A little morning activity

“Exercise should be done for the sake of the 

body, and for the sake of the soul.”

- Anonymous

“Hey Ted, I’m thinking about heading up the hill in the morning. Do you want to go?”

This is the sort of thing that happens when you are semi-retired, and living in a neighborhood that is on the 70% side of retirees.

While I suppose I should consider myself semi-retired, I have never been accused of being retiring…that would be in terms of my personality.

“Listen man, I think I can do it, but I have a call in the morning to Europe. It’s 9 hours ahead of us, and I have to work around my partner’s schedule…it depends how it goes…I’ll let you know.”

A little background…

Dave is my 73+ year old neighbor who keeps himself busy by playing golf, racquet ball, a little weight lifting and a part-time job in a local golf pro shop.  He is one of those guys for whom the expression ‘…slow and easy…’ aptly applies. He does what he wants to, when he wants to do it, and once having set his intention, has the single mindedness of a hungry mountain lion on the hunt.

For example, he used to be a smoker. One day, he tells me, he decided he had enough, and quit…cold turkey…that was it…done. Whatever withdrawals he went through were ‘what they were,’ but he had made a decision and he never smoked again.

He is a beer lover, and one look at his frame, somewhere in the area of 5’6” (165cm), left little doubt he had consumed his fair share. Several months ago, he made the decision that his weight was not healthy. How he came to that conclusion is unknown to me, but over the next few months he lost more than 25 pounds (11.3kg) slowly and deliberately.  Not one to look over his shoulder at yesterday, I have little doubt he will keep the pounds off.

To the point…

“Heading up the hill…” in our relationship, means bicycle riding on a loop that has come to be routine for us. It is not really an exercise event in the conventional sense, but rather a time to hangout and talk about whatever is on our minds. Our pace is actually so slow that occasionally, even some joggers – and this is absolutely true – slip past us.

I have a GPS on my phone that provides data related to speed, distance and elevation changes while on our standard, deliberate route…meaning bathrooms located in strategic places along the way – city parks, local pharmacies and such – that permit us to continue on in as civilized a manner as two very slow moving fellows might enjoy.

I turn the thing on when we head out and off when we return. Our route may vary a little from time to time, but on balance we cover 11miles (17.7km). When we get home, our average speed is typically 8mph (12.8kmh). This, of course, is faster than most folks jog, to be sure, but half of our route is down hill. For Dave, gravity makes the ride worth the effort. He loves those long, gently sloping, downhill coasting…I mean riding…sections of our outings.

There are two other things that have meaning for these bi-monthly events. The first is safety. Tucson is the second most bicycle friendly city in the United States, so a lot of our ride is on designated bike/jogging trails. Secondly, during the summer, this part of the country is very hot. It is not uncommon for our days to be 107f (41.7C) or more. The mornings, on the other hand, are generally very comfortable – high 70s to low 80s [25-29C] – so we try to get the rides started before the oven heats up.

Generally the ride takes 2 to 2.5 hours, depending on the bio breaks along the way and the conversations we have.

In my later years, Molly and I work to remain as healthy as possible. We eat foods that we know support our physical and mental well-being…we exercise fairly hard for our ages, because we know the importance of heart health and being as functional as possible…we sleep well and rest when necessary.

None of this is to say we have a “…what should we do next…” lifestyle. I continue to write and travel and speak…she is busy as a conservation steward monitoring protected State lands in our region against poachers of Native American artifacts, and sitting the board of our neighborhood association, among other things.

We have, however, made a conscious decision to become an active part of our community, something I have not done much of during the past 30 years or so. Riding with Dave is part of that decision.

It’s still pretty early here, but I was able to reschedule that European thing. I’ll wait a few more minutes and then give Dave a call.

It looks like we will be “…heading up the hill…” this morning, and yes, I ‘…want to go…”

- ted