BURGER SCOOT

How often do you walk or run?

Every day I go for a morning walk to one of two different coffee shops and order an Americano and listen to a podcast or whatever audiobook I am currently on. Since the pandemic I have tried to ride my bike or walk around my neighborhood. When the shelter in place edict was loosened, I was ready to retire. Before 2020 I used to ride my bike to work five days a week and would walk Vivian, our dog, every weekend morning. 

I admire people who run. I attempted to jog–first in high school after dinner, and one other time about ten years ago. I bought a pair of expensive neon blue ASICS running shoes, read up on interval jogging, and tried to run in the evenings. Like in high school I quit within a week, but this time I switched to jogging/walking on the treadmill at the gym once a week. (The not-so-aggressive frequency had to do with a workout routine I was doing on the other two times a week I visited the gym.)  

Interval jogging lasted for about a month until my hip started bothering me. I upped the walking and reduced the jogging formula and that helped a little until my hip started hurting me again. I then walked on the treadmill for fifty minutes. When even that became too painful I stopped the treadmill altogether and put away my barely used shiny blue running shoes.  

These days the one- to two-mile morning walks suit me fine, especially considering I’m taking a coffee break in the middle of these walks. Lately, I’ve been thinking about adding an after-dinner walk. These prospective walks would be even shorter than the morning walks, but any amount of exercising would be good, right? Anyway, the more scuffs on my ASICS’ the less embarrassing they will look in my closet.