Hello friends, this one's for you all, do add your comments, questions and lets make it interactive!!
Thanks.
I have been asked by many a friends to write about our treks While
some of them love to trek, few others , who are not familiar to sport or have not been in sport of any kind, before,
think it is something extraordinary and a ‘luxury’ affordable to only a fortunate few! And, this, I personally
think is a “myth” imagined by those few.
For people who are young,
vigorous with loads of stamina, starting with
even big treks may not mean much of an effort. (though it is possible that even
some youngsters may be unable to accomplish big treks, the very first time. ) But for those, on the
wrong side of forty, having no background in excercise or physical activity whatsoever, and already having health issues, say, like blood pressure or a
heart problem or severe diabetes or some others, a gradual approach to
trekking, may be a good idea. Of course, this is directed to people, in
general, who face normal, age-based health issues and not those who have severe health problems and are under the daily supervision of a medical doctor.
So friends in that category, you may please check with your Doctor before you
start with any such activity! Thus understand, its only good health that is necessary and "Age" is a number only and not a constraint here! To share with you all, the senior most member of our trek group, Mr. Gopal Lele, is 82 years of age and has just completed one of the most difficult treks "Rupin pass", a month ago. He continues to remain our source of inspiration. He started trekking from an age as late as 45 years.
For those in the ‘ready to begin’ category, small distance daily
walks on an everyday basis ( a morning or an evening walk in a close vicinity of home or maybe a
park) should be a good start up idea! I
know of people both young and those of our age, very static and laid-back, inspite of the fact , that they are actually fit and are capable of doing anything.
What they only lack is the “will” to workout or undertake excercise of any
kind. They would rather sit, eat, drink , gossip and make merry than undertake
to do a much-needed physical activity of any kind. Many in this category even
make excuses of having ”no time”. If
there is a will , managing time is no big deal. Waking up an hour earlier can
be one of the many solutions! thus, for those at a slighty higher age, regular body stretches under the guidance of a trainer or even a friend or
neighbour well-versed in excercise or having enough knowledge about right
postures is a good way to begin. So ‘First things first’, a few stretches and bends every morning to add
a little bit of flexibility to relax the already hardened muscles can help go a long
way.
The next is a question of “affordability”. For a
nature trail, you may really not end up spending big monies as you would
definitely have good locations in your city/town or at least somewhere on the
outskirts of town. Most people do have transport these days in terms of two or
four wheelers which can take you to these trailing spots. Few others can use
public transport like six-seaters or buses or some pooled transport to get
there. If you carry a small backpack with water and food from home, you are not
required to spend anything apart from your transport to the location. The same
applies for a one-day trek too. What you really need to spend on as ‘onetime’
and the first time is the correct footwear(available at almost all footwear
malls/shops), a cover for the rain/sun, sunscreen lotion to protect from the UV
rays, eye and heads cover and maybe a waterproof backpack /knapsack.. Of
course, the onetime purchase of these
can go for a long time, especially, for complete beginners (until trekking becomes a
regular affair).
So people this was the warm-up
for this blog beginning today J.........will
come next with details of a trek in the vicinity of my town Pune.........with
some pictures for sure..........So do work on the ‘start-up’ ..........will be
back soon..............until thenJ
