a little of this, a little of that
There’s tax stuff to do, there’s a FitBit to set up, and there’s some paperwork I need to get to. I haven’t done a darn thing.
I did, however, do another 10km walk and I’m happy to say I shaved six minutes off my time. My goal is to shave another six minutes, and then start to lengthen my long walks. I want to be able to do the 21km in less than 3hrs and 40min.
There are two experiences I have while I’m walking. One I can remedy fairly easily, and the other is tedious. I’ve found now that I have the energy to do the walk, that is I don’t seem to run out of steam before the end. But what I do find is that I get bored, and I just want to finish so I can do the next thing. This, I recognize, is my usual issue of not being in the moment. So with the walking I’ve been listening to podcasts like CBC’s Norah Young and Spark, NPR’s Terry Gross and Fresh Air, CBC’s Shelagh Rogers and The Next Chapter, NYT’s Freakonomics, TVOntario’s Jesse Brown and Search Engine, Spacing Radio, and various others. This definitely helps a lot.
The second experience is physical. I always seem to have something wrong – my hip hurts, my Achilles hurts, my foot hurts. Always something ‘effing thing. And always on my right side. It’s not a huge 10/10 of pain, usually a 2/10 or 3/10. I’d just prefer not to have it at all. I bought some compression tights on Friday and tried them out yesterday to see if they’d help with the right side pain. It could have been one of the reasons I managed to shave six minutes off my time. After walking, and this morning, my Achilles is 3/10. Not good. More stretching required.
I’ll get to my tasks this week. Really. Really. Really. Sh*t.
Tags: exercise
Shaving six minutes is pretty awesome!
I hear you when you talk about tedium. Are you walking in an urban environment? e.g. within the city? Have you thought about hiking perhaps? There’s so many incredible hikes in the Golden Horseshoe. While some can be particularly challenging with big hills, stream crossings, etc there’s also plenty that quite tame.
I find that a 10km hike in these environments has no tedium. Every step you take opens up an entirely new world of flora, fauna and vista. And the air seems so fresh compared to the city.
Yes, I’m walking east from my place to Yonge & Bloor. That’s a good idea about getting out of the city – I’ll work on that for my June and August walking program. Thanks for the tip.