Walking is harder than it looks.
I started walking at about 11 months which was a LOOOOOOOOOOONG time ago.
You would think that I have it all figured out by now — one foot in front of the other.
No big deal.
The thing is that in my usual life walking is very prescribed:
Eleven steps from bed to shower.
Twelve steps from shower to refrigerator.
Eight steps from refrigerator to front door.
Twenty steps to car.
Sixty eight steps from parked car to door to work.
From there it is kind of a crapshoot.
The day dictates how much scrambling there is in the florescent jungle.
Then away I go in reverse.
All of these places have flat surfaces; they are very well known places. I could most likely walk with my eyes closed without a problem.
However…
In the real world it is much different.
Sidewalks are not flat, they have chunks missing and roots pushing them up. They have curbs that step off to the roadway. The roadways have cars, which may or may not stop when you are in a crosswalk. They have stop signs, which at times seem to be suggestions and not the law. Then there is the gravel that is on top of the sidewalk/roadway, slippery stuff and gritty when fallen upon.
Then there are the gazelles. You know the ones I mean — they have legs that go on forever, 6 foot strides, they blast by you, blonde ponytail swishing, in lycra and a sports bra. It can make scattering gravel seem like a marvelous idea.
And then we get to focus or lack thereof — there is a lot to see — So I gawk:
At people
At yards
At signs
At trees
At soccer games
This is why sunglasses were invented, so people can’t see me gawk. They can, however, probably figure it out from the open mouth dropped jaw and the slow shaking of the head side to side. I have no problem saying that I am just readjusting my neck if questioned.
Boredom also plays a part. When bored I talk to myself. Most of the time the conversations take in my head but from time to time the conversations are out loud for the world to hear.
Usually just musings on the day, or planning what to buy at the store. Rarely a full blown rant on the miss-justice of whatever. The kids were ever so overjoyed when earbuds came out – that way when talking to myself they hoped people would think that there was someone listening to me through cyberspace on the other end of the ear bud.
So, yes it has been a learning curve. Yes, I have been walking 4-5 miles 3 days a week. I have even added in a bit of running and this is from a woman who has always sworn that I would only run if it were raining AND someone was chasing me with a gun. It is getting easier and less of a push. It helps that my best friend is getting ready for a marathon and is willing to spend part of her training time with me. I have found that I do best on a track –
there are fewer distractions, the ground is more level. I see the same faces most days.
I have even smiled a time or two.
I do still wish that there was a swimming option. It would have been sooo much easier.
