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“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.”- Friedrich Nietzsche
Like many families, we try and incorporate exercise and fitness into our daily lives. Daily might be a lofty goal, bi-daily might be a bit more realistic. We’ve been going to the gym twice a week for a nice balance of cardio and strength training and we also enjoy taking a walk in the evenings. Usually that walk includes three dogs and at least two of us leading them up the road behind our house then back down the road. I say up the road because it is literally up. As in uphill. The dogs love it and we get in about thirty minutes of exercise. We take in beautiful scenery and keep a running count of deer we see each evening.
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Road behind my house
The Park
For walking and/or running, I have an app on my phone that tracks both distance and route in addition to letting me know how many calories I’ve burned. This is important and is the decision maker on whether or not I have a beer with dinner. Last weekend, we drove in to town and did a short walk along the trail and ended up with a little over 2 miles of walking. Having the day off on Monday, we returned and ended up walking down to a bridge and back and found we had walked 3.44 miles. Although I’ve both ran and walked this distance before, it was a first for my wife. Her first 5K.
I’ve always enjoyed walking and/or hiking. There are times when I have done this on my own, enjoying the solitude while allowing my mind to both relax or wander off in thought. There are other times where I have enjoyed the company and conversation of being accompanied on a walk.
Yesterday, my wife and I decided to drive into town. Out intent was to walk another 5K along the trail. We were also celebrating my not having had a cigarette in six months. We ended up walking 7.4 miles. Technically her first 10K and then some. Mine too. I earned enough calories to drink two beers last night.
The simplicity of walking. Something I’ve done for my entire life yet feel like I’m doing it again for the first time each time we take a walk.
B
Photo’s are all courtesy of me… my attempt at cell phone photography
What a beautiful neighborhood – I love walking but the summer heat is starting and severely curtails my outside time 🙁
My Arizona outdoor activities usually happened early in the morning or late at night. I can remember doing morning rides in the summer on my bike where a number of us would meet as early as five in the morning to beat the heat.
I love the old abandoned buildings. I’m weird that way 🙂 Congrats on the no smoking. Six months is an accomplishment. I just signed up for my first “official” 5K. I’m hoping to make it a habit.
I love them too! So much history and with a twisted imagination, a good backdrop for writing. Congrats to you for signing up! Are you running or walking?
I plan to attempt to run part of it, but we will see. I’m sure I’ll walk a good portion. It’s a start.
Good luck to you on that!
I like the solitude in hiking by myself. It is almost always the key to settling my mind down. The pictures are beautiful!
I enjoy both company and solitude. Once while my wife was on vacation to see her family, I backpacked into this canyon by myself. The hiking and setting up camp solo were amazing. The sleeping alone out in the middle of nowhere was quite spooky. 🙂
Your pictures are lovely! I have but a mere smarter-than-me phone, and it gets the job done. I miss having such a wealth of hiking trails nearby, but my kids aren’t, um, much for hikes. Not yet, anyway. 🙂
Thanks! It’s so much easier carrying a phone than a camera. We have some decent trails near us in addition to a number of state parks within short driving distance. Thankfully, both my sons enjoy hiking too now that they are older. I’m going to test that on Father’s Day 🙂
Sounds like the perfect way to spend time together and compile more pics at the same time. 🙂
Nice post, you live in a very beautiful part of the world and your a fit family. I am a bit of lazy bones, but I do get to the gym. Thanks for the retweet, and the follow.
We were on a fitness sabbatical last year so this is fresh to us… once again. We also go to the gym once or twice a week but have always enjoyed walks or hiking. Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂
How interesting a fitness sabbatical. Well done to you and your family.
I might have worded that incorrectly, I meant we took a sabbatical from fitness. Most of it unplanned due to some medical issues, which makes this year even more relevant. 🙂
Thank you for the my visit to my site. I sure enjoyed your hiking story. The Boise River run through the city and there are hiking trails along the river which brings the wildlife into town.
Walking is such a simple pleasure, yet the rewards are deep and long lasting. Nice blog!
I feel like I’ve rediscovered something so simple. Thanks for stopping by!
Great photos; thx for sharing them
Thanks!