From the age of 22, I started to take serious sports. I started going to the gym; I did workouts at the gym to strengthen my back muscles because I had scoliosis. I also practiced swimming and also running to 7 or 8 miles. And to this day, I maintain this routine; I can run times a week and do the gym twice. I also bought the best treadmills under 500, not expensive, just to run when the weather is bad outside. In addition to sports, I also have a fairly balanced diet.

For all the serious distance walkers, joggers and the runners in the group as well...here is an IDEA for a fitness and fun GOAL:

The Honolulu Marathon (Second Sunday in December) makes a wonderful winter break for pretty much any of us feeling any of the restrictions of "winter." This is the most "OPEN" marathon in the world, as it has NO CUTOFF for finishing and the aid stations are fully staffed for upwards to 14 hours !!!!! It starts at around 5 am and the first few miles take the participants through downtown Honolulu and then out to outlying suburbs before finishing again along the beach and near the Zoo with a huge park to relax in afterwards. There is also a "Mayor's 10k Walk" which you can opt for instead, but....if you are regularly walking an hour or so a day...or even frequently YOU TOO could finish this full marathon. And you MUST FINISH to get the event shirt here!

These days I am a Finish Line Volunteer keeping the finishers moving and not clogging up the finish line for later arrivals, so I would be there to greet and congratulate any of you that decide to come out of the cold and spend a few days in...Paradise in December.

I started have knee problems in my mid 20s, so I switched to biking which I much prefer. I should add I ride a recumbent bike which is much more comfortable, and faster, than my last road bike.

Until I started having back problems when I was 38, I ran five miles a day. After my divorce I entertained the idea of running a marathon. I got a book on training. "Oh, it makes no difference how old you are! You have creaky joints? No problem!" Fact is that after a couple of weeks, if you have creaky joints, or you foot soles have lost their padding, it's a problem! Instead I joined a gym for several years. Now I walk for about an hour 3-4 times a week and alternate with 45 minutes on an elliptical 2-3 times a week and have a maintenance regimen of free weights twice a week in my home gym.

Good for you! Since age 21, I have been regularly walking, jogging and running for aerobic exercise.

Studies show rapid interval training increases endurance and leg strength much faster than a steady jog.

Since adding rapid interval training to my running, I have greater burst-of-power, endurance and leg strength while hiking, too.

I do triathlons (sprint, Olympic distance, and aquathlon). I can still scoot pretty well for a 5 or 10K but I can’t run more than about 7miles at a time. Plus I have to take two days off of running after a training or race run. The ol’ knees aren’t as supple as they once were

Though I don't run much anymore - want to avoid joint damage - I still work out in some fashion ( bicycle, gym, racquetball, walking/hiking, or trykking 5-6 days, plus yoga daily. Five mile hike this morning - energizing, and gorgeous out in the woods !

Use it or lose it ...

About the same, I was a serious runner when I was young and I know the feeling of being fit. Then life gets in the way, I have been dealing with diabetes for years now. It wasn't really understood years ago and when my sugar levers where off I couldn't run. It was very frustrating. Now I am under control but I am over the hill. I still run about 3 miles a day after work. It will never be the same but I have been down as well and I do appreciate whatever I can do now a days. This bring back a memory running the Indy 500 half marathon years ago when I was not aware of my sugar issues, so by mile 11 (after running around the speed track) I was getting extremely tired and I couldn't understand why (Now I realize my levels where so low that I was not thinking clearly). There was this super cute and hot girl in front and I thought she was going to take me to the finish line (Yes, as bad shape I may have been in, I was still enjoying the view). Well, as hot as she was, that was not enough to keep up with the pace and I got to a point where I must have been so distressed because runners where asking me "Are you OK?".... I never quit, ever and that was the very first time where I had to stop and walk instead of running. I was devastated and I new (or felt) that if I would have sit on the curb then I was not going to get up again. I did finish the race walking but broke me so bad that I did stop running for years (I was pissed off also because I was told about diabetes). It took me a while to get back on the horse but was the right thing to do and I have made peace with the fact that I will never run the same, the engine gets old buddy but we gotta keep it running the best we can....

I'm into exercise, just not exactly a focus on running though.

I walk over 11,000 steps per day, does that count? That's about 6 miles.#walkingforhealth

I used to walk at least 4K a day. Then was injured in 2015 and am still struggling to recover. I can't even make it 3 blocks anymore. Very depressing. I am pushing myself to go to the gym 5 to 6 days a week for 45 - 60 minutes of aerobis, swimming, stretches and range of motion excercises. I can do some household chores again and walk a bit farther than when I got out of the hospital, but it's hard, very very hard.

I'm walking, biking, and swimming my way across Hwy 20, the longest road in the US. Not literally, I'm keeping track of my miles. It starts in Newport OR where I live and ends in Boston. I'm breaking it into chunks and gave myself 2 months to go 225 miles (half way across OR.) It's finally motivated me to exercise. I keep track of my miles on an app and map my progress because I'm a map nerd. I've been posting it on my Facebook. I'm halfway through my first goal and should finish on time!

Your post reflects one very serious risk of that level of activity. Is it possible to avoid injury issues? How?

I like to run. I’m by no means a big time runner.

Longboarding (wheels, not waves).

I took up running some years ago and was fairly devoted to short distances. The most I could manage was 5k. A couple of summers ago I was running up to 20 mi/wk in addition to 5-10 mi/wk boarding.

I've been sidelined by injury, and just now seeing how much boarding I can stand. I miss running. I also need to get back into my personal yoga/PT routine. Recently started a Tai Chi class again. I'm slowly working back toward where I was--i.e. very active, on a daily basis. With my bad leg I don't reckon things will ever be the same.