Ride a bike? Just do your best (Cub Scout motto), it is a continum of response. Some folks will be able to do very little. My Dad (70+ ailing health) says he will be walking into the "whatever" IT is, so he can put himself out of his misery. I cant argue with that. we all have choices.

Ironwood

Ironwood is right on. The only meaningful reference is personal and internal. There is always someone else who is faster or stronger, but that is irrelevant to the important issues of being prepared as much as possible.

Round is a shape.

Agreed. What I do for physical conditioning is different than someone else's and its not necessarily for a long term bug out in a disaster. It might be I just need to get home after dropping the car off at the shop.

I'd like to rephrase the "someone is always stronger/faster" into "we all have our limitations". Identify YOUR limitations and make decisions and preparations so that those limitations doesn't kill you.

The way I see it, the difference between myself (fairly OK fit, fairly OK skill set - but no superman) and the elderly lady who can barely walk on flat pavement is more about degrees, not absolutes. Both she and I have very real physical limits. I might walk 30 miles farther than her before I freeze to death, but I'll still be just as dead if I don't respect my limitations.

The old lady and I share the need to do what-if thinking and preparations - but the specific answers will be different. Different circumstances dictates what options you have avaiable (or what options you CAN MAKE available through preparations).

I might have the "bug out in the woods for 3 days" option with my skill set, fitness level and a little preparation (gear and plans). She doesn't - so she need to place more weight into other options. Such as bugging out to a neighbour.

Another similarity is that both she and I will enjoy HUGE benefits if we do physical training on a regular basis. She might be too old to run, but she WILL be able to maintain and expand her current physical capacity - and in doing so she will enjoy so many health benefits that I won't list them here.

One payoff from exercise is that you will have a better sense of what you can accomplish. In an emergency, you will be much more confident if, say, faced with the necessity of hiking ten miles, you know that you regularly run six or so, twice a week.

A rule of thumb from my running days is that your limit is about two and one half times your normal workout distance. Thus if you run eight miles regularly, you can complete a marathon of twenty-six miles, 385 yards. You won't be moving fast, and it won't be fun, but you will complete it.

I drive a lot in a state with a lot of bad drivers, plus an Army and AF base with a bunch of 19-yr-olds with their first brand-new trucks and sports cars. Most sections of the freeway have three lanes.

The right lane is taken up by the people driving too slow and the ones getting on and off the freeway, often on their cell phones or texting.

The left lane is full of people who think the speed limit doesn't apply to them, the ones who only slow down when there is a pair of tail lights four feet in front of them, and the ones trying to outrun the red/blue lights flying along behind.

The middle lane will get me there a bit slower, but still in good shape. Getting to my destination in good shape beats most of the alternatives.

Sue