Daily Walking -- Part 2

[BonzaiDuck]

So we continue this saga -- a sort of journal for progressive walking experiences -- under the burden of my COPD, legacy of some 55 pack-years of cigarette abuse.

I haven't missed a day since last Sunday. I'm beginning to suspect that the CDC recommendations for seniors, that they walk for exercise at least 150 minutes per week or a mile per day, is a bit -- shall we say? -- "Namby Pamby".

Today, I thought to skip a day and the mile. I visited friends in Oceanside, with plans to drive to the waterfront and have fish and chips or fried shrimp with beer at one of the eateries there. We had done this after my mother's death -- end of 2023. I remember it. I remember where we parked my friend's vehicle, which was where we parked today. Back in 2023, I struggled to walk the distance from the car to the restaurant, or otherwise keep up with my hosts. Today -- call it "easy-peasy".

Checked my cellphone when we returned to my friend's house, and the walking at the waterfront totaled 0.90 miles. So I really didn't skip anything.

My friend showed me his cellphone, and this morning before I arrived in my visit, he had walked some four miles. Of course, Jeff doesn't have COPD. Jeff never smoked a pack per day for 55 years. Jeff is healthy and about 7 years younger than I.

But -- and so it is -- that I've decided to try and double my daily walking distance. I have people giving me great cautions: "Oh! Don't over-tax yourself! Start out by adding a quarter mile!"

And -- this is nonsense. I've done it before. I need to take a 20-minute break before resuming the second mile -- that's all.

I've been off my Trelegy inhaler for a week now. Jeff and his wife remarked today that I had not expectorated or otherwise coughed up sputum since I first arrived at the house, and only upon a point long into our conversation at 3:30 PM in the afternoon. In other words, as second-hand experience, they noticed that my lungs were much clearer. Of course. Long conversation usually ends with a need to cough up a little sputum, or otherwise clear my throat.

I have got better! I want to see how it goes tomorrow morning when the temperature here in So-Cal may only be 60F. So I add another hour to my walking time on Sunday.

 

[pete6032]

So we continue this saga -- a sort of journal for progressive walking experiences -- under the burden of my COPD, legacy of some 55 pack-years of cigarette abuse.

I haven't missed a day since last Sunday. I'm beginning to suspect that the CDC recommendations for seniors, that they walk for exercise at least 150 minutes per week or a mile per day, is a bit -- shall we say? -- "Namby Pamby".

Today, I thought to skip a day and the mile. I visited friends in Oceanside, with plans to drive to the waterfront and have fish and chips or fried shrimp with beer at one of the eateries there. We had done this after my mother's death -- end of 2023. I remember it. I remember where we parked my friend's vehicle, which was where we parked today. Back in 2023, I struggled to walk the distance from the car to the restaurant, or otherwise keep up with my hosts. Today -- call it "easy-peasy".

Checked my cellphone when we returned to my friend's house, and the walking at the waterfront totaled 0.90 miles. So I really didn't skip anything.

My friend showed me his cellphone, and this morning before I arrived in my visit, he had walked some four miles. Of course, Jeff doesn't have COPD. Jeff never smoked a pack per day for 55 years. Jeff is healthy and about 7 years younger than I.

But -- and so it is -- that I've decided to try and double my daily walking distance. I have people giving me great cautions: "Oh! Don't over-tax yourself! Start out by adding a quarter mile!"

And -- this is nonsense. I've done it before. I need to take a 20-minute break before resuming the second mile -- that's all.

I've been off my Trelegy inhaler for a week now. Jeff and his wife remarked today that I had not expectorated or otherwise coughed up sputum since I first arrived at the house, and only upon a point long into our conversation at 3:30 PM in the afternoon. In other words, as second-hand experience, they noticed that my lungs were much clearer. Of course. Long conversation usually ends with a need to cough up a little sputum, or otherwise clear my throat.

I have got better! I want to see how it goes tomorrow morning when the temperature here in So-Cal may only be 60F. So I add another hour to my walking time on Sunday.

Do you have any grandkids?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Do you have any grandkids?

No. I don't. I only have my brother -- with his wife -- about 5 years younger than I, and my cousin (now in Florida) who is about 64. First, out of curiosity, I ask you to expand the thoughts behind your question. Second, just reading your question raises slightly my ongoing sense of anxiety over the question "what shall become of me?"

While my health seems to be improving -- kidneys, blood pressure, lung function -- the future seems uncertain now that I've experienced the years 2014 through 2023 watching my dear Moms slowly decline, from the time I had to take over her finances, to her becoming totally bedbound by early 2021, and then her decline through her death in October 2023. Right now, I am as old as Moms was in 2003. Half my genes are different from hers, so expecting her pattern of decline is itself a matter of uncertainty.

I'm going to get an appointment with the County Office on Aging here. I've been assured that they have social-work counselors who can assist seniors in managing their affairs in preparing for the time when they need the care of others. That is, they may better advise me about some time when I must liquidate my real-estate and arrange for some sort of assisted care or long-term care.

I once met a guy at the grocery store who told me he was Ukrainian -- after I was astounded at his age of 92. He seemed perfectly healthy, lucid, able to drive himself to and from the grocery. But reaching his age is 14 years in the future for me. I could be dead in five years, with no worries at that time about long-term care or anything else.

 

[pete6032]

No. I don't. I only have my brother -- with his wife -- about 5 years younger than I, and my cousin (now in Florida) who is about 64. First, out of curiosity, I ask you to expand the thoughts behind your question. Second, just reading your question raises slightly my ongoing sense of anxiety over the question "what shall become of me?"

I have thought a lot about, as you age, being healthy becomes more about making sure you can be around for as long as possible for your family, and being around for your own personal longevity becomes secondary. As a parent I see grandparents that are affected by poor health that will not get to see their grand kids grow up and for me that is heartbreaking.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I have thought a lot about, as you age, being healthy becomes more about making sure you can be around for as long as possible for your family, and being around for your own personal longevity becomes secondary. As a parent I see grandparents that are affected by poor health that will not get to see their grand kids grow up and for me that is heartbreaking.

For me, there are no "young people" -- for which I blame myself, but these were all choices I made for being obsessively focused on career success regardless of the limitations that merely existed along with it. I wasn't going to just accept those limitations and focus on other things, so I threw away the opportunities for those other things.

Having people around you or close by, keeps your mind from wandering into this morass of anxiety about the future. I don't have that sort of people or family nearby any more. You would probably agree: it's a good idea to talk to a social-work pro at the local county office, and perhaps my trust attorney -- sooner than later, anyway.

Part of my problem, but more generally an aspect for many, is how the "extended" family has declined. We grow up and we scatter to other places. We don't believe that we're "abandoning" our aging relatives because they live in a house that is paid for, get their retirement and SS and have good health insurance. But at minimum, they may grow lonely. And that's not very good, either.

I could feel sorry that I think I missed children and grandchildren because "nobody to take care of me", but these are all consequences of how I lived my life. I see others who have grandchildren and I realize what I've missed in the more selfless aspects of the matter. I wasn't thinking of that when I was burning my candle at both ends during my 30s and 40s.

I have more confidence on days when I've completed my walking regimen. Feeling healthier, being healthier and so on.

 

[pete6032]

For me, there are no "young people" -- for which I blame myself, but these were all choices I made for being obsessively focused on career success regardless of the limitations that merely existed along with it. I wasn't going to just accept those limitations and focus on other things, so I threw away the opportunities for those other things.

Having people around you or close by, keeps your mind from wandering into this morass of anxiety about the future. I don't have that sort of people or family nearby any more. You would probably agree: it's a good idea to talk to a social-work pro at the local county office, and perhaps my trust attorney -- sooner than later, anyway.

Do you like animals? Would you consider volunteering at an animal shelter to walk and play with dogs?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Do you like animals? Would you consider volunteering at an animal shelter to walk and play with dogs?

I think that's "in the cards." I've been trying to wrap my brain around actually having a pet here at home, but I worry about growing neglectful, managing the dog poop and other aspects.

But I might arrange to do what you describe. My college chum in Albuquerque was volunteering as you say, and picked a German Shepherd pup -- 1+ years -- to adopt. He's got a fenced-in backyard. I don't know how people up here in the hill manage, with their town-home condominiums and limited grounds. But it works for my friend in ABQ.

 

[pete6032]

I think that's "in the cards." I've been trying to wrap my brain around actually having a pet here at home, but I worry about growing neglectful, managing the dog poop and other aspects.

But I might arrange to do what you describe. My college chum in Albuquerque was volunteering as you say, and picked a German Shepherd pup -- 1+ years -- to adopt. He's got a fenced-in backyard. I don't know how people up here in the hill manage, with their town-home condominiums and limited grounds. But it works for my friend in ABQ.

I think volunteering at a shelter would be a wonderful idea. I have always wanted to myself but these past few years have been very busy for me. I will get there in the future though.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I should've walked this morning. I made excuses. First, I told myself, I have a luncheon with a friend at 11:30AM. [I could probably have got out on the trail at 8 AM to 10 AM]. So I'm now sort of "locked in" to no walking, because it will be too hot this afternoon.

And here's an observation. I"m going to this lunch, severely upset over the latest news about the Jimmy Kimmel suspension and Trump's behavior at the Royal Banquet. For the endorphins, it would've been better if I'd walked today.