such feats are just a memory.
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But back to the wonders of the universe, Richard Feynman had this to say on it.
I have a friend who’s an artist and has sometimes taken a view which I don’t agree with very well. He’ll hold up a flower and say "look how beautiful it is," and I’ll agree. Then he says "I as an artist can see how beautiful this is but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing," and I think that he’s kind of nutty. First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me too, I believe, although I might not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is, I can appreciate the beauty of a flower.
At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there, the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty. I mean it’s not just beauty at this dimension, at one centimeter; there’s also beauty at smaller dimensions, the inner structure, also the processes. The fact that the colors in the flower evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; it means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms? Why is it aesthetic? All kinds of interesting questions which the science knowledge only adds to the excitement, the mystery and the awe of a flower. It only adds. I don’t understand how it subtracts.
My tutor at university always said that engineers were the most privileged. We didn’t need a degree in an arts subject in order to enjoy a book, painting or sculpture, but could take pleasure in these on top of what we were learning. We also didn’t have the pure scientist approach of doing something for the sake of it, but were adapting science to create something useful (and often aesthetically pleasing). Not all would agree with his sentiment, but as an engineer I think it is a good enough approximation to reality to be useful in every day life.
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Getting back to the walking :D I always feel better after a walk. It’s something that most of us can do for most of our lives and it’s free, what’s not to like? I used to play netball but retired age 54 (old for a netball player!) But I can still walk. You can walk fast or slow, long or short distances, hills or flat. We can change it to suit our age and abilities. I aim to still be able to walk 3 miles when I am 80, and I think I will have done ok.