I wouldn't really call training torture, as I have really begun to love the way all this exercise makes me feel. However, I have come to the conclussion there is a difference in the way the mind feels and the way the body feel, especially at the age of 54. There are days my mind is raring to go, and my body is say are you nuts. In my training schedule have tried to add several different aspects of torture. Three days a week I run/walk for 4-7 miles, one day a week I hike up and down the sand hill for 2 hours. Then it's water aerobics two days a week for 1 1/2 hours, and one day a week WE (me and a partner, who ever feels up to it), hike a mountain in the valley. The hiking is fun, but tiring, as it usually encompasses 5-6 hours of noodlely legs. When someone at works asks me why I have lost weight? I tell them what exercise I am doing and they question my sanity. Maybe I have lost it, but it sure makes me feel good. I guess this lesson in life has taught me that age is all relevant. As I will continue to lace up my shoes to hit the pavement, the water, or a mountain. After all how does one run a mile, one stride at a time, how does one climb a mountain, one step at a time!
People ask me all the time what gym I go to. My reply is, "The Redneck Gym." Being the thrifty person I am, I am not about to pay to walk or run on a tread mill, lift weights or use all that fancy gym equipment. Nor, do I want to listen all those other out of shape folks huff and puff, moan and groan as they work out. And the last thing I want to do is smell all those sweaty bodies, as most gyms smell like a mens locker room. With all these things in mind I have found my OWN gym, a gym free of charge. I like to walk or run in the outdoors, most often around the Bend Lane, for this country girl it is the best treadmill there is. I also use the exempt railroad tracks to stretch out my legs. I usually go 2-3 miles on the track skipping every other one railraod tie. As far as weights are concerned I simply pick up two heavy rocks, one for each hand and I'll lift them as I walk. I try to hike somewhere that there is a gate, and climb over it ten times, sort of a hillbilly obstacle course. Then again there are a variety of mountains around so I can take my pick as how high I am willing to go each day. The smell of cut grass, fresh rain, and wild flowers sure does beat sweaty bodies. The sights and sounds of my gym are amazing, each day I hear the crickets and frogs in the swamps. The sand hill cranes, geese,and ducks, calling for their mates as they fly off the water. Not to mention the cows bellering for their calves, the horses snorting at me, and the sheep baaing, at what to me sound like "Ba-Ba Black Sheep." There are so many sights to see and enjoy every day. Simple things such as a butterfly flying from flower to flower, a lizard scurrying under a rock, Lily pads drifting in the pond or a herd of deer running up the mountain. Sights and sounds that in this fast pace world are nice to simply take the time and enjoy each day. I suppose only a redneck-country girl would think all this is far better than a state of the art gym, but I say try it you might like it too..... 
