Total for nine weeks – 280.84 miles Average per week – 31.21 miles
I sometimes don’t have anything particular to write about, but still feel like writing. So here goes another edition of my meandering thoughts on this Friday morning…
GRAND TOTAL AFTER EIGHT WEEKS – 236.34 miles Average = 29.58 miles per week
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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
On Memorial day of this year, fresh off another year in the classroom, I decided I need to start walking again. My A1C numbers were a bit high and the doctor mentioned that exercise would help. Today I marked an important milestone, with just over 200 miles since I made that decision to start walking.
A couple of summers ago, I had gotten into the healthy habit of walking. Last summer I didn’t put in many miles at all. This summer, I once again decided it was something I needed to do, both from a mental and physical standpoint. At some point in my walking today, I passed the two-hundred-mile mark for the summer and would like to say I’m proud of myself.
Most all of my walking has been at Southside Park in nearby Conover and Lenoir-Rhyne University, my alma mater. I usually have two sessions of walking each day, one in the morning and one in the evening. During my walks, I listen to music, podcasts, and audiobooks. I use the “Map My Walk” app on my phone to keep track of my mileage. Since I’m a numbers guy, I also have a chart that I keep in my journal of my mileage numbers each day.
One of the things I really had as a goal was to lose some weight and that has been somewhat discouraging. I started out at 226 pounds and through the seven weeks I’ve been walking, have only lost about four and a half pounds. I had hoped the pounds would come off quickly, but such has not been the case. At one point my weight did drop to 218, but even then it wasn’t coming off as quickly as I had hoped. My daughter reminded me yesterday that muscle weighs more than fat and that my slow reduction in weight might be due to increased muscle mass.
The past week or so has been hot and humid and that makes walking a bit more difficult, but I also realize this might be the period where I’m most likely going to see the results I want to achieve. The Candian Wildfires have also lessened our air quality, but I really don’t feel myself struggling because of it. My decision to quit smoking on February 25th has also helped immensely. Two years ago when I was walking, I was also smoking and I can really tell a big difference this time around in terms of going farther and not getting so winded.
So the walking will continue as the summer continues its course. I’m thinking that when school does start back in August, I will most definitely want and need to keep up the exercise regimen. In other words, I’m going to continue to walk the walk.
David Lee
Perhaps a bit of both. At sixty-four years of age, I value both. I’m not one of those who seeks long distance travel adventures, but instead things that are of interest closer to home, like business ventures, interim teaching positions, and the like. Security can be fleeting and I work each day to try to make myself secure from a financial standpoint, but also perhaps more importantly, from a mental standpoint. So there you go!
Life has a way of sending difficulties our way and from time-to-time it appears it’s just one difficulty after another. But does the Universe have something else in mind as we weave our way through life’s ups and downs?
I recently listened to a podcast by Marianne Williamson in which she asserts that the Universe proceeds forward according to its Divine design. Just as one fertilized egg cell develops into a fetus, as a seed planted in the ground begins to grow, we as humans can realize a large portion of what happens in our lives is following its natural course.
I can think of two examples in my own life where the person/event that happened was certainly not by my efforts or design. The most recent was a business opportunity that I came upon quite by accident yesterday. I was going to an antique mall about an hour away and when I looked for the place in my OnStar system on my car (I had been there before), another antique mall pops up. So I figure it geographically would be feasible to go to both places.
I saw there were several vacant booths in the “unplanned stop” on my route and I inquired of the owner if they were available. I have a large inventory of signs that are basically just taking up space. She said the waiting list was quite long, but if I was interested, she had some wall space she was looking to fill and could work me in there. I left without giving her a definite yes or no, but in the time since then, have decided to give it a go.
Did I plan on visiting the other antique mall? – No. Did I plan on asking about available space? Also no. But the way it’s worked out, I’m on Thursday of this next week starting a small side business and who knows where that might lead. I did eventually go to the original place I had planned on going to and yes, I did buy some stuff there. But at least I now have an outlet for getting rid of the stuff I no longer want.
So just for today, I realize I have to go with the flow of life. There are certain things, like taking care of paying bills, eating and exercising, that I need to do. But once I put my intention out into the Universe, I usually can just wait for the Universe to respond. I no longer need to stress or strain over what I have to do with matters that there’s a Divine design behind.
David Lee
I recently went to a local park along the river that has plenty of walking trails. They are color-coded and not being sure which one would be best, I picked the “red” trail. Somewhere along the way, and no, I’m not color blind, I took a wrong turn and ended up on a totally different trail. I reasoned that life can sometimes be that way and decided to share my experience.
It was an eighty-degree day and the humidity was making it seem much warmer. I had decided on this Sunday afternoon to visit a nearby park to try one of its many walking trails. I took my camera along with me, hoping to get some good nature shots along the path. One of the trails paralleled the river and along that path, I got to see a bald eagle for the first time.
Along this chosen trail, I literally came to a fork in the road. I even took a picture of it to share with a friend. I took the left-hand side and thought it was going to keep me on my chosen path. But such was not the case. The red markers became blue and yellow and I didn’t feel it wise to backtrack to correct my navigational error. So on the trail not chosen, I continued.
I used an app on my phone to keep close watch on the continued progress, but it seemed I was getting farther and farther away from where the trail would eventually end. There were signs with a phone number on them you could call, I’m assuming for situations just like this. But my ego was not going to allow me to admit I had no clue where I was headed. I just kept the faith that I would eventually end up where I had parked my car. Two hours, and 3.9 miles later, I made it back to my starting point. My shirt was sopping wet and I realized that I needed to be more mindful next time there were forks in the road to be taken.
Life can be this way as well. We can have a path that we’ve chosen to be on. We can set out with the best of intentions to chart our courses through life. But sometimes we make choices that send us along another path, one we didn’t intend to take.
I look at the life choices I’ve made over the past couple of years and have to know that at those points in time, I did what I thought was best. But in the process of living life on life’s terms, things ended up in a much different place than I thought they would. And I was left to be aware of what had transpired and decided what to do next. Sometimes the changes in the course were due to my own actions, and sometimes the behaviors and actions of others. But change they did and change they will continue to do. It’s up to me to take a step back and consider the next best course of action.
On yesterday’s hike, I continued to move forward, knowing full-well the path would lead me back to where I started. I couldn’t dictate the course, I just knew I needed to say on it. My life with its many twists and turns, will send me on “alternate journeys” that I did not intend to take. But I must stay the course and finish the race. And above all else, not give up hope.
“Keep the faith and trust the journey.”
David Lee
When school was officially out for summer and I faced a time when I didn’t have to work, I figured I needed to once again start walking. Although it was difficult to get back in the swing at first, as time progressed it got much easier. I then got to the point where I very much desired getting out and walking at least once each day, sometimes twice.
It took two short walking sessions to make me realize I needed to get a new pair of walking shoes. The ones I had been using were pretty worn down and so getting a replacement was no longer an option. I didn’t go all out as far as a high-dollar shoe, instead settling for a pair from Wal-Mart. And they seem to be working just fine. I also found out that wearing socks is a necessity. One recent walk without those convinced me they are a necessity.
Since I’m a numbers guy, I’ve kept track of my mileage each week and here are those stats:
Grand Total Thus Far – 132.31 miles
I don’t have an particular mileage goals in mind. I know the walks will get tougher as the summer temperatures begin their steady climb. I was blessed the first several weeks with mild temperatures, but as the song says “The Heat is On!” and that’s of course to be expected.
While I walk, I’ll listen to music, podcasts, and audio books. This is to help clear my mind of negative thinking. There have been several times my ear buds have lost charge and I’ll just walk to the sounds of nature. Speaking of nature, I see quite a few squirrels on my daily walks,,,several rabbits,,,birds flying and flitting around,,,,and today, for the first time, a chipmunk.
I wish I could say I’ve lost a lot of weight over these past five weeks, but such has not been the case. I know muscle weighs more than fat, so I’m looking at it from that perspective. I did note on a recent doctor’s appointment, my blood pressure was at a normal level for the first time in a long while and I think that’s a direct result of walking.
Walk, walk walk,,,,It’s a good thing!
David Lee
David Lee 