Saturday Addendum

Well, maybe it wasn't a totally lazy Saturday...

After my last post, I decided to go for a walk. I don't know how, but my little evening walk turned into my whole three mile power-walk.

Dammit.

I shouldn't have done that, I know. I need to start SLOW. That wasn't slow...I did it in about 50 minutes, which makes my pace almost a 15-minute mile.

It was just so nice outside...still about 800 degrees, but with a slight breeze that made it bearable. I realized as I was walking why I don't like walking at the gym...I get BORED. It's so boring and lifeless, walking on a treadmill or around a track for an hour. It's so much more interesting to walk around my neighborhood, with its myriad smells and people. There are hills, too...one long gradual hill at the beginning, one short steep hill in the middle, and a long steep hill at the end. I can do that on a treadmill, but it's just not the same.

So many other benefits to walking at home. I can take my dog. I can dance down the street if I want to. (And I did, tonight.) There isn't anybody waiting for me to get off. I can't clock every single second and step of my walk, so I can pay more attention to what's around me. Like the smells...laundry detergent and horses and grills and flowers.

So nice.

I might have overdone it a bit tonight, though. Three miles may have been a little much to start out with...on the last hill, I really had to grit my teeth to get through it, and I had to take a second once I was at the top to catch my breath. My feet also got numb, but that's pretty normal when I start walking again after a break. No idea why.

Anyway, just some thoughts. I'll continue this walking thing, I think. : )