Sunday, January 15, 2017
By Marilyn Burnett
Marilyn Burnett
I’ve been an athlete my whole life, from Boys and Girls Club softball and after-school kickball to high school soccer, golf, tennis, biking, weight lifting, and finally, my true love — running. After participating in numerous 10K and 10-mile races, I set my sights on a marathon and eventually completed two.
However, not long after the second one, I hit a health bump in the road that forced me to lay off pretty much everything except sitting still. I suffered both physically and psychologically, unable to go for my daily run. It took several years for me to recover to the point that I could consider any kind of exercise again, and when I did, I was forced to accept the fact that running was not going to be a part of my immediate future. That led to a period of depression that only ended when I finally gave myself a swift kick in the pantaloons and decided I had to do something, ANYTHING except sit still for another minute. So I started walking. I grumbled a good bit the first few times because I remembered passing walkers while I was out running and thinking to myself, “What a waste of time.” Not any more!
Fast forward to 2016. Before long, I began to look forward to my daily walk the way I used to crave my daily run. In fact, I became such an avid walker that I decided to keep a journal of my times and distances just for fun. To my amazement, here’s what happened last year:
I walked 1,166 miles. I could have walked from Scottsdale to Houston!
If someone suggested that you go out and walk 1,166 miles, your response would probably be the same as mine: “Okay, you first.” But it adds up faster than you can imagine. I walk Monday through Friday, an hour a day, though if I have an unexpected day off, I often go longer or walk in the morning and again in the afternoon. As for speed, I’m certainly not scorching the pavement, but I move right along. And look what can happen.
Now, this might seem like a story about me, but it’s intended to be a story about what can be. If you’re struggling with a new year’s resolution that isn’t satisfying or if you sometimes wonder what the point of it all is, I’m here to tell you that every little bit helps, every walk counts, and those baby steps really do add up. Keep a journal of your own and see where you end up by the end of 2017. Walk on!
January 16, 2017
Terrific article. It motivated me to order a pedometer, something I’ve been thinking about for months. We’ll see how that goes. I was also motivated by a past article of yours that admonished readers that even if they did not care about their own health to think about their dog’s health and take their favorite pet for a walk. It was about 10 p.m. I looked down and there next to my desk chair was my dog. I put his leash on and we headed out the door for the one mile walk around my neighborhood block. We were about halfway when my dog stopped, stared, and started to bark. There was a javelina with two young ones near my neighbors porch light. Then, I saw several large shapes moving towards us through the desert in front of my neighbor’s porch and the shapes, about 20 yards away were heading for us. Well, my walk ended up including a quarter mile run as my dog and I fled the protective javelina. They actually chased us down the street for a short distance. Now, we will see what the pedometer brings. Might set off some security alarms. Thanks for the interesting writing. Les