errreeeoooowwwwww!

We are truly animals, or at least I admit that I am. I have a job that requires me to sit in front of 2 computer screens for 8 hours a day, plus I spend an average of 3 hours a day in my car, driving the just over a hundred miles round trip to work each day, which means I've been sedentary approximately 11 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 6 years...no wonder my body has been screaming ENOUGH!

So I started walking again. I admit, I didn't feel like it. What I mostly felt like doing was more of the same; i.e., crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over my head until I felt rested. But despite being so sedentary, or maybe because of it, I never felt rested. Fortunately for me, my company has a wellness program, and a year ago, they offered free pedometers. I ordered one, and got into the habit of clipping it on each morning to record my steps. I had no idea how many steps were in a mile (approximately 2,000), or that a good goal is to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. But once I figured all of that out, I approached it with my usual passion, and walked relentlessly, all last summer, when we had over a hundred days of temperatures over a hundred degrees. I overdid it. I got shooting pains in my feet and Achilles tendons and so I stopped walking for a while, and then I lost the clip for my pedometer, so I stopped completely. I immediately gained weight and felt awful. So early this year, I sent away for a replacement clip for the pedometer, and a couple of weeks ago, I started walking again.

Last night was a beautiful night, and I felt so good, I kept on going until I'd completed 6.2 miles, a 10K. I was absolutely wiped afterward, and still tired today; so tired that I came home and took a nap. I didn't feel like walking tonight. Psychologically, I was still tired from last night, and felt there would be no shame in taking a well deserved day of rest. But (and here's the animal in me), my LEGS wouldn't have it. I walked into my bedroom, intending to run a bath, but my legs had other ideas. Instead of running a bath, I walked into my closet and got out socks, pants, a t-shirt and my walking shoes. I ended up walking 3.2 miles (just over 5K) in a decent time, and although I was tired by the time I got home, I felt (and still feel) GOOD, and I know my sleep will be good. Even when I don't particularly want this, my body wants this. The animal in me wants this, and that's a good feeling.