Six miles a Sunday

Having got used to spending all those calories at the seaside over the previous month, I had to think of something new to do back home. I hate team sports, running and/or jogging scare me as I think I'm on the verge of a heart attack each time I jog for more than sixty seconds... So I took up walking! I thought, could anything possibly be more unassuming than that?

Actually, try googling "walking" and you'll soon be overwhelmed with all the resources available online on what kind of shoes you're supposed to wear, how fast you should walk, what is the ideal arm movement, what to eat and drink before, during and after your walking session... Most of these tips are just plain common sense. Take this one for example, found on About.com's Walking section: Your eyes should focus on the street or track 10 - 20 feet ahead. You'll avoid doggy doo-doo, find cracks in the sidewalk, spot potential muggers, and still collect the occasional coin.

What I decided to do was simply walk as much as I can, whenever I can. This newly established routine is, for one, definitely changing how I see the neighbourhood and the city I live in. There's more attention to detail, in that I now notice so many things that were previously just blurs, semi consciously perceived from the public transport I normally use. A thirty-minute bus ride to church on a Sunday morning has transformed into a wonderful 90-minute, 6-mile walk through parts of the city I had previously rarely ventured into. Now it's turned into a pilgrimage of sorts.

And, of course, there's Thoreau and his sauntering in Concord (this is a saunterer's journal, after all!). Even though my walking gear is probably all wrong, as well as my posture and my eating habits, I think he would have approved.