I love to hike, and live in a great area for it. No need for speed; the inclines take care of extra effort. And I can do a sensible pace, stop to take pictures or just catch my breath, and I'm out in nature.

Win win win win.

Same here. We're on a bench so whatever direction we walk, half of it is uphill. Enough snow is gone & the mud kind of dried up, so we took our first driveway walk this morning - 1/2 mile. Other than shoveling snow, that's the most exercise I've gotten since December.

I don't exactly hike but walking around town includes a lot of hill walking. I figure a step count doesn't begin to capture how much exercise I get with all the ups and downs. Even if I wanted to, and often I do, I couldn't find a route from my apartment of more than about .25 miles that didn't include a steep uphill, and I try to walk at least 4 miles most every day.

Jean

Well, most people recover from it. Although it does explain why people who are runners and supposedly at the peak of health drop dead sometimes.

I've read several posts from Mark Sissel, recovering endurance athlete. (Mark's Daily Apple.) He looks back and thinks it was insanity; a tremendous stress on the body, just to get better at putting a tremendous stress on the body.

Especially since the runners' labs were all back to normal in 48 hours. (and runners in general have lower incidences of heart disease and diabetes) But, whatever sells your story.

I'm not that cynical. This is not a one time event for such runners. They are either training for a race like that or actually doing a race like that, over and over. And they tend to push too hard and not give themselves the rest they need to recover.

Do I want to do something that does this to me? I think not.

Same here; hiking in the foothills & mountains and walking in town are my favourites. Even in town I try to stick to the unpaved paths and routes whenever possible.

In addition, I have read that the constant repetitive motions of an exercise machine are less beneficial that the constant adjustments of shifting terrain. We get more evenly distributed effort, and less strain on joints, when we are making all kinds of different moves, with varying effort.

And, of course, it is so much more enjoyable!

There was a study done that indicated people exercising in nature perceived noticeably less effort than doing the same workout in a gym. Even putting a green screen instead of some other color in front of a group of cyclists worked!

This is probably what pulls runners, but then competitiveness kicks in. The original Ironman was the result of a bar bet

I was a recreational runner in my 20s and 30s. The social aspects of 10K races, running clubs, etc. were significant. The personal goal of the marathon served, it turns out, to save my sanity during a stressful year at the office. One form of insanity for another?? Anyway, I'm still proud of the achievement--mostly the discipline of daily training in all seasons up to the October event.

I like walking, with beats in my ear, in the neighborhood or on the nearby rubberized path in the park. However, during the cold weather, I rediscovered the enjoyment of my cheap-o mini-trampoline--again with the workout beats music for inspiration. Various leg actions--knee lifts, kickbacks, side raises, twists, etc.--plus arm motions provide a good heart workout with no impact. Thanks, Glenda, for the reminder.

It's funny how workout options go in and out of style, along with their gadgets. Kettle bells, anyone?

I want a mini-trampoline. There is literally no place to put it in our tiny apartment; plus we are on the third floor, and I don't want to subject our neighbors to all the creaking which would ensue.

In winter, I snowshoe.

I agree. When I ran my marathons, I trained for and ran 4 from June 1998 to June 1999. I was going through a professional transition and shutting down a facility for my employer at the time with many layoffs. I focused on training and running the marathons, and it was a great time with much camaraderie using the marathons as a great distraction. I, too, am very proud of the accomplishments, particularly because my marathons raised money for charity as well. A win/win!

At this point in my life, I'm on a different program that works at my age and at this stage of my life. Exercise is as important as ever, and some of the cross training I discovered during my marathon experiences are a core set of my current program.

Sidelight to Rob: One of my earliest long races was the Virginia Ten-Miler in Lynchburg--then a premiere race in the country. My sister lived there, and we ran it together. It was a fun day! Tough though--up and down the hills.

I run a few field trips for people who spend most of their time sitting at desks. They often boast of their time on treadmills and step machines to prepare for a week in the Rockies. On Day 1 we gain no elevation, but walk along game trails and a dry creek bed full of cobbles and boulders. By the end of dinner they are feeling all the smaller muscles in their lower legs that they never knew they had because they never get worked out on machines. But by Day 7 they can handle boulders and 2000' of elevation gain.

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People have irrational reactions to running. If you don't want to do it, don't, but you don't need to bring up your cousin's best friend's brother-in-law that had knee surgery as the reason why.

I know three people IRL that have had knee surgery, none of them run. I know a ton of runners and they are all healthy.

Organized, recreational runs are hugely popular now. Any given weekend there are thousands of them, with hundreds to even thousands of people running each one. Those are tall odds, and you hear of very few people dying.