Exercise Has Long Been Way of Life for Couple

After nearly 40 years of marriage, Dick and Carol Ranger of Dana Point finally have a life style that’s in style.

It’s the same one they’ve always had.

Way back when it was considered unladylike to exercise, Carol wasn’t afraid to sweat. She ran, swam, sailed, skied, biked--”I was a real tomboy,” she says.

Dick, meanwhile, was a jogger “way back before they had a name for it,” he says.

They’re both glad to see that fitness is in fashion now, even though the trend hasn’t made much difference for them. At least these days, people don’t think they’re weird.

Dick is 66; Carol is 63. They’re retired now, which is convenient because they both generally put in a pretty full day just exercising.

Three mornings a week, Carol leads a low-impact aerobics class at the South Coast YMCA in Laguna Niguel. After the one-hour class, she moves on to the weight room, where she spends about 45 minutes, mostly lifting free weights, but also using the machines for a few exercises. On alternate days, three days a week, she swims a 2,500-yard workout or runs two miles or walks three to four miles.

Dick, meanwhile, works out at home on a Nordic-Trak cross-country skiing simulator. He is somewhat limited in the types of exercises he can do since he had hip replacement surgery three years ago--no more jogging, tennis or other high-impact exercises. He also had to get rid of his rowing machine because of the possibility that his artificial hip would become dislocated. But that doesn’t keep him from joining Carol for a 25-mile bike ride at least once a week. When there’s snow on the slopes, he admits, “I cheat a little and do downhill skiing, even though I’m not really supposed to.”

A common interest in sports of all kinds was one of the things that brought them together, Carol says. They especially enjoyed downhill skiing, so shortly after they were married in 1950, they began doing 15 minutes of calisthenics every day “to get in shape for skiing.”

“We used the Royal Canadian Air Force exercises,” she says. “And we were amazed at how much better we felt. Then Dick started running, back in the days when no one did.”

Their friends thought they were kind of odd, Carol says. “Jocks just weren’t in then.”

Carol is 5-foot-3 and weighs 126 pounds--only four more than the day she was married.

“The only time I ever gained weight was when I was pregnant,” she says. (The Rangers have two children, a 37-year-old son and a 29-year-old daughter.) Dick is 6-foot-1 and weighs about 175, “about the same as he always has.”

“I heard once that many people after age 35 gain a pound a year,” Carol says. “I’m glad that didn’t happen to us.”

After being transferred back and forth across the country--and even to Brazil--because of Dick’s job with the Ford Motor Co., the Rangers decided to retire in Orange County.

“We lived in Tustin for a few years while Dick was working, and we just fell in love with the area,” Carol says. “There’s everything an outdoor person loves--ocean and mountains and everything in between, all within a two-hour drive.”

When they moved to Dana Point, the Rangers were already members of the “Over the Hill Gang,” a national fitness organization for people 55 or older.

“The idea is, once you’re over the hill, you pick up speed,” Carol says.

They joined the group’s local chapter, which sponsors weekly hiking, biking and skiing outings.

“It’s great to be able to get together with other people who enjoy doing the same kinds of things,” Carol says. (For more information on the local Over the Hill Gang and its activities, call (213) 691-0137.)

“I kind of feel sorry for people who aren’t involved in this kind of thing,” Carol says. “Why feel rotten if you can feel good? The older you get, maybe the more difficult it is to do, but the better you feel. The trouble with people who don’t exercise is they don’t know how good they can feel.”

Even when Dick’s hip was at its worst before his surgery, “I kept exercising,” he says. “It just wasn’t any fun. But I kept doing it. I ran until I just couldn’t do it anymore.” For a couple of years, he had to walk with a cane because of the osteoarthritis that was deteriorating the joint. “I looked old then,” he says.

Dick believes that his exercise habit also helped him recover more rapidly from the surgery. “And it kept me from getting overweight, which really helped because otherwise there would have been much more stress on the joint.”

The couple passed on their fondness for exercise to their children.

“Our daughter is in Spain right now on her honeymoon,” Carol says. “They’ve gone rock climbing and backpacking.”

And they’ve already started working on the next generation. “We took our 6-year-old grandson hiking in Kings Canyon,” Carol says. “It’s a great feeling to be able to share that with him.”