My new neighborhood is very different. Many of the streets curve and rise. You can walk along a golf course, by the back of the Detroit Zoo, along a very busy street or in fairly traditional suburban neighborhoods. There are a lot more people walking or running here. Lots of people on bikes. Many dog walkers. However, there are no shops within walking distance. Walking can serve no other purpose.
We try to walk an hour a day, broken into two segments.
In the morning, I walk alone, listening to a podcast. Phil walks alone with his thoughts.
At night we walk together.
Do you walk? What is your walk like?
17 comments:
We used to walk A LOT. Some places are meant to be walked, like Paris. When we lived downtown we'd walk a couple of miles to the Brooklyn Bridge, walk over it, then walk up to Chinatown and further north. Or from here we'd walk along the shore a mile or two either way, then walk to a restaurant for lunch. In Florida we'd often go for long walks.
Since Jackie's knee got bad, however, it is another story. I'd basically drop her off and then go park the car. After the surgery it was better, pain-wise, but she couldn't really walk. It is improving - after two years you'd hope so - but she still can't walk the distances she used to walk, and is much slower (not that she was ever fast the way I like to walk).
You do what you can.
Jeff M.
I go to our local aquatic fitness center and aqua-jog for an hour. I prefer to do this alone and in silence, but pool people are very social so many times someone will aqua-jog with me and talk...and talk...and talk while I pretend to listen. Diane walks two miles a day in our neighborhood. Long ago we used to walk together but my knees deteriorated and our pace slowed so Diane made the Executive Decision to walk solo. Even with my new titanium knees I can't keep up with Diane.
Usually when we walk with another couple (as Patti and Phil can testify) one will walk fast with me and the other will stroll leisurely with Jackie. Periodically we'll wait for them to catch up and sometimes switch who walks with whom.
When Jackie was working I walked a lot more by myself.
Jeff M.
Yes, my left knee is not what is was. Missing a step turns out to be a bad thing. Six months later and it is not its former self.
I like to say that I jog. I once said that I ran, but that was when I covered anywhere from 5 to 8 miles a day at an 8-minute-per-mile pace. Now I'm lucky to do a mile in 12 minutes. Usually it's more like 13 minutes. I hate getting old. I still do about 4 miles a day, 5 days a week. In the summer heat and humidity of the Texas Gulf Coast, I usually think about surviving until I get home.
Our neighborhood is typical mid-century suburban: made for driving not walking; even though a clutch of shops are technically within walking distance, you have to walk over a freeway overpass that had absolutely no space for pedestrians or bikes, so you're basically taking your life in your hands if you try it. Our subdivision's main boulevard has a nice, leafy "neutral ground" (i.e., a median) running down the middle, making it ideal for laps, but the area as a whole is not designed for walking.
When I lived in SoCal, it was flat to slightly rising, and I walked a lot, having various routes I liked. Here, we are on a steep hill, so walking is out unless we climb up or down which is very hard for us. So to walk requires driving to a place to walk, which we do sometimes, but it's not the same as just going out the door. My waistline shows it.
Lana and I love to walk but we've not been able to do as much in the past couple of years because of her back. Her new procedure helped though so we are getting out most days.
I live in an older tree-lined neighbourhood that is perfect for walking. My street runs into an avenue with small shops and one block further is a long crescent with a tree-lined centre boulevard where people always are walking. It's considered to be the nicest street in our city. When I write about the area, I question why I don't walk more as it is very safe. However, I do ride my bike and will be off soon to ride on the crescent because it runs all the the way to our largest park and is closed to vehicles on Sundays and holidays such as Labour Day. Tomorrow I start walking more.
As some of you know, we live right on the shore of The Narrows. We can either walk along the street, go into the park (which is somewhat up and down), or cross the bridge and go down the steps to the waterfront, which runs from the 69th Street Pier to the Verrazano Bridge, and then continues onward to Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst. If you walk three blocks up the hill (or walk a few short blocks to circumvent the hill) you'll be at Third Avenue, which has literally dozens of restaurants, as well as drug stores, supermarkets, Starbucks (2), etc.
We have the best of both worlds - quiet surroundings and everything we need a few blocks away.
Jeff M.
I work on a beautiful campus perfect for walking. However it is very hilly and is a challenge for my bad knee sometimes, so I don't do as much as I should.
I walk the dog. In winter, when it's too cold for the dog, I'll walk at night. I get more and more annoyed by icy sidewalks and streets and sometimes wear slip-op spikes for the ice.
Summer is a great time for walking in small town Wisconsin.
Bill puts us all to shame.
I wouldn't say that. You're all having more fun than I am.
Walking is one of my favorite things. There are a couple through-hikes I intend to do before I die, which is a big part of why I am quitting my day job and resigning myself to a life much closer to the poverty line than it has been. I have my eye on a trail that runs from the eastern edge of Glacier Park and goes all the way to the Pacific Coast. That's the plan, anyway....
I bet walking in Montana is about as different as it can be. Good for you, Chris. Do what makes you happy!
I walk my dog most days, usually around the neighborhood. Sometimes I take her down to the sea wall along Commencement Bay, which she loves. The view is nice and if the tide is in the smells are bracing.
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