Old Folks Daily Mileage

[cmoulder]

Wait a minute, 60 is old, folks?

40 is old for some. By that age some look like 10 miles of bad road.

Indeed. I'm 62 and don't feel "old" at all.

I was down in TN last Aug for the eclipse and was climbing up a steep section of trail (Naked Ground) and caught up with a guy also on the way up. He said he was pretty fast, too, back when he was 21 but now that he was an old guy of 41 he has slowed down a lot.

[TwoSpirits]

I don't plan on getting old until sometime around 80.

That being said, even at 55 I've noticed a lot of changes that I simply accept as the price of [some] wisdom & maturity. There are some changes that threaten and lurk around every corner, but I do what I can to avoid and/or mitigate those -- you know, eat right, exercise, and taking my Geritol every day. (It's an old commercial, kids.)

Most of us are in better health and physical shape at this age than our parents were, so comparing ourselves to them and their abilities & activities at the same age is largely useless. While I know that my bones and joints need a little more care and attention, ans that my recovery time is longer, for the most part I am as fit as I feel. If I train correctly (albeit more patiently), I could make the same miles as anyone in their 30's...just not day after day after day.

[jimmyjam]

If you want to hike longer miles, start early, hike late, take lots of breaks. I try to start my sections with a 10 to 12 mile day. After a few days I'm easily doing 15 miles. After that I can do low 20's but it gets difficult after 18 miles. I like doing 10 miles by lunch time and then taking my time and doing another 5 to 8 after lunch.

[peakbagger]

There is some pretty recent research on cardio function and older folks. If folks start doing frequent cardio in their sixties they can improve heart function and delay a loss of function. If they wait until their seventies, the heart has already started shrinking and getting less flexible and cardio is far less effective at restoring function.

[Another Kevin]

I did a 137-mile trip at sixty. I planned 8-10 mile days because I knew I wasn't in peak shape (I don't get *too* bad, I make it a point to carry a pack at least a couple of miles every blessed day). By the end of the trip, I was much more comfortable with 12-15. I didn't like getting to my planned campsite in the middle of the afternoon with nothing to do for a few hours, so I more often just hiked on and adjusted plans. All that meant in the end was that each town stop was half a day longer. Since I don't really have enough long-distance experience to do a town stop efficiently, the extra time in civilization was welcome.

[egilbe]

There is some pretty recent research on cardio function and older folks. If folks start doing frequent cardio in their sixties they can improve heart function and delay a loss of function. If they wait until their seventies, the heart has already started shrinking and getting less flexible and cardio is far less effective at restoring function.

My fitbit tells me my Cardio health is Excellent for a man my age. Its still pretty good for a 35 year old ifI change my birthdate in my profile.

[TexasBob]

One thing that happens as you age is that your maximum heart rate decreases. Your heart rate times the amount of blood your heart pumps with each beat determines how much oxygen you can deliver to your tissues to perform aerobic exercise. At 63 my maximum heart rate is about 157 bpm. When I was 30 is was 190. Vigorous aerobic exercise gets your heart rate up to 70-85% of your maximum heart rate so at 63 that is about 110 to 134 bpm. When I was 30 it was 133 to 160 bpm. No wonder I can't do some of things now that I used to do when I was younger.

[Malto]

Well, you just answered your own question. Many many backpackers are obsessed with daily mileage, some aren't. Some endurance athlete-types like Skurka overly concentrate on Miles Gained Per Day but 99% of us are not endurance athletes.

As others have said, your question cannot really be answered. Here's a similar thread you may find interesting---

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/...king/#comments

In December I went out with some friends and it took us four hours to backpack 3 miles thru a blizzard. We set up camp after 3 miles. "Verboten!!!" many would say but who's in charge of your hike, you or them??

The high mileage types like to say "you're a camper not a hiker" if you're only pulling low daily miles. There's an elitist tone with such people. But you already made your point clear: You're "not interested in hiking big miles" and "we don't care if we complete a thru in a year." Amen.

Not to be confused with the elitist tone of people such as you on the subject.

[peakbagger]

I got the full cardiac testing when I was 50 as I has some strange side effects from a new prescription. They did the dye job where they take photos of the heart and the blood vessels and then a few weeks later I did the treadmill test complete with a couple of folks with paddles at the ready. I maxed out the incline and the load. I normally don't run. A few weeks later I got to sit down with the cardiologist and he asked me what the heck I was doing there. He couldn't find any plaques or narrowed arteries anywhere. My understanding is that with most folks the inflammation in the arteries is around in the 30 and 40's and the cholesterol forms plaques inside the arteries to deal with the inflammation is a reaction to systemic inflammation. It just takes until the 60s for the plaques to break loose.

My prior doctor know I hiked and figured I was doing unmonitored stress testing every weekend