Monday, January 25, 2010

Walk this way .. OR .. T-minus 10 Minutes until leg failure

Today at lunch I went for a walk.  Snap decision.  Had intended to do what I normally do, sit and read, but instead I leapt to my feet (ok perhaps I got up slowly and wondered what I was thinking) and I took off outside.

My intention was to get some exercise, clear my head for the afternoon ahead of me, and generally try something new at lunch for a change.

It's a brisk mid 30's here today with snow flying in the air, just spitting, not really snowing good.  Nice day for a quick walk really.  Plus I work in what we call Old St Charles, MO.  Very historic area.  Lots of little interesting shops to look at, and I love to sight see and check out all the little nooks and crannies as I pass by.

So I just took off walking in this wonderful little area, enjoying the shops, taking interest in what they sold, all while keeping a good pace, one where I could feel it in my legs "just right".  I had a goal to walk for 10 minutes in one direction.  Kind of like swimming out away from shore, knowing I'd HAVE to "swim back" in order to get back to work on time.

Mid-way through my legs were burning nicely in the baby-cow areas.  They were beginning to wake up, mooing in confusing as to what in the world was going on.  What was up with all this unusual effort?  They are not from California and today even if they were, they weren't happy cows.

Being an old area like this part of town is, the streets and much of the sidewalks are cobblestone or brick.  In places they are extremely uneven.  This made me use lot of little stabilizer muscles to walk, keeping my pace over this brisk terrain.  Needless to say that about 3/4 of the way back I could feel my legs/calves getting very tired and I had to start concentrating to keep my balance really.  Just being careful though to make sure each step was sure.  Couldn't depend on auto-pilot anymore.

But I made it.  Twenty minutes of brisk walking gets logged on my iPhone today.  That plus eating much better today, following my new plan, will garner me a wildly successful day on my first day of battle.

It feels good to be trying and focusing instead of on auto-pilot and drifting.

5 comments:

Heather said...

Nicely done, dear. I see the ball is definitely rolling.
Hobble home soon and I'll kiss what hurts. ;-)

Cheryl Peters said...

I'm smiling. You're on your way!

Jennifer said...

I really thought this was going to end with you getting mugged. yay for a safe, healthy walk.

Rob said...

@Heather: You're kisses are always most welcomed :)

@Shaddy: Thanks!

@Jennifer: Nah those muggings happen across the river in St Louis, not here in sweet old St Charles.

Anonymous said...

"like"
~Cat