Under doctor's orders to get out and do some exercise, I started walking regularly a couple of weeks ago. I'd attempted to start up a walking routine several times in the past, but I'll admit that I never made my walk a priority, quickly dismissed it at as soon as an offer to do just about anything else surfaced, and often burned myself out from sudden urges to just throw my shoes on and walk (trudge) up our San Francisco-style steep hill.
Two things seem to have helped me so far this time. The first is that I registered for Alpha Gamma Delta's Walk to 2010 Challenge. Each Alpha Gam has been charged to walk 1,000 miles from June 2008 to June 2010 as a way to promote improved health and well-being and diabetes awareness. I cut my time to attain this goal in half by beginning a year into it, but I think it's still possible. Now I've got a goal, and thanks to some helpful tools on their website, a way to track my progress.
The other is that I found a simple routine that's been easy to stick to. I drop Arwen off at summer school in the morning. I drive myself straight to Kapiolani Park for the walk. Then I head home to shower and start my day. Since Arwen goes to school Monday through Friday, I can commit to exercise 5 days a week and take the remaining 2 days off.
It has been working out wonderfully. I began with 1.7 miles a day (one lap around Kapiolani Park) for 4 days the first week. By the end of the week, my pace was about a 20 minute mile, which Rob said is average. For a morbidly obese woman that rarely does anything remotely athletic, this was good news. I'm an average walker. Would have gone all 5 days, but I got a flat tire on my way to the park that Friday, and I didn't finish with that fiasco until after 1 pm. I think the stress and frustration from the event got my heart pumping enough for the day, but I didn't log any miles.
For Week 2, I decided to add a loop around the zoo, which upped my walk to 2.9 miles. The walk was still pretty comfortable, so I also picked up the pace to a 19 minute mile. It's got to feel like work to work, right? The only bummer is that because of the holiday observed on Friday, Arwen was home from school. The break in her routine broke mine as well. Rob was home, so I could have left her home with him and still done my walk, but it was so nice to sleep in just a little. After a week of hard work, this was a mild set back.
Now here I am into Week 3, and I've raised the bar for myself once again. I started at my normal parking spot at the park, but instead of turning to circle the park, I head straight out and around Diamond Head. 3.8 miles later, I was feeling pretty good. Sweaty. Heart pumping. But I wasn't hyperventilating. Just feeling good. My pace dropped back down to about a 20 minute mile, but I'm still considering this an improvement because I was able to maintain an average pace with a longer distance and some inclines. We get bonus points for degree of difficulty, don't we?
Aside from feeling great, I came across this sunbather on Diamond Head beach.
It's a bit hard to see with this iPhone pic from so far up, but I didn't have my big camera with me on the walk. I just happened to glance over the edge at the water, and there it was, bathing its belly in the sun - a Hawaiian monk seal!
I returned later in the day to show Rob and Arwen what I discovered during my walk. We walked down the path to the beach to get a closer look, and this time, I brought the better camera.
Signs had been set up to remind passersby that the seals are critically endangered and to stay a safe distance away. We heeded the signs, took a few quick photos, and climbed back up to the lookout.
The seal wasn't there this morning when I walked by today, so I'm grateful for the opportunity we had yesterday to see and photograph it. And now I've got a little motivator each morning to do my walk and see if it returns.
