observations while walking

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Wednesday Walks Wrap Up

This is one thing I just do not understand about my psychology: Even though I love taking walks, even though I derive joy, inspiration, and refreshment from being outside, even though I feel mentally and physically better when I move my body surrounded by nature, I still often have to talk myself into going for a walk. Maybe it’s not a psychology issue, but one of physics? Either way, it is super annoying that I know all these things and still, still I sometimes have to prod and cajole and force myself outside for even ten minutes. 

That is all to say that I am very grateful to Elisabeth for spearheading another month of walking through the CBWC. Somehow, knowing that I am accountable to Elisabeth (I am 100% not accountable to Elisabeth, this is all in my head) helps me win the battle against inertia more often than not. 

October 29: 

I got my butt outside after lunch for a 30 minute / 1.8 mile (2.9 km) stroll. The sun was out, the sky was blue. I was wearing a tank top with my leggings. I passed several other walkers… all wearing winter coats, some with winter hats, one with a hat and gloves on. My body exists in a separate climate from others, apparently. 

October 30:

Today, I had a meeting with one of Carla’s teachers and then I did a strength training workout. I tried to muster some energy to get outside and failed. Some of the amazing women reading this right now manage to get a walk and a workout in every day. Every. Day. And often those same women have full-time jobs and multiple children. HOW, is my question. After school, Carla and I went to her pediatrician’s office and got our flu shots; I also got a Covid shot (Carla will get hers on a different day). I was delighted by one of the trees in the parking lot and horrified Carla by photographing it. I am so embarrassing.

October 31:

Well, thanks to my double shot yesterday, I slept terribly (my arm was throbbing) and I woke up feeling dreadful. Stupid effective Covid shot. Fortunately, I had a walk-and-talk on tap which got me outside. My 2.5-mile (4 km) walk felt like intense work, but chatting with a friend made it much more pleasant.

November 1:

Okay, yes, technically the CBWC challenge ended yesterday, but I did miss a few walks during the month, so I’m going to try to make them up. We had a busy day today of chauffeuring Carla to and from bat mitzvah events, but I managed to squeeze in a 1.7 mile (2.7 km) walk in the late afternoon. 

November 2:

Today was a busy day chauffeuring Carla to and from various sporting events. I had been hoping to do a walk-and-talk, but my friend wasn’t available. Nonetheless, I urged myself to go outside anyway and got in a quick 1.5 mile (2.4 km) power walk. 

November 3: 

You will perhaps remember my plan to keep my wake up schedule despite the time change, so I could have time to workout before taking Carla to school. Well. I have been easing into this plan by waking up at the correct time (4:21) and then not exercising. But I did meet up with my writing partner for a 3.7 mile (5.9 km) walk. Our typical walking trail is so gorgeous right now. It seems like the landscape changes daily. We each stopped multiple times to try to capture the autumnal beauty with our phones. 

November 4:

Today I got set up with my CPAP machine, which required extra driving. And then Carla had a school event forty minutes from our house. So I was in the car for around four hours. I did make sure to get outside for a quick 1.4 mile (2.3 km) walk. So many trees are completely bare right now, but others are just transforming into fall colors. There are leaves everywhere. 

A Month of Movement

I did skip a few days, and that irritates me. But when I look at the month(ish) as a whole, I’m okay with where I ended up. There are four days where I didn’t exercise at all. (October 12 and 13 also have no green exercise dot, but I was in Boston/returning home from Boston on those days and I did plenty of walking – 16,000 steps Sunday and 10,000 Monday – so I am not counting them as no-exercise days.) 

Today I have a little extra time, so as I hit post I am going to head down to the gym. I will also try to walk today, although it’s another day of lots of ferrying Carla around. I anticipate at least three hours in the car, which means there’s less time to walk while also making walking more of a necessity. 

Thank you to Elisabeth for hosting this month’s movement. And thank you to you for enduring my recaps! 

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Wednesday Walks

Lenny / Leo has discovered that if he is bothersome, I get out of bed. Today – after yet another night of terrible up-and-down sleep (I am, as you know, a shit sleeper in the best of times, but at least I had been getting a good five consecutive hours of uninterrupted shuteye for awhile there) – the cat decided that 4:45 was a good time to wake up. Nope. Not when my alarm is not to go off for another 35 minutes. I tried to forcibly cuddle him, but he wasn’t having it, and after ten minutes I released him into the hall and closed him out of my bedroom. He allowed me ten more minutes of quiet before knocking over a decorative ghost, at which time I gave up on “sleep.” 

We are nearing the end of Walktober, during which I am documenting my (not-quite-) daily walks as part of Elisabeth’sCBWC. This week I skipped not one but two walks, and on those two days I did no other movement besides playing with the cat. One of those days I went dress shopping with my child (it is b’nai mitzvah season and she has SIX to attend) so let’s please count that as SOMETHING.  

October 22: 

Nothing. I did nothing. This day is a complete mystery. Maybe I went to the grocery store? No idea. 

October 23: 

Thank goodness for my local writing friend, who helps make walking and writing feel non-optional! We did a 4.8 mile (7.7 km) walk together. It was cool enough when we started that I had to wear my winter coat, fleece-lined leggings, AND gloves. But I was able to doff the gloves and unzip my coat by the time we were done. 

October 24: 

Today it rained. I made cookies for the landscapers, who showed up despite the rain. I also did not exercise at all. 

October 25:

My husband started call today, so it was just me and Carla. I am trying to force encourage my kiddo to build strength and endurance for sports. She is not particularly excited about it. But we did do a strength-training workout together, and then I followed it up with a core workout. I didn’t want the beautiful day to go to waste, so I also did a very short half-mile (.9 km) walk and took approximately ninety billion photos of our “new” landscaping. 

October 26:

Another beautiful late-fall day! I took a longer walk today, just over 3 miles (5 km) and took a zillion photos of the same trees I seem to photograph every time I step outside. I can’t help it! The colors fill me with such joy! I did not listen to an audiobook on this walk, so I ended up composing some poems that may never see the light of day. But that’s what crisp air and crackling leaves and vibrant colors will do to a person, fill her with poems. 

October 27: 

My writing partner and I met for a 4.3 mile (6.9 km) walk this morning. The trees’ fancy fall frocks are starting to look a little frayed, but still beautiful. 

October 28:

I did a very challenging barre and strength video this morning. Leo / Lenny was quite irritated that I was paying attention to Not Him, so he made his presence known. Then I caught up with a friend while I did a 3.5 mile (5.7 km) walk outside in the sunshine. Talking with a friend is such a fabulous way to pass the time – an hour was gone before I knew it.  

Three days remain in October. Today, I meet up with my local writing friend so things are looking good for getting a walk in, and I have another walk-and-talk scheduled for Friday. It would be nice to close out this month of movement on a high note.

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Wednesday Walks

It’s another week of walking along with Elisabeth and dozens of bloggers around the world via the CBWC challenge! According to Elisabeth, this challenge is more about ten minutes of intentional movement each day than about walking… so I am going to say that this past week was a success, even though (yet again) I skipped a walk on one of the days. 

October 15:

Getting myself moving was tough today. I finally forced myself to do the teeniest little leg and back workout. It was short but challenging and that was all I had in me for the day. 

October 16: 

Today I got in a morning arm and shoulder workout and followed that with ten minutes of core exercises. Then Carla had a “surprise” practice after school, which I learned right as I was in the car line to pick her up. I did a Trader Joe’s run and then got in a 1.77 mile (2.8 km) walk. The leaves were kind of drab today, but the bare tree trunks were beautiful in their own way, as were the patterns they made on the pavement. 

October 17:

There was frost on the ground this morning! Carla was so excited; she kept insisting it was snow. She loves snow as much as I do, so I think she’s looking forward to winter. After I dropped her at school, I met up with a friend for a walk. She was having a stressful morning, so we did four and a half miles (7.3 km), stopping several times to admire the scenery and try to internalize the morning serenity. 

October 18:

Today I got in just under two and a half miles (3.9 km) and boy did I dilly dally – I could not stop ogling the trees, which were at peak color. My kid is at the point where she groans when I point out how beautiful the foliage is, simply because I do it so often. Apparently, in the car with my husband the other day, he said something complimentary about the fall colors and she moaned that he “sounded like Mom.” After my walk, I felt like I needed a little more sweat so I did a 25-minute strength training workout.

October 19:

It was pouring today, but I wanted to catch up with my long distance bestie and I love a good walk and talk, so I put on my raincoat and headed into the rain. It started out manageable, but about seven minutes in, the rain was coming down in buckets and it started to hail. Well. As long as the hail was tiny raindrop size, I decided to keep going. (The hail lasted about two minutes.) I did a thirty minute circuit (1.7 miles / 2.7 km) and chatted with my friend. Thank goodness for my waterproof jacket and airpods. My poor shoes were squelching wet, though. They took two days on the heating vent to dry.

October 20: 

Another Monday, another day I found it very hard to get moving. After lunch, I dragged myself outside and then took so many photos my normal two-mile (2.5 km) circuit took me more than 40 minutes. It was 55 degrees (13 C) and sunny with big white clouds scudding across the brilliant blue sky. The day was so beautiful, I went for a second walk with my husband when he got home from work. I really wish he enjoyed walking more – I love our strolls together. 

October 21:

Tuesday began with an incredible double rainbow against the backdrop of a rain-spattered sunrise. Carla took so many photos on the way to school, none of which did the rainbow justice. I guess some things aren’t meant to be captured. The traffic was horrible and I like to think we were all creeping along staring at the rainbow rather than focusing on our commutes. After school drop-off and a frustrating phone call, I was in a full-body clench all day, and only managed to scrape myself out of my office chair after lunch for a 20-minute 1.2 mile (1.9 km) walk. The rain had retreated, the sun was out, and the sky was blue. Our trees were still gorgeous so I snapped more photos of all my faves. We had a rainy, windy night last night so I’m expecting that all the leaves will be gone today. 

Okay! That’s a wrap on another week of intentional movement.

Hmm. Wednesdays don’t seem to be my best days for getting outside. Will I walk today? Will the leaves be gone the next time I get my butt outside? Will I spend more time yapping on the phone (I hope so)? Tune in next week to find out when I post another riveting catalog of my weekly walks!