W<\/span>hen we see athletes competing on TV, no matter the sport, we\u2019re watching more than just the competition. We\u2019re witnessing the culmination of years of physical and mental dedication. The result of bodies and minds being pushed to the limit. Countless days of, \u201cI don\u2019t want to train\u201d only to train. Turning down invitations to go out with friends, avoiding foods they might love and viewing pain as a hindrance rather than an excuse.<\/p>\n Those decisions, and they are decisions, are what determines success or failure.<\/p>\n As we get older, and our bodies change, there\u2019s little choice but to adapt. But that doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re still not making decisions. Choices that are as applicable to world-class athletes as they are those looking to strive towards, or remain, being fit and healthy.<\/p>\n Over the years I\u2019ve completed 28 ultra-marathons, three Ironman competitions and hiked or cycled many thousands of miles around the world. Including a recent 3,000-mile cross country bike trip which I am currently preparing to repeat. As a 66-year-old grandmother I know I\u2019m not the norm. But I also know that the training decisions I make today aren\u2019t much different than they were when I was competing.<\/p>\n Here’s what I keep in mind that allows me to continue doing the things I love.<\/p>\n Setting realistic goals and expectations is crucial. All athletes need to \u201cwalk before they run\u201d and no one rolls out of bed and runs a marathon. Reaching our goals, even if it\u2019s just daily walks around the block, gives us the motivation and confidence to extend our goals. Incremental success builds self-esteem and maintains momentum. And consistency delivers both the physical and mental fuel to keep us going. Soon, exercise becomes something we want to do instead of feeling like we have to do. That\u2019s a breakthrough.<\/p>\n Specific goals, in the form of events or adventures, keeps training and exercise purposeful and can have more impact than just setting an arbitrary weight loss goal. The main reasons people give up their exercise resolutions is a lack of motivation, not seeing instant results and boredom. 30 minutes on a treadmill is one thing. 30 minutes on a trail is another. So mixing up our routines keeps it fresh. And whiAdd Post<\/a>le some prefer to exercise alone others find doing it with groups or friends can offer the additional motivations they need to say on track. I find a mix of both to be the most beneficial.<\/p>\n Hurdles are inevitable in training and life. How we respond to those hurdles is what dictates outcomes. Let\u2019s say we\u2019ve been taking daily walks, and feeling better, but days of cold rain or snow is in the forecast. Do we take those days off and lose our momentum? Or do we overcome the hurdle knowing that when we\u2019re finished, we\u2019ll be proud of ourselves and glad that we went?<\/p>\n The Greek philosophy of Stoicism encourages creating purposeful hardship to build resilience, negate fear and strengthen our minds and bodies. All things that are at play when overcoming hurdles. The reality is that working out, in any form that will benefit our bodies, usually isn\u2019t comfortable. But it is manageable with the right mindset. Thinking like an athlete allows us to acknowledge and embrace discomfort without losing our focus on our goal. It takes practice but it does come. And the benefits extend far beyond just the physical.<\/p>\n I know that I\u2019m not as fast as I was 30 years ago. I won\u2019t beat my personal records. But that doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t set new, attainable goals that will drive my training. Now my goals are motivated by things that keep me excited and engaged.<\/p>\n Recently I was able to achieve my goals of hiking 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago trail, 250 miles on the Via Alpina trail in Switzerland and successfully summitting 19,000-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro. Wanting to be immersed in these locations, and take in the variety of lifestyles, was what motivated me to get out of bed every day and train. Investing the time and energy now, so we can fully experience and achieve our goals later, is a form of delayed gratification that can pay big dividends.<\/p>\n But what I\u2019ve found in my mid-60\u2019s, that wasn\u2019t as prevalent in my younger years, is a sense of gratefulness. I\u2019m grateful that I\u2019m able to exercise. I appreciate being able to \u201csuffer\u201d on the bike or when I\u2019m hiking in the mountains. Because I know that physical discomfort is temporary but the benefits last. It hurts me to see younger people not always taking advantage of their health. But it fills me to see older people develop an \u201cathlete\u2019s mentality\u201d and reap the rewards of their decisions.<\/p>\n Because when it comes to personal accomplishments, age truly is just a number.<\/p>\n Tips to build resilience, stay consistent, adapt with age…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[216,218],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-summer-2026","category-spring-summer-2026-columns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17232"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17515,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17232\/revisions\/17515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Setting and Reaching Goals<\/h3>\n
Staying Motivated<\/h3>\n
Overcoming Hurdles<\/h3>\n
Adapting to Aging<\/h3>\n
Laurie Singer (M.S., LMFT, BCBA) is a licensed Psychotherapist and Board-Certified Behavior Analyst who heads the long-established Laurie Singer Behavioral Services<\/a> in Camarillo, CA. The author of \u201cYou\u2019re Not Crazy<\/em>,\u201d her second book, titled \u201cRise Above<\/em>,<\/a>\u201d chronicles the successes and failures of a senior endurance athlete.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"