In this month's quest, I finally disclosed a beginning of a new fitness journey, one that will hopefully lead me to start loving to walk again.
WALKING: It’s simple but surprisingly complex!
So I’ve been mulling over some plans of mine, not quite sure where to take these. It started with me finally getting off the IC, having kept up my fitness with a lot of indoor rowing. But once getting stuck into the C25k journey again, I realized my backaches from my pre-run days had made a comeback. I had thought those days were gone, as I had firmed up my core through yoga and rowing.
Ex-runner hubby and I had a chat during that time. Walking, we agreed, was something so basic; if one cannot do that, it has the potential to make life much less enjoyable. And although my backache only appears when walking, never when running, I realized that my future fitness journey had to include something to address that pain in my backside!
So I wanted my pain-free walking back.
And on top of that, and inspired by some great walkers on these forums, I wanted to love walking again! Maybe not as much as running or rowing, but I’d be happy with “liking” to walk.
So I did some research:
I used Libby and BorrowBox app to borrow some walking-related special issues of various magazines and books from my library. There was
1) Women’s Health Big Book of Walking Workouts (Jan 2019, South African version, for some reason). Now, this magazine book has four different training plans and various walking-focussed workouts. And although I thought some of the plans were not quite thought through (I’ll not be doing some bear-walking on hands and feet in the middle of my walk), this book gave me the idea that there is a way to train yourself to become a better walker.
2) Health and Fitness Walk Slim Magazine Book from 2012 (Dennis Publishing UK) with Lucy Wyndham-Read. It still looks fresh, and it has ideas on turning normal walks into full workouts! It also has a 6-week walking plan that looks very attractive. I’ve made a note of that one, maybe for later. It also has a section about different ways of walking, from treadmills, walking groups, and Nordic Walking to walking challenges.
3) And then I got inspired by a new book from Annabelle Streets, published by Bloomsbury this year, with the title “52 ways to walk: The surprising science of walking for wellness and joy, one week at a time”. It has 52 chapters, one for each week of the year, exploring one different way to get out there and walk. Each chapter is a mini-essay that includes some science and facts and then has a sub-chapter for tips on applying these in one’s walking. A chapter might be about night walks or walking backward, or treadmills, or walking with others. And I love the quote on the book jacket: “Walking had become, once again the great adventure of my life. But this time, science could explain the how and why.”
And, of course, online, I got additional inspiration. Here are some key videos about walking with poles:
1) First, I learned what Nordic Walking looked like (10 sec)
2) Then that there is so much more to Nordic Walking, including Nordic Running (PB Nordic Academy International, 2:19 min)
3) Then came the video that sparked the idea of NW walking at a Park-run; what an idea!!! (Parkrun, 5:04 min):
4) And that long-distance and ultra-runners often use poles (I didn’t know!)(Wild Ginger Running, 10:13 min): youtu.be/kA3cr7ETKok
5) As well as trail runners (Salomon TV, 3:28min): youtu.be/URLijAcSNL0
But before all that, there were the inspiring walking stories from our own HU communities, where I followed the walking explorations of some of our experts who’ve made walking an art form, an adventure, or a sport!
And after four weeks of thinking and reading, and learning, I signed up for a Nordic Walking course, the first part of which happened today.
Thus my journey into loving walking again has begun.
More posts will hopefully follow as I navigate my path out there in the walking world, but they will mostly be posted on our walking forum, called Active 10 at healthunlocked.com/active10
So if you’re not a member of that forum yet, and if you have managed to read to this point of my meandering blather, then maybe it would interest you to join that forum, and together we might just discover some wonderful worlds of walking.
roseabi reviews... 😎 #1 Indoor Walking Workout with Holly Dolke
