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Getting older, cleaning out the garage, and changing up sports and recreation

Runcarla

Veteran

A chance e-mail from a local outdoor outfitters has set off another round of household editing. The e-mail invited folks to bring in old/unused gear (bikes, camping equipment, kayaks, canoes, etc.) for a sale/swap. The store would handle the sale and you would get 80% cash or 100% store credit if your items sold. DH and I sold our commuter bikes for store credit. We have decided to sell the cross country and downhill skii equipment at the next sale/swap.

Before we moved 'south' we had access to miles of cross-country trails on our doorstep, and a ski hill 20 minutes by car. DH biked to the golf course 2km from our home, and I biked to work during the summer. Now, we live in a very hilly area that is not conducive to commuter biking and the climate doesn't support winter sports. The bikes haven't been used in 3 years, and the winter kit in 5. DH volunteered he would rather take a beach vacation than a ski vacation in the winter, and I'm loath to risk a tumble on the slopes at 58. We're not sure on the camping equipment. DH used it for field work and I sometimes assisted. He thinks he might volunteer. I no longer want to sleep on the ground!

I am keeping (and riding) my beloved road bike, and DH is golfing a minimum of 3 days a week. We take long walks every other day year 'round. I weight train and swim regularly at the local YMCA, and sometimes drop into a spin or yoga class. Sports and active recreation has always been important to me and DH, but we are ready to leave some of the more vigorous (and risky) activities behind (with no regrets) - and make more room in the garage!

Was there a time/age when you made a conscious decision to step away from a sport or recreational activity? If you camp, boat, or participate in sports - have you changed things up from when you first started? Has the 'urge to purge' spread to your garage?

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26 replies

Latest reply was from Joy

Anonymous

My garage is a hot mess! Everything that doesn't fit in our little house goes in there, and I'm constantly purging it.

I constantly add new hobbies, athletic and creative- and buy related supplies. Then I don't use them as much as I thought, cause I can never find teachers to improve my skills! I think I'm addicted to being in flow state, where the thing is just challenging enough but not overhard. If I don't have new energy or inspiration, that hobby (and related stuff) gets put aside for the next new to me thing! It may make me seem chaotic, but the different hobbies build on each other. Playing music helps me with dance, balance in yoga helps with SUP, color study for fashion helps with room design, etc.

Anonymous

It seems every decade marks a change in what sports and recreational stuff I participate in. I was a competitive golfer and curler for all of my teen years, and up to around age 35. Having a child meant that curling had to go : it's a 2 hour evening game in the midst of winter.....often late at night too. Just didn't work. Golf became a sport for the wealthy and those with a whole lot of leisure time. I had neither the money (after my golf pro dad died, I lost that ability to play wherever and whenever i wanted - for free) nor the time. Skiing stopped when I was in my late 40's , for the reasons you mentioned (fear of broken bones, plus cost of a ski trip ...etc). I was also a really good recreational runner, and that too had to stop as I got older and my knees couldn't handle it (around 50). I still have my golf clubs and will likely never part with them (until I'm carted off to a care home) and I hope that maybe one day in retirement, I can take up that game again. When we moved last month, we got rid of lots of random sports equipment that I doubt I'll use again : skates (I don't dislike skating but will be just fine if I never have the occasion to go again) , my old tennis racquets and shoes (if I ever have the elbow strength to play again, I want a new racquet anyways - ha) , skiis that we kept hanging on to, etc etc. Now? It's all about retaining muscle and bone strength. Weight training, walking, biking ( I LOVE biking) and perhaps pickelball or tennis will be my activities going forward. I'll be just fine never camping again (we also gave away all of that stuff, tent included , when we moved) , and although I love to be in the lake, getting myself into a swimsuit is a mentally debilitating exercise. Our new condo has a swimming pool, and I love the IDEA of floating around and cooling off on 30C days, but we'll see how that goes.....

Anonymous

I gave up downhill skiing a few years ago mainly because the slopes are always crowded with people who don't know what they are doing.DH and I had a number of non-experienced skiers who ran into us because they did not know what they were doing. One guy actually caused my DH to break his ribs, which put him out of commission for a long long time.

We also gave up roller blading. There was an indoor rink not to far from us, but then they closed and I really did not want to roller blade in the street.

Other than that DH and I still bike, I play tennis when I can, he plays golf and volleyball (though not competitive volleyball anymore; only recreational since he is over 60 with a bum knee), and I workout at a gym with a trainer.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

I haven’t used my very expensive downhill skis & boots since my back surgery.
That was about three years ago

Pat_P

I gave up horseback riding about 15 years ago. I never really recovered mentally from a bad fall that fractured my pelvis and was struggling with fear of falling again. Although riding had been a huge part of my life, at some point I just decided I needed to let it go. It was sad, but I knew it was the right choice.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

RunCarla, you are a wise and active dynamo. I'm impressed.

I enjoyed everyone's stories. Some of you are really sporty!

Up until the age of 22, horses were my LIFE. Classic British equestrian only. I competed in dressage and showing, and was on a horse or with a horse every spare moment of my life. Fashion career took off and that was that. No more horses. I want to ride again at some point. Horses are my second favourite animal on the planet. VERY close to my heart.

I did a lot of spinning in the '90s, at a cycle lab with professional cyclists and trained with heart rate monitors. It was fun and hardcore. Then we moved to France, and that stopped.

We moved to the US and I tried a few spinning studios here and there. But I haven’t enjoyed spin classes in the US, so I stopped.

I've always been an urban walker and dog walker ...

Six years ago I found yoga. I LOVE yoga. It's my thing, along with walking everywhere because I live in the city and barely drive.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

YES. We also cleared out our garage because we moved from house to loft this year - and now don't have a garage!

Barbara Diane

Veteran

What’s our garage missing? Cars
I used to jog slowly, not much gear there. I would like to hit tennis balls but my elbow doesn’t cooperate. I do have craft supplies I expect to use again sometime. My garage has too much memorabilia.

Anonymous

Angie - interesting to read how spin classes /culture differ in NA vs Europe .

JAileen

Veteran

A few years ago I gave away my ice skates after my sister in law fell ice skating and really wrecked her shoulder, and needed surgery. And even then, she wasn’t 100 percent. I was never a great skater, but always enjoyed it, but decided the risk wasn’t worth it.

Anonymous

I miss horseback riding! I used to go a lot as a teen, but can't afford to go often anymore

Janet

(website)

Veteran

LOL, I ditched rollerblades many many years ago after a fall that I later discovered (after literally months of lower back pain that took years to fully subside) had likely busted my tailbone. I could not sit back properly in a chair for the longest time.

I have golf clubs I haven't used in over 10 years. We should sell them. I only played maybe 3-4 times a year for maybe four years. My husband used to play a lot when he worked more in the corporate world.

But I've never been athletic. I still find it surreal that I managed to train and run three half marathons (a few years later that seems almost impossible -- running distances became more difficult after my hysterectomy). I do a little of a few different things, and when something becomes inconvenient or I don't enjoy it anymore, I move along. I actually really enjoyed the brief time my husband and I played racquetball, but he didn't have much time to play at that stage in our lives, so we stopped.

I now have a Peloton in our basement, which is great for being able to get in a workout even on days when I have a lot of other stuff going on, or when the weather is lousy. Since I got back from my trip, I've either gone out walking in the woods, swam in our pool, or worked out on the Peloton every day. I also want to get in a good bike ride outdoors too, but we seem to have already leaped into hot summer weather and it's not even June yet. Sigh.

But anyway, yes, I want to do a good garage cleanout when hubs is back home next week. I can see a few things that need to go, even without looking hard. Golf clubs, dog crates, boxes of crap that my stepson left, bags of donations for the animal shelter. That's a two-day project right there.

Anonymous

Think we need a garage clean out challenge!

taylor

Veteran

I really don’t engage in anything anymore that I can get hurt at. So , NO
Water skiing , roller skating with the grand kids etc.
I have always been a power walker, but winter brought that to a crushing halt.
I have noticed that I just don’t have the upper body strength that I had when I was a young mom, you know , carrying the baby in the carrier , and purse /diaper bag , all while pushing the grocery cart and wrangling the toddler . My arms/ upper body , seem so weak, so I’m working on that with weights.

Style Fan

Veteran

I did aerobic classes in the 80s and 90s. Loved it. I stopped because the studios kept closing. Then I got into videos and started using weights. I did these 3 to 5 times a week. I moved into Pilates in the early 2000s and did that until a car accident in 2007. I stopped Pilates because of a neck injury from the car accident. Mr SF and I started doing Yoga together in 2004. We had both gone to Yoga on and off since we were teens (flower children). We have been dedicated Yogis since then. I walk a lot and Mr SF walks, bikes and swims.
I have thought about adding some weights to my fitness routine. Who knows I might do it!

rachylou

Veteran

Sorta... I stopped a lot of things... but in my thirties, lol. I stopped riding when I fell off a horse and fractured my tailbone around the time Christopher Reeves broke his neck. I stopped with my commute-by-air job because I got this idea that my chances of dying in a plane crash were sky-rocketing I flew so much. And finally, I stopped riding roller coasters because maintenance seems so bad on them these days. Back to travel, I have no desire to travel at all anymore: I don’t want to die in some ‘foreign unpleasant place with hostile natives’... like Wyoming... or Reno. Lol. Basically, I’m too old now to be able to afford death and want to die at home. Lolol.

Ok. Well, and I developed a bit of vertigo as I got older.

Jane

Veteran

I love my bike! I never thought of myself as a big cyclist but I really do enjoy it. It does somehow still seem a big thing to go and get out on it, so it isn't deeply ingrained as a habit, but almost so. I do worry about coming off and so haven't yet got clips, but that would be really good to get to use those (without the fear of falling). I have just ordered some very high vis gear to wear whilst cycling.

I have toyed with the idea of a Pelaton bike. I would love one but I am worried I might go off it in a few months. That said, I very much enjoy this online community, so I am thinking I could probably enjoy the Pelaton community too.

anne

Veteran

I enjoyed playing netball* as a teenager and there are plenty of opportunities to play now as it's one of the biggest participation sports in Australia. BUT it's really bad for the knees so I don't.

*similar to basketball but no bouncing and a lot more stopping.

Joy

Veteran

A move and downsizing means one has to get rid of so much stuff. DH and I walk a lot outside in good weather, on a treadmill in bad. We got rid of bikes, they were not comfortable anyway. We also donated all our camping stuff. We no longer want to sleep on the ground.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

The last house I lived in that had a garage was my childhood suburban home. And the last (and only) garage I cleaned out was my parents', after they died.

I've never been athletic. So in some ways I'm the opposite of some here -- I probably do *more* now in my older years than I did in youth!

At different ages and stages, I walked to school, rode my bike around, climbed trees, made up little dances, took ballet lessons. Liked to skate in winter, but not figure skating. Just skating around. Liked the water, but wasn't a strong swimmer. As a tween, I liked to ride, English style. A bit of jumping. Not serious like Angie because I was only able to do it for a few years. (My mum stopped the lessons after she saw me fall!) Basically, no sports.

From young adulthood on, I've always been a big urban walker. That's still my main form of exercise. I also hike/ walk on trails.

For the last 8 or 9 years I've also been working out with weights (although I have not been doing so for the past few months and need to return to it).

During the same period, I also took up "running" (and I have to put it in quotation marks, because I'm so slow that my Fitbit tracks the activity as "elliptical").

I used to commute by bike, years ago, but I don't have a bike now. Considering getting one again in the new climate. I do sometimes go to a spin class.

And I still ice skate when weather permits.

I also practice yoga intermittently, although admittedly, I am more "off" than "on" these days -- need to find a teacher I really like.

I do worry about the ice skating. A fall would not be good. I suspect it will be the first thing I let go of but I don't feel ready for that yet.

cjh

(website)

Veteran

A pre-Title IX girl, I barely did anything sports-related when young, but took swimming, circuit calisthenics training and folk dancing in college, did aerobics and Jazzercize and walked when my kids were young.

I started lifting weights around 17 years ago after reading about how it improves bone and cardiac health, at a time I was between jobs and pretty blue. It also improved my emotional outlook and I’ve never stopped, though have had a few breaks of a month or two.

I started running shortly thereafter, because I didn’t want to be “old” when I turned 50. The combination of weight lifting and running, with some doses of rowing machine, stationary bike, biking and hiking, seems perfect for me. I’ve had some bouts of plantar fasciitis and IT band issues, and possibly a broken arm from a trail run fall (never had X-ray), but have not yet been deterred from running.

DH plays golf (weather permitting) and pickleball several times a week, also bikes and sometimes runs with me. His main exercise when our kids were young was on a Nordictrack ski machine - that piece of equipment was a rather hard one to get rid of.

The activity we have given up is motorcycle travel. For ten years, we rode (I was the passenger) with another couple on weekends and longer trips, including the Blue Ridge Parkway, and around Lake Superior, but the man of the couple became vision impaired and couldn’t ride. We sadly sold our motorcycle a couple years ago, which gives us a little more garage space.

anchie

Veteran

Never had a garage and was never sporty - so nothing to clean out or give up. I do have a bike and love to ride it, and that is about it. I hope to be like my aunt who is still riding her bike everywhere at age 83.

Anonymous

Regarding cleaning out the garage, it happened recently as my DH decided he wanted to epoxy the garage floor (that happened today). I told him that the garage floor looks too nice to put anything but our cars on it. Luckily he got rid of 20+ years of what I call garbage (he calls it stuff he might or might not need). He got rid of 1 generator (the one that died after Hurricane Sandy) and the other one he will sell soon as we got a whole house generator last year. Also found a ton of toys (my DD is over 25) that we gladly donated and an insane amount of old towels (he calls them car towels - no one needs 50+ car towels unless you wash cars as a business) I dropped off at the SPCA. Now he needs to use up the 10+ bottles of whatever there is in there (all opened and half used).

Bonnie

Veteran

We purged the garage 6 months ago when we moved to a home with a carport so that's done. We left the pool stuff for the new owners or donated it to the Salvation Army. As for sports, hiking has been my main activity and I find that I am slowing down. Steep accents are not comfortable for me so I try to find easy to moderate hikes these days.I was doing yoga until I started seeing a yoga therapist last year who started me on a program to improve my posture. I had never had back pain before but now I do and I think it must have been the exercises she had me do. I still do a few gentle yoga poses at home for balance and arm strength but am afraid to try a class because of my back. My mats are waiting in a closet for me to get better.

Laurie

Veteran

Also being pre Title IX, I did not do much in the way of organized sports as a kid. There were the couple of summers that we dredged up enough girls for a 3 team softball league. I hated it! I got so nervous at bat. I did synchronized swimming in the summers from age 10 through high school, but that was less about exercise and more about the performing.
I started running seriously at age 20 toward the end of college, and it was my main and constant form of exercise for 34 years until arthritis got me and I had both hips replaced. I cycled in my late 20s, and rode a couple of double centuries with my Dad (who was about my age now at the time). Between the hip surgeries I started cycling again, and trained for a century. I had a bad spill a couple of summers ago that involved breaking my helmet and an ambulance ride, so I've been a scared cyclist ever since. Since back surgery last August, I decided not to risk it with the road bike, at least not this year. I've been working so hard to get back in good condition, I do not want to risk a debilitating injury.
Giving up running was incredibly hard for me. I walk now - try to get 3 or 4 walks of at least 4 miles in a week. But running was my stress release, my church. Nothing replaces it. I took up yoga after my 2nd hip surgery, and have been completely dedicated since 2016.
I also used to ice skate a lot as a kid. A bunch of families went every Wednesday night. We kids would go alone on Saturdays. Somewhere in my 20's a roommate stole my nice figure skates, and I've never gotten another pair.
Our garage is a mess. A total mess. One of the biggest things my husband and I argue about. When it's clean, I feel joy.

Joy

Veteran

DH and I decided not to keep our tent or camping equipment. The Boy Scouts were thrilled to get it. In our 70’s, we no longer want to sleep on the ground or do hiking at higher altitudes. DH has had a lot of heart problems and open heart surgery just a year ago.