Thanks so my schedule, I wake up early, even on weekends. And I haven't been doing my morning weekend walks in the park because I've been tired from work, and how hot it's been. But I woke up this morning at 5:30 and checked the weather, and when it said cloudy and 73 degrees for the morning, today was the day to shake the dust off of my walking gear and get back to it. And at 7:30 am, I did just that.
This time I had a plan though. I snacked a bit too much at work, and felt like I should probably do something to counteract it. So instead of just walking, I was gonna me mixing in some running, too. I grabbed my fanny pack and a bottle of water, and got to it.
My usual route involves me walking around the top of the park by the water. I go up and down the hills and stairs, and I also make my way to the conservatory garden and walk around that area. It's a set area, not a set route, so I make sure not to let the habit go due to boredom with the walk. It'll be let go for other reasons, but not because of the walk itself.
Once I got into the park, the first section I decided to run up was the first set of stairs I came across in the hilly section by the water. And I ran for a bit after that set and to the next set of stairs that were downhill. After that, I went back to walking and found a bench to do a bit of a cool down and drink some water. I was surprised to find I wasn't hurting. After a couple minutes of rest, I got back to walking and when I decided I was done with that section, I went back to the fork in the path that you come to when you enter the park at that section. The straight path from there is this big hill, so I looked around to double check there was no one else, and I ran up that section. It felt good, and it's pretty steep so I walked back down and had some water. Next was the beautiful conservatory garden. I ran down one of the paths that's covered in trees, walked back another. Then ran up the stairs to the pergola, for my next cool down session. At this point, I was getting to the forty minute mark, so I did one last walk around the hilly area and one last run up the stairs before I headed home to mark a full hour of physical activity.
When I got home, I felt good. I didn't have pain, but I did have that good feeling you sometimes get after a workout, where you're tired but you still feel like you can carry on with a normal day and not need to call it early and get in an ice bath or something. It felt like something that could be part of my morning walk routine.
Now, I can't go on a walk with nothing to listen to. Sometimes it's music, but most the time I pick a podcast. Something where a story is being told so I follow that and walking goes on autopilot, and I'm not thinking about the time or pausing and looking at my phone. For this morning's soundtrack, I decided to play Harry Styles' new album, Harry's House, because I had hadn't listened to it in full yet. So I put it on, straight through, no skips no shuffle, like albums should be played. And it's a great album. It just came out during a period when I was obsessing over something else, and my brain couldn't give it the time it needed. It's a great album, definitely gonna add it to my rotation.
A thing I'm grateful about the time I picked to do this would be that there wouldn't be a lot of people around so I wouldn't feel embarrassed in my fits and starts at doing this. I didn't have to deal with all those emotions while trying a new thing like this. I could just do it without needing my head on a swivel to make sure on one could see and judge me. And yeah, it's a thing I shouldn't be self-conscious about, but I am. I'm not a runner typically, and on my journey out of the park, the real runners started coming out and I am definitely not one. But maybe if I do this enough, I can shed that a bit and not be scared to do my start and stop method in front of others. Or at least feel okay enough to keep going and not quit after one or two tries at it. Time will tell on this one it seems.
