Tag Archives: walking

Another Month of Walking

Posted on by under Miscellaneous Musing

It’s been four weeks since I told you about my new walking plan. Last time, I did my 4.5km daily walk 20 times in 28 days. This time, I did it 24 times, which means I missed 6 days.

On one of those days, we went to Ikea and parked at the far end of the lot. Between that and walking around the store, I was only 1km short for the day, which is funny. So, I’m counting 25 days of walking.

I also went to a conference last week (more about that in tomorrow’s post), and ended up with two travel days. On both of them, I managed to fit in my walk before going to the airport. Both of those days, I doubled my walking distance for the day, which tells you all you need to know about Pearson International Airport in Toronto. While at the conference, I walked on the beach each day, which was a lovely change of scene. Those days also had more distance – the walk down the beach was 6 km, then there was all the running around the conference hotel. In the end, I’m probably not short 5 full days if I add up the distance, but we’ll call it 25 days of walking and aim for improvement.

Autumn has arrived here in Canada, and I enjoyed seeing the changes on my daily walk over the past month. The leaves on the trees are changing colour, of course, and are just beautiful. They haven’t fallen yet, but I’m looking forward to walking through them. (The urge to kick them never seems to fade.)

I’ve also been noticing how the wildlife is migrating. The cormorants arrived on the lake a few weeks ago. They’ll stay until the water gets colder or freezes over, since they need to catch fresh fish every day. The Canada geese started to fly their practice flights: they fly shorter circuits, probably working up their strength. At first you can watch them fly the entire circle and they’re airborne for only ten minutes or so. Within days, they’re flying huge loops and disappear from view before returning. They tend to hang around until the first hard frost, but are becoming more numerous as more northern flocks arrive and take a break here. The blue jays are back in larger numbers again—although they’re often noisy birds, in flock, they’re quiet. It’s common at this time of year to glance out the window and discover two or three dozen blue jays looking for food, silently, before they all take flight again.

Have you been walking this month? Are you seeing the change in the seasons where you live?

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you a bit more about attending the Novelists’ Ink conference this year.

20 Days of Walking

Posted on by under Miscellaneous Musing

Since 2011, I’ve been spending a lot more time at my desk, getting this indie publishing thing squared away. It’s been a lot of work, plus details kept changing so the work had to be updated and done again. (And again and again and again. Gah!) I’ve also been writing new stories at the same time and publishing them myself. Right now, there are over 80 books on my dashboard at any given portal. That’s a lot of content and a lot or work. Moving to indie meant not just long days at my desk but every single day at my desk, which meant I was feeling a lot less healthy.

I tried a number of different things over the past year, none of which seemed to stick. But on August 6, I decided to walk. I’ve always liked walking and I’ve always – at least until 2011 – walked a lot. I used to walk with my dog, but she’s getting older and doesn’t always want to walk a second time each day. (She goes for a run with Mr. Math every day.) Also, she tends to dawdle on her second walk, so I decided to walk by myself. I picked a route and walked it. My phone says it’s 4.5 km, or about 5600 steps. My phone also says that it takes me between 42 and 44 minutes. That’s not even an hour. I figure I can invest an hour a day in my own well-being.

Beginning August 6, I walked that route every single day, rain or shine, for two weeks. (It was actually quite nice in the rain.) I changed the time around a bit, experimenting with what worked best for me. The next two weeks were very hot and sticky, so I only walked it six times in those 14 days. I also had my annual canning to complete during those two weeks, plus I did a lot of weeding and mulching in the garden. I was still active, just not walking every day. So, I walked my route 20 times in 28 days, which isn’t bad for a new habit. I’ll try to improve on that in the next 30 days, and do my walk every single day.

And what’s the result? I have lost a couple of pounds over the past month, which isn’t epic but is better than gaining a few. 🙂 I haven’t changed my eating habits, so didn’t expect otherwise. (I might be eating a bit more – ha! – because walking makes me hungry.) The more important thing is that I feel better. I’m sleeping better. I feel less stressed and more organized.

And the most exciting thing is that walking for 45 minutes daily is a marvelous way to unravel plot tangles. I feel joyous about writing again, and I feel creative. This next year is going to be very exciting for new stories – and maybe I’ll even lose a few more pounds.

Have you started any new habits lately and stuck with them?