Why I walk
I’m sick of people that brag about the 200,000 steps they get in a day. I strive for 10,000, but I’m lucky if I hit 8,000. In summertime, I can quickly go over the magic number when I’m walking around summer beach communities looking at houses or, as my kids say, just being a creepy peeping Tom.
I have been walking forever. Well, at least since I was 2, I was a late walker. There has been some tracking device on my wrist since they were called pedometers and were $9.99 at Walmart. I have upgraded from a crappy plastic thing to a Fitbit over the years. I am now wearing a first-generation, 6-year old Apple Watch that was a Bat Mitzvah gift my daughter gave me when she returned to a crappy plastic waterproof watch.
Here comes the lake part
Five years ago, we moved to a neighborhood only one block from a lake. The lake designation is a bit overachieving. It’s more like a comprehensive stream. It’s beautiful, has wildlife and ends at a waterfall. My husband Rick and I walk halfway around. On days when Rick decides it’s ok for the dog to get muddy, we venture a bit farther into the woods. Woods may be exaggerating a bit. A trail through trees leading to an interstate does not a forest make. It’s woodsy enough for me never to go in alone.
We pass the time walking, looking for two specific birds. Somehow Rick has taken ownership of a beautiful Heron that majestically sits and watches all. I am the proud owner of a stupid bird called the Cormorant. Not sure why this fish searching, neck turning, mean bird belongs to me. If you think we sound like a couple of toddlers on a field trip, you would not be wrong.
The reason we started taking these lake walks was basically to tire out our tireless dog. Once the Covid Quarantine happened, our walks became a bit of an obstacle course instead of a peaceful stroll. Who let the dogs out? With nothing left to do but make sourdough bread starters and do Jigsaw puzzles, walking became a thing. I started reading articles about the excellent benefits of walking. My perspective is a bit different.
According to Experts, Doctors, Athletes, and any idiot with a keyboard, walking has many physical and mental health benefits, as I will list below. I’m sure it works for most of the world. For me, I beg to differ.
1. Lower Blood Pressure and Reduce Risk of Heart Attack.
While walking along the edge of the lake, trying to find a new podcast, I happened upon a curled-up snake. I can’t write this without my whole body going into complete terror spasms. Snakes suck. That moment I increased my risk of a heart attack 900 percent, and if anyone happened to walk by with a Blood pressure cuff, my numbers would have been off the chart. The repetitiveness and calm of walking soothe most people. The mind can adapt to tranquil peace without multiple artificial stimuli. In my mind, in the world of nature, a sudden sound triggers fear of what anxiety-producing creature is behind the noise.
2. Reduces Risk of Tripping and Falling
Anytime I walk on varied surfaces, my risk of tripping and falling goes up. All I need is an uneven patch of grass, a misplaced curb, or a distraction, and I faceplant on the ground. The more you walk, your balance improves by strengthening your lower body. So they say. My take is that if I was watching TV instead of walking, my risk of tripping and falling goes way down. The more sedentary behavior will decrease the chance of bone-breaking too. I have been lucky. I will not be so fortunate one of these days, and my stumble off the curb could end up in a cast or worse.
3. Strenghtens Bones
See number 2 above. If bones are breaking, they are not strengthening.
4. Sharpens Brain and Boosts Memory
A Dutch study found that walking backward helped subjects think faster. I don’t even know where to go with this. If I started walking backward, I would negate 2 of these benefits at once. I would trip and fall and break some bones.
5. Helps You Sleep Better
I look at my step count before I go to bed, and if the number is within 500 steps of 10,000, I spend the next 15 minutes romping around my bathroom trying to hit the magic number. If I weren’t concerned with the darn number on my watch, I would be resting comfortably in my bed, trying to find a comfortable position that would not wake up my husband or disturb the dog. Running back and forth in my bathroom as fast as possible does absolutely nothing for enhancing my sleep. All it does is make me feel like a complete moron. It also energizes me, making it that much harder to relax once I finally get into bed.
I feel smugly satisfied that I did achieve my step goal for the day. Maybe there is a benefit of walking for me.
