1275: Got Out

I successfully put my proposed plan from yesterday’s post into action today. Now it is just a matter of sticking to it.

Walking isn’t as inherently satisfying as running, because it’s not as obviously tiring. But it’s still a reasonably good workout — Runkeeper assured me that I had burned a significant number of calories by the time I got back home. In total, I was out for just over an hour, and walked about 3.5 miles in total.

I’ve always been something of an indoor person, but I do like just going for a walk sometimes. This is a surprise to me, because the idea of “going for a walk” was bewilderingly ridiculous when I was young. Why, I thought, would you ever just go out with the intention of not actually going anywhere? Why, I pondered, would you ever just go out without a final destination in mind?

Well, now I’m a little older, I can appreciate the answers to those questions a little more: the reason you would do those things is simply to appreciate the things that are around you, and perhaps discover some interesting new things in the process.

I’m not sure when my attitudes changed on this note, but I have a feeling it was when I was forced to move back home for a while after my marriage broke down. Staying in the house just made me feel exceedingly depressed all the time, so I welcomed any excuse to get out and do something, even if that “something” wasn’t really anything in particular. I’d go out for a run around the area; I’d go out for a walk to the local woods; I’d walk out of the village by one road, all the way around its perimeter and re-enter from a completely different angle. In the process, I found myself exploring places that I’d either never been to before, or which I hadn’t been to for a significant number of years.

When I go out for a walk, I enjoy it when I can find myself surrounded by nature. Again, I note that I’ve never really been an outdoor person, but I do feel something of a curious affinity for the greenery of forests and otherwise wooded areas. I enjoy being under a canopy of leaves, sunlight dappled on the ground through the few breaks in the green ceiling above me. I enjoy the crunch of twigs and dead leaves underfoot as I walk down a dirt path; I enjoy seeing peculiar, twisted, gnarled trees that have grown in peculiar directions for reasons known only to themselves.

I’m reasonably fortunate where I am now because I’m pretty close to Southampton Common, which has a lot of greenery. There’s a lot of open space, too, what with it being a common and all, but there’s also plenty of wooded areas with well-worn pathways to explore. There’s also a creepy graveyard on the boundary which is interesting to wander through.

I’m going to try and get in the habit of going for a walk every morning if possible. It worked out quite well today — I got up early, went out, walked for an hour, got back, had breakfast, had time to chill out for half an hour, then started work, and I didn’t feel like I’d “wasted” any time. Whether or not I feel “better” is a matter of some debate, but I can’t really expect to feel significantly different after just one day, can I?

Well. Let’s stick with it and see what happens, anyway.