Hello! I have now been home from State College for two days. Yesterday was a recovery day. It is amazing how exhausting it can be to sit in a room and take notes 6.5 hours a day for five days. My brain was tired! [Lin/Linda: I never realized how many names there were for what I think of as Penn State…State College is the city where Penn State is located.]
Of course, you have to factor in the many joys of visual impairment. I lugged my CCTV back and forth between the sessions and the hotel room. Used my MaxTV glasses to try to read the PowerPoint slides and struggled to find where we were in the binder of materials. Yes, it can be done and no, it is not as easy as it was when I was not a VIP.
Being an oldster with lots of experience and education did have its advantages, though. I was able to participate in discussions. I answered more questions right than I got wrong. I think I held my own with all those young ‘whippersnappers’!
Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance. – David Mamet
Back in familiar surroundings. Sleeping in my bed and eating more typical (for me) food and I am starting to feel more like ‘me’, whatever that might be. I did not exercise at all in State College and I am trying to get back into that routine as well. I did easy Zumba and yoga yesterday but got a little more committed in yoga today.
You may have noticed, as you get older things go to Hades in a handbasket. Everything – not just our eyes – seems to fall apart. If you don’t believe me, I can show you the allergic shiners I seem to have developed along with a late-in-life case of ‘spring fever’ aka pollen allergies.
One of the other things that goes straight to Hades is athletic conditioning. According to the Berkeley Wellness site, the exercise detraining effect even two weeks of detraining can lead to losses in cardio fitness. Not exercising for two to eight months can lead to the loss of all fitness gains.
Those numbers are for younger folks. In 2009 the Journal of Gerontology reported it took three months for a group of women over 65 to lose the gains they had made over 8 months. Uh oh.
So I am back to the gym. Even thinking about adding a little weight training. Why? According to Darryn Willoughby at Baylor, weight training affords us better control of symptoms of chronic conditions such as diabetes. It improves balance and posture as well as stability. Flexibility, and range of motion are improved; not to mention strength and endurance. Leading to…drum roll please…a healthy, independent and functional life! Exactly what vision loss threatens to take away from us.
Can’t get to the gym or cannot afford weights? Check first with your doctor and then try this: food, drink and other household products. A good thing to start with is a soup can. If you are ambition you can work your way up to a gallon of water, 8.34 pounds. There are all sorts of workouts online. One might be for you.
So, there you have it. One more fitness lecture coming at ya. I am not giving up yet!
Written May 13th, 2018