It is possible that you have seen a rather peculiar woman walking around the streets of Hamilton over the last four years. If you have, I hope you gave a wave…because I am she.
Walking runs in my family.
My grandmother walked and my mother walks. My brother Jeff walks. So does my brother Doug but he is an avid cyclist rather than a walker. My sister Jennifer even took up running and was in a number of races. Other members of my family are bi-pedal enthusiasts. My Aunt Edie can probably out walk me – in distance and in speed.
All of this walking does take up quite a bit of time, especially at the pace that I usually maintain which, when compared to animals, the not-so-speedy tortoise comes to mind. Years ago I got on a treadmill to check out my pace. I knew that runners had broken the 4-minute mile and so I thought that I would be at least double that. After running as fast as I could for one mile I was a tad disappointed to find out that I was over 16 minutes. So we have established that my fastest is not that fast after all.
When I started my walking project I did think that maybe I should try to increase my pace. I would get to my destination sooner and running sounded cooler than just walking. So one morning during my walk I saw a woman walking on the other side of the road in the same direction that I was heading. Her shoes did not look as sensible as mine and she was carrying a large purse. In my head challenged her to a race.
I picked up my feet and off I went. Huffing and puffing, I jogged a little way down the street. It was not pretty but I did it. When I got to the next cross street checked to see how far she was behind me. Oh dear, she was actually ahead of me. I must confess that she had walked faster than I had run. Oy
I might not be fast but I am tenacious.
I’m not that fast either, but speed isn’t as important at our age (at least that’s how I console myself)😉 Just getting out there and moving is the important part… keep up the good work (walking and writing)!💗💗
LikeLike