This summer season I decided to practice some personal care by starting to walk each day. Although I started off slowly, I’ve gradually been able to work my way up to over five miles each day. Yesterday, I achieved a personal record, with over ten miles logged in my walking regimine.
Several summers ago, I started the summertime habit of walking each day. Once school started back, I stopped walking and in retrospect, got a bit lazy. When summer vacation from teaching roled around this year, I made a commitment to myself to start walking again.
I’m fortunate in that our fair city has plenty of places to walk. By far my favorite has been the local university that I attended both as an undergraduate and graduate student. I plotted a course that enabled me to log exactly one mile with each lap. I also will venture from the university to our town’s new “City Walk” and walked to our downtown area and then back. This walk encompasses about three and a half miles.
While I’m walking, I’ll many times listen to music and/or audiobooks on my ear buds that are connected to my phone. And then again sometimes, I’ll just listen to the sounds of the surroundings. So not only am I getting in my physical exercise, but clearing my mind and learning new things as well.
Thus far, I’ve logged over 225 miles since Memorial Day. This week, I’ll have more mileage for the week than at any other point. The devices I use like “Map My Walk” and “Fitbit” help me to stay motivated since I’m very much a numbers-oriented person.
The big challenge will come in August when the school year starts back. While I realize that I’ll log quite a few steps in the midst of my teaching day, I’ll still plan on taking at least one walk each day outside school hours. I’m looking forward to teaching again, but this time around, I won’t allow working to stand in the way of my continued commitment to walking and taking care of myself from both and physical and mental standpoint.
David Lee
David Lee 