Been a long while since I had one of these. Knee injury put paid to running, cycling, and hiking. Work picked up. Parents landed. Then friends landed. Gardening season started. Too many distractions.
It was good to get one of these weeks in. Just the one short swim for exercise, but averaged nearly 15,000 steps a day.
An easy day to let the legs recover.
Today’s walk was the Stockghyll and Blue hill round, with a short detour to pillar pike for the views.
Also went for morning and evening strolls around Rothay park. Met lots of young & hyper puppies, and a few friendly oldies.
Cooked (almost) full English for breakfast that got approving nods from R and Chewie.
Finished reading Roseanna in between.
For tomorrow’s walking, I need to decide between two options. If the legs agree, my preference is a longer, solo, multi peak walk across some of the higher hills that I know well and love. The other option is two short-medium walks. A solo morning hike up Loughrigg fell from Grasmere end, then a walk up to Easedale tarn with R&C later in the day.
Been a long time since the last 5 checkmark day, but today’s been worth the wait.
Went for an 8AM hike up Wansfell pike with Chewie. Had the whole hill to ourselves. Met a fell runner on the way up, and sole woman on the way down. The quietest ascent of this hill I’ve done.
After a lazy afternoon, went for a walk down to Waterhead to stake out swimming and kayaking locations for later in the week.
Now opening a beer and looking up routes for tomorrow’s adventures.
Lakes, mountains and hikes, just the holidays I needed.
I’ve been having a decent long stretch of good days. I’ve been very productive with work, with non-work work, been running regularly, sleeping well, and been mostly happy. Today is bent on breaking the streak.
I slept over 10 hours last night. It was not a good sleep. (Don’t all bad days start with bad sleep?)
I remember having a good dream—I had two good friends I used to live with, one of their friends brought over his dogs (big scary Rottweilers) who got along fabulously with me. I must’ve woken up around this time. That may be why I remember the dream. That’s also probably why rest of the sleep was bad. I had a bad cold—the bedside kerchief is a testament to that. The head started clouding over with all the bad thoughts and worries. I had to resort to some meditation exercises to get myself back to sleep.
In the morning, I woke up before the first alarm (5:10), but was in a terrible state—nose and head full of fluid, and body feeling tired. The Brooklands parkrun plans went out the window. I switched off the alarms and went back to sleep. Finally got out of bed at 10!
A bad night was followed by a not so good morning. The loo visit was unfruitful. I skipped this morning’s Duolingo practice. Took the boys for only a short walk. Didn’t even feel like finishing the coffee that R had left for me.
Now I’ve got to go for the Saturday run but it’s warm outside and I’ve got no spirit.
I wake up early, make a coffee, and start working straight away. So, by 9 or 10 AM, I’ve got in 2-3 hours of work, and need a break. The dog and I go for a walk.
We return, we have breakfast, and I head up to work again. He sleeps.
After another couple of hours of focussed work, I’m in need of a break again by noon/1PM. So, unless R has already claimed it, the dog and I go for another walk.
We return, have lunch, and watch TV for a bit. Then I return to work upstairs, and he goes back to doing what he does best – sleep.
By around 6 or 7 in the evening, my head is screaming for a break again. Literally screaming – tinnitus has been getting quite bad lately. So we do whatever helps. A.k.a. the dog and I go for a walk, again.
I have always loved walking. I went for lone walks after fights with parents as a teenager. I enjoyed going for lone walks in Delhi in my early 20s – it helped living so close to Siri fort forest. I loved walking around the campus in Calcutta, and at the sea front in Bombay.
I occasionally enjoy company on my walks. I go for a daily walk with Dad when I’m in Karnal. I also enjoyed walking around with a few friends in Bombay and Calcutta. Once in a while I even enjoy having R come along for a walk.
More often, I prefer to be alone. Walks are my time to let the mind wander, or focus, or rest. Let the mind do what it wants while the legs, the lungs, and the heart get some loosening. After all most of the non-walking time is just the opposite – mind at work, everything else resting. Having company on a walk means the mind has to engage – converse, debate, listen (to remember). Not rest. Not recover.
Walking with Chewie isn’t the same. He doesn’t tax my mind too much, yet keeps my heart entertained. He loves all the tracks – muddy, sandy, gravely, boggy – that I keep exploring. He loves hills as much as I do. He enjoys exploring smells in the woods. He loves rivers and the sea. He enjoys being out and about, likely more than even me.
So, when I hit a mental road block with work, I look at him, and he’s up for it. We go for a walk.
When I’m anxious or tense, he takes me for a walk.
When I need to clear my head, or escape tension in the house, he indulges me with another walk.
I’m grateful to have him, always, on the walk.
Sometimes when I’m deep in work, when it’s -4°C and horizontal rain outside, when my body is still aching from the previous run/ride/swim/yoga, he comes and nudges my arm away from the keyboard with his nose. He wants to go for a walk.
I coddle him, delay him, curse him, plead with him. Then he wins. We go for a walk.
Resolutions:
1. Run a half-marathon
2. Blog
3. Don’t be an asshole
4. Read a lot
5. Podcast
6. Don’t be an asshole despite having read a lot
7. Learn to drive
8. Write better
9. Shave more often
10. Call home more often
11. Walk Hadrian’s Wall
12. Make new real-life friends.
– Sidin, on Twitter
As new year resolution lists go, this is a really good one.
I like this even more because it makes me feel good about the number of things on that list I’ve improved on in last few months and years. Here’s some notes:
Continue reading Sidin’s 2018 resolutions…
She never walks with me.
She usually walks a few steps behind. Always has.
Her excuse used to be that I was walking too fast for her. But she didn’t keep dropping farther back. She kept pace, just a few steps behind.
Some times, when she’s pumped up – after a successful project, exercise, or from an exciting news – she walks ahead. Literally, leading the charge.
I’m a laid back kind of person, so I like her more leading, than trailing.
Yet, what I prefer the most, is walking side by side. Something she rarely does 1.
When we walk like (we are rushing), we print anxiety and sorrow on the earth.
We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the earth…Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth.
Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.
Today was one of those beautiful spring days that makes living through the winter worthwhile.
It was sunny, but not hot.
There was a cool wind, but neither a gale, nor freezing.
And there was plenty of beautiful walking and riding done.
Met Charlie again on the walk today. Chewie & Charlie had a few mins of fun running around, again. At the end of an already beautiful walk.
Bike had a flat front tyre – a pinch flat, probably from the last ride. Quickly changed tubes, got a few mins of rest (while catching the Giro), and off we went – Raghi & I – on another beautiful Sunday’s ride in the shire.
We’d considered a few new routes for this weekend. But R wasn’t feeling too great before we headed out, so ended up riding the usual route out to Shere & back. With a couple new easy, beautiful climbs thrown in.
Despite starting off tired – in head more than body – and needing a gel after just 11K on the flat, R surprised us both on today’s ride. She comfortably managed to climb both the new climbs without stopping. She even managed our backyard climb, Down’s lane, without a single stop or slowdown. But what was most surprising, was that she let me eat ice cream at our turnaround point in Shere. She must have been in a really good mood! ;)
Post-ride plan was to not eat anything than a bowl of cottage cheese after the ride. A cold shower later, it quickly went for a toss. Ended up eating a bucket load of cashews and peanuts, some mini carrots with hummus, and that bowl of cottage cheese. And that was apart from the dinner & dessert. So much for control!
Yesterday’s stupid (and lovely) evening run meant that my step target jumped by almost 500 steps (as predicted) to over 10,200 steps. A morning walk and playing with Chewie in the backyard wasn’t going to meet this. So, went for another post dinner walk.
A lap to the crossroads with music. Then, dropped Jyoti at the station.
And another lap to the crossroads with Chewie!
This boy wants to come along on my walks no matter how tired or sleepy he is. I wouldn’t be surprised if, a decade from now, he gets up from his deathbed because dada seems to be going for a walk.
:) :( :)
