Having just returned from a glorious hour and a half long walk in the hills near my house, one thought dominates my mind. Why do I not do it more often? It felt so good to wander along windy paths through orchards and meadows. Now, even a couple hours later, it STILL feels good.
Why must it be so difficult to motivate myself to just get off my ass and do it? NEVER have I come home for a walk (or, as much as my couch potato soul hates to admit it, exercise of any kind) and thought "Man, that was SUCH a bad idea! I should never have gone for this walk!" Just the opposite. I always return thinking "That was refreshing! I feel great! I should do this more often!"
I know that the dogs would love me, if I did. The original plan had been to just take Baxter along, because he is the smallest and easiest to maneuver. In the end, thanks to Ruby and her idea of pilfering my mom's fanny pack and then a leash and carrying them outside to the gate while the other two excitedly cheered her on, all three of them got to come along. How do you say no to something that cute?
I will admit, however, that my "yes" was gruding at best. Past experience with our trio of miscreants has left me dubious about group walks. As a result, I was concerned about being dragged around Powell Butte by a gang of ill mannered canines, but it actually turned out to be quite a nice walk. No one pulled or misbehaved nor did I find myself being dragged downhill on my ass as has happened so many times before.
The boys were perfect gentleman, and aside from the incident wherein she decided to stand on the picnic table, Ruby was quite a lady. Now they (being as out of shape as I am) are all sacked out at various points in- and outside the house.
If I can just hold onto this good feeling and use it to motivate myself, we will be going for another walk very soon.
7 comments:
sounds like a lovely afternoon! I shanghaied bec into a "let's pretend the summer isn't almost over" mini-photo safari. We went to Laurelhurst, where Burgerville was having Shakes in the Park (Hamberglet was the play we saw, Huckleberry was the free shake). Anyway - it was just the perfect thing to drive away the last dredges of my stupid headache, and I found myself wondering the same thing - why don't I do this more often? So - yay for walking!
I had read about Shakes in the Park and forgotten about it again. It's good to get out to those kinds of things, especially with the days of summer fast fading away.
We went walking (well to the gym and the Road to Nowhere aka treadmill) tonight. My goal was do walk/go to the gym three time this week and I'm already 2/3 of the way there, so I'm feeling pretty good.
Apparently, I am now walking for stickers. One of my coworkers heard that of my goal, so now she has declared herself my (and another coworker's)personal "Fitness Nazi". She's actually very sweet. If we answer "yes", she smacks a sticker on our wall calendars. It's all very pre-school, but I find I'm actually shamed when I don't get the sticker. We'll see how long that lasts.
For now, though it's good. The Fitness Nazi just surpassed her goal weight doing LA Weightloss, so she's not annoying in her encouragement. I didn't think she looked bad before, but she looks fabulous now. She says she was a chubby kid and that now, for the first time in her life, she's actually being told not to lose any more weight. I say good for her! It's motivating to see that someone else can do it (though I am just a little jealous of all the new clothes she gets to buy).
I forgot to mention that Shakes in the Park was a lovely bit of serendipity. I had seen their ads in the paper, but didn't realize they would be at Laurelhurst. that somehow made the huckleberry milkshake tast even better! And I am LOVING your sticker giving co-worker. Stickers are powerful currency. But mostly I think it is great to get some non-annoying encouragement, and even better that the walking is feeling good. (way to go endorphins!)
Oh, the serendipity makes Shakes in the Park even MORE fun!
My sticker giving coworker IS really nice. I actually am liking work a lot better lately, just because the personalities now gel well enough to great a good atmosphere. It's been very busy and stressful this past week, but somehow it's still better than it was before.
Walking/exercise update: It's going well! I even surpassed my goal for the week, which I then celebrated by eating too many mint cookies, but I still like to see it as a minor personal victory!
Yaaaaay! I am glad that it is still going well at work AND walking.
It is! I earned my sticker tonight (oh the power of stickers). Even at my age, they are still potent.
Dude, I totally understand the power of stickers - although stickers that are BESTOWED upon one must be even better than ones you buy for yourself!!
Congratulations!
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