8 Miles Before 5

I am reminded of some song lyrics and I can't quite remember the whole song or the title, but here they are:

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to
I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am...wait a minute, NOW I remember. OK, so I'm not WOMAN, but I did walk eight miles before five in the evening and it feels great. Still, they're inspirational and motivational lyrics and they were sung decades before (Was it before she was born?) that hot country gal sang that other song they have in that truck commercial. But, I digress...

I laid the foundation for a big day by getting a three mile walk in with the dog before I picked up our son, Stuart, from calculus class. What I have found helpful for me is by getting several miles in early, I can add to that a little at a time. Once I get beyond about three and a half miles total, I just want to keep going a little more even if it means walking while I wait for the Pick Up Stix order. That's what I did a little while ago. Instead of sitting there NOT TALKING to the other person waiting (Thank you, George Carlin...) for their order, I got up and told the kid who waited on me that I would be going for a walk and I would definitely be back. Little "bits" of walking here and there add up.

I want to remind you that I'm walking as a long term strategy to lose weight and feel better. My goals for the year are to lose 50 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle. I will probably move on to bigger stuff later, but for now I'm simply walking to show that you can do it and that it produces results. However, I KNOW that billions and billions (Thank you, Carl Sagan...) of people can walk and so I'm here to encourage you and show you all the ways [strategies] you can walk short and long distances. There's nothing wrong with walking on a treadmill, but if you confine yourself to that, you might be missing out on some good exercise time in places you didn't expect.

I ran (walked?) into a neighbor and while our dogs were playing, I told him about my progress for the year and the Big Man Walking blog. He thought that was great and said that he used to run. And that is the point, really. Lots of people USED TO run. Walking is for just about everybody and as long as you don't try to prove how incredible you are through incredible feats of walking when you're not ready, walking is less likely to injure you, in my opinion. If you're not injured, you can walk and if you CAN walk, you're much less likely to say that you USED TO walk as many former runners say. (I have nothing against running, IF your body is ready for it.) I strongly suggest that you will get more exercise or at least create more long-lasting exercise habits if you do something that won't put you on the injured list. Recovery time? What if you don't have to recover in the first place? Walk. Just put one foot in front of the other. And keep track because it's motivating to see what you were doing and what you're doing now.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

(Oh, and...use a pedometer.)

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