Don’t Balk, Walk

What is your favorite form of physical exercise?

Back in the 70s, when running was trendy, I decided to try it. I went to the local college campus track and did a couple of laps. That was when I learned of the condition called “shin splints.” Painful, and a good inducement to stop running. I never reached the point where the endorphins convinced me that leg pain was a necessary evil.

I can’t get anyone to go bowling with me. I played tennis years ago, but am not great at it, though I think I might be okay with pickleball—I’m just trying to find some welcoming people I can play with in the evening. (I sent a message to a pickleball group on an app asking what afternoons or evenings they played and had several replies about mornings. Morning people; sigh.)

I did love throwing the frisbee back in the day. My friend Jim and I went to that same college campus I mentioned in paragraph one (and the same campus I would actually spend two years attending), and we’d be quite a distance from one another and watch that thing sail. We were both good at throwing and catching. I miss that.

And I miss bicycling. At Berkeley I commuted for a semester on a bike. Before that, I would bike on this back road from downtown York to West York. Now, I’d have to get a helmet and follow the rules and find a place where it would actually be safe to ride a bike. Which leads me to:

Walking. There’s a walking path here in Latrobe that’s very close by. I trot up an alley (which looked like it was bombed by ISIS), run three steps up a small hill, and I’m on the path. I bought the Apple Watch to monitor my progress, and can easily make 2.25 miles. It feels invigorating. I hadn’t actually walked since I got back from the UK because of a cold and then a persistent cough. The other day I decided I really wanted to walk, and when I got back: no more cough. I must have worked it out by, I don’t know, breathing better.

Of course, with autumn it’s getting cold and often rainy. These are not conducive to walking outside. I may have to use my Silver Sneakers benefits, join a gym, and use a treadmill. I might look like a hamster, but at least I’d be getting some exercise.