I used to think walking was pedestrian!
I ran or jogged, or bicycled–walking took so long.
But then we moved here to rural France, where it’s a bit hilly. As I was getting older, I started walking.
Six times a week–usually for about 40 minutes–usually the same route, which never felt the same two days running (so to speak)!
Then one day I OVERDID it–and my left knee “went”.
I stopped for a while and tried the exercise bike– but it wasn’t the same.
Gradually my knee healed and I started walking again, but less–three or four times a week.
I settled into a routine of roughly 40 minutes every other day.
Three times 40 equals 120--so some weeks I was 30 minutes shy of the 150 minutes recommended aerobic exercise per week.
Recently I changed my routine again: Now I walk every day but for less time–a little over 20 minutes.
So that ring ups the magic 150.
And I feel good on it. “Ah, that’s done!”
Exercising each day–but not TOO long–lifts my spirits without becoming a burden.
One is less likely to throw in the towel.
(Also I’m thinking of my knees.)
I’m in good company…
If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish.
~Charles Dickens
The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise and of all the exercises, walking is the best.
~Thomas Jefferson
I am a slow
walker, but I never walk backwards.
~Abraham Lincoln
To find new things, take the path you took yesterday.
~John Burroughs (American naturalist)
Thoughts come clearly while one walks.
~Thomas Mann
The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.
~Jacqueline Schiff (poet)
Robin Ellis 