Quote:
Originally Posted by nycfem
Yesterday I walked 8K steps which I counted as one hour, and I also did 15 minutes on the stairmaster.
Yesterday it was parent teacher night for my school so I had a significant break in between the end of the school day and the evening meetings. Thus I walked to a different branch of my gym. The walk was pretty unpleasant weather-wise. It was humid and raining, but not raining hard, more like needles that make you squint. It was exciting to go to a branch of my gym I'd never been to before. All I had time for was 15 minutes, and it was a good workout. I felt like Superman. It was exciting to use that time for a new gym adventure. Why did I feel like Superman? Because of the aspect of changing clothes and putting on a different identity to do something special to me.
My walking today was 14,500K steps which I counted as 1 hr and 50 min. Today for the first time I walked home through Central Park from work instead of walking through where the cars go. Oh my goodness, it was amazing. I walked right at the perimeter of the park and did not get lost. Not only that, I found a very straightforward beautiful trail that included ducks, geese, lake, rocks, and even a waterfall. It was just a gorgeous and peaceful walk, and the weather was perfect fall-like weather. I did not even know this part of Central Park existed. I also had a red, white, and blue popsicle during the walk that I bought at one of the stands. It was a magnificent afternoon. And now I can always walk that trail home when time and weather permit. A world opened up for me!
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Congratulations on exploring!
Trying new things to upend old routines can go either way but it sounds like you scored a double positive. I think your new route for walking through the park and being in a more natural environment sounds fantastic. Kudos to you for experimenting, I hope you continue that path and maybe even find some others to add to your repertoire.
So, for the last three days since my last check in I show Wednesday at 21,190 steps, Thursday at 9781, and today at 19,684. Wednesday and today were out at the beach and Thursday I had an appointment and errands so that was just walk around time.
One thing I should note is that those step counts are for the whole day not just my outdoor walk and do not include the end of the day after I post although granted I’m usually just sitting around reading or watching something. So 5k-ish for just puttering around the house.
I was asked if I could speed up my outdoor walk time to go faster than 25 minute miles. Of course! I could lengthen my stride, put a little more pep in my step, or just quit dawdling over every little shiny thing. I know I’m posting in the exercise thread but for right now my focus is actually on mental health and well-being over physical accomplishment. The most recent last few years have been pretty bumpy for me psychologically and I am working on putting myself back together. Right now my goal is 2 to 4 hours per day outdoors in a natural environment preferably while moving my body around.
I think I would like to up my game in the not too distant future towards more physically challenging activities. Sort of thinking about this winter and trying a little running on the beach. We’ll see, I’m taking it easy for the moment.