walking

I have never liked “exercise.”

OK I rode my bicycle a long time and I use to run a few miles a day, but maybe that was an aberration.

But in the last ten years my blood pressure has inched up, not dangerously so, but higher than the doctor likes, and she has put me on two meds now, and they don’t seem to be working too well.

My pulse at rest is perilously close to what it should be when I exercise. That does not seem good at all.

So this week I began walking again. Miriam and Leo go during the day when the weather is good. Walking with miriam is fun, but she is 9” shorter than I am and walks about that much slower. At that speed my heart rate does not go where I want it.

So this week I began walking. It was cold, but I have proper clothes, and rather than walk in the middle of the day, I went at dusk. In fact it was fairly dark by the time I got back. I walked about 2 miles at a good clip and it was good.

But one thing was different than the old days: I had my trusty iPod. Music would be alright, but I had Mark Twain along. Twain was as much a philosopher as story teller and I can surf along on his story as I walk.

My weight is alright, my BMI is acceptable, but that pesky BP and pulse. Maybe I can be motivated. Spring will be here soon and with it the garden. During that season I get a lot of good exercise. Ever spade up a 160 square foot bed with a digging fork?

But what amazed me most of all, was the sheer joy of walking in the cold right at dark.