Walking on a Dream

The last year I lived in Austin, I lived within walking distance of most things I needed on a daily basis.  I had two grocery stores nearby, a dry cleaner, my gym, a few restaurants, a RedBox, a Target, a couple of places to shop, and even my office.  Although in the two years I lived around the corner from my office (there was literally a fence that divided the property of my office building and my apartment complex), I only tried walking to work one time, and unfortunately that one time was a hot summer in July when I chose to wear a very tall pair of heels.  You know what I don't like?  Being sweaty at 9:00 a.m. when I get to work.  So that is why that never happened again.

Anyway, I walked all over the place except to work as long as it wasn't cold outside.  And one warm, spring afternoon I got it in my head that I wanted to take "the long way" to HEB (which was across the street from the main entrance to my complex) by walking through a residential neighborhood that my complex backed up to.  I estimated that it would probably take me about 30 minutes at a decent pace.  I'd driven the route before about a year prior but I was pretty sure I knew where it would spit me out, so I grabbed my wallet, a couple of reusable bags, and my iPod and set off.  And I walked... and walked... and walked.  Up hills, down hills, and still I didn't come upon the street I knew I needed to turn down.  There's one particularly steep hill that almost did me in.  I seriously thought about sitting down in a random yard.  I mean I'd intended for this to be a nice, short walk.  If I'd had my phone with me, I might have called a friend to come get me, except I wasn't totally sure where I was.  I knew the general location, but not the specifics.  The one thing I knew for sure was that I was walking in a giant circle (intentionally) and there was no way to cut through the center of it and shorten my route.  I was not prepared for the ridiculously long or intense hills on which my journey took me.  Four miles and an hour and a half later, I finally got to HEB, did my shopping, and headed home, where I showered, drank about a gallon of water, and passed out.  I wish so much I had pictures to post of this route because when I drove L and my sister through the whole loop, they both were dying laughing at how hard it must have been to silly little me with my shopping bags.  But really, pictures couldn't do those hills justice.  Or where this the lovely hairpin curve has no sidewalk.  Or the part where I walked on a golf course.  Good times!!

I swore at first that I would NEVER do that walk again, but then the more I thought about it, the more I liked the challenge of making the loop and building up my endurance.  I started alternating my gym workouts and pilates every other day with walking my 4 mile loop.  Results: toned legs, slimmer physique, and a better knowledge of my neighborhood.  Plus, I enjoy being outside, so it was a good excuse to do that.  The only times I'd skip my walk were if it was raining or extra hot outside.

I thought maybe I could continue that routine here in Virginia, but aside from the fact that we had so much cold weather and snow my first few months here, my neighborhood makes it complicated because even though we're in a residential area, our particular little subset of it is very small and bound in on all sides by very busy streets that I don't like crossing when it's dark.  So instead, I just hit the gym or do 30 Day Shred. 
I was reading through blogs the other day and I came across a post where a young woman was discussing her goal of walking 500 miles in 2012.  I am back on a fitness/healthy life kick.  L is, too, but pretty much so far only through guilt by association. Which is okay. All this is to say that the 500 miles in 2012 goal has been rolling around in my head for several days and I think I'm going to bandwagon on.  The girl on the blog is trying to lose a LOT of weight; I'm just looking to tone my legs up again and not be the fattest bridesmaid in Nolly's wedding in June.  I'm thinking I may do a weekly update on my mileage to keep myself accountable.  So here's my progress so far, according to the treadmill*:

Last week's mileage: 6

This week's mileage: 7.5

Total YTD: 13.5


*I feel I should point out that while I walk at a brisk pace on the treadmills at my gym, I do not have a death grip on the machine. I also do not swing my arms with such force that I would bruise or severly injure anyone that might get in the way of my flailing arms.  I cannot say the same for other patrons of my gym.