Good Walking Techniques

[Edwin]

I feel like by now I am an expert on walking! I have been walking most of the time now for about four years. Before that I never walked on a regular basis, but I only walked when someone would say, "Let's go for a walk," and that didn't happen very often. For the most part I have never had weight management problems, so I didn't need to walk or exercise to try to keep my weight down. In my younger years I think I was just naturally more active, had a higher basal metabolic rate, and drank lots of coffee, so I was always thin. I did come to a point in my life that I realized that if I didn't do something, limit my food intake, exercise or something I would end up being over weight. I never was so that someone would look at me and say, "He's overweight." I never reached that point, but I would have if my weight gaining trend had continued.

I started walking completely by accident. Our youngest granddaughter's big doggie, Scooby, Great Swiss Mountain Dog, and he is a mountain of a dog, a cousin of the Saint Bernard, was being neglected, and so I brought him to our home because I felt sorry for him. The next time she visited us she asked me if I would train her dog for the leash. She still thinks of him as her dog, and while once it hurt her feelings when ever anyone would refer to him as my dog, she now says it is a partnership; he is her dog and my dog. I told her that I would teach him about the leash. So, I took him out to walk him, and I have been walking him ever since, and that was four years ago. At first I walked him from our house to the mailbox and back, and kept walking for anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half. Then I had problems with our daughter her, and if you want the whole story, PM me and I will tell you, but I am trying to turn the other cheek and be forgiving.

Then I started walking him out on the County road, which I actually like much better anyway. I walk three rounds from our mailbox to my brother's cattleguard, then to our neighbor's cattleguard, and back to the mailbox which is a total of 2 miles. By the time I walk three rounds of that and walk from the house and to the house, I have walked 6.5 miles. It takes me an average of 2 hours to walk that distance. When wants to walk fast, I can't keep up wth him, so I just hold him back to my speed. The smaller dog has to run to keep up with his walking, because he has such long leggs, huge body, that to him, he is not walking fasat, but to me and the other dog he is walking very fast. He wants to stop and smell of dozens of things along the way. He has a tremendious sense of smell, and that is part of the reason they use these dogs for search dogs in the Swiss Alps. If he spends too much time smelling of stuff then it can take me two and ahalf hours to walk that distance. I am a push over; when he wants to smell, I let him smell, and it does take more time. But I figure he is out there for me, so he should have fun too, so I let him do what he wants to do within reason!

[Edwin]

My brother and I worked for our uncle, my Mom's older brother; me three months during my summer vacation from school. My brother worked for him for about a year. I was just out of the eighth grade in elementary school, and I had lots of fun! I got to drive pickups and trucks all over the country, and I got to ride horses some, which was nothing new for me as I had been riding horses before I went to school in the first grade, but it was all fun for me.

My brother and I changed by hand lengths of sprinkler pipe in my uncle's 150 acre alfalfa field. They didn't have any of those automatic moving sprinkers at that time. We would turn the water off, pull each pipe length loose carry it to a new position, and reattach it, after which we would turn the sprinkers back on. We had to do our jobs right, or my uncle would know when he would see dead spots in the alfalfa, which we did not allow to happen.

My brother and I did lots of walking changing those sprinkler pipe. He told me, "Now when you walk changing those pipes, keep lose, don't tense up." So as we walk we kept relaxed. When you walk if you keep relaxed it will be much easier on your body, and you will benefit more. So when you walk, don't tense up, keep it relaxed. Also when you walk take time to smell the flowers along the way. Keep it fun. If it isn't fun, you will stop walking before too long, because no one is paying you to walk, or holding a club over your head, but you are doing it for your own mental and physical health. So keep if fun, and you will keep walking. If there is something to enjoy along the way, stop and enjoy it. If you can talk a friend into walking with you, that will be much nicer. We had friends where we used to live, where a lot of walking took place, and they went for walks, a husband and a wife, and they took two dogs and one cat with them for their walk. It was really funny seeing that cat going for a walk with them! I wish Carol would want to walk with me, but she does not like to walk, and she only walks because of feeling obligated, and she will find any excuse not to walk, although with her health issues she should be walking.

Some people want to run, instead of walk. Some people want to jog instead of walking. Running I guess is okay, but I don't want to run. I can run, but I don't want to. Do what you want to do, and you will keep doing it longer. I think walking is like swiming in that it is a non stressful activity. You can stress fracture your bones from jogging, but you won't hurt yourself walking. I do find that if I try to walk faster than I am capable of walking I will slightly sprain my feet pushing off on each foot to take the next step, so becasue of that I don't dry to take running walking steps. I just plain walk. It alos helps if you can dream or plan while you are walking. I often pray while I am walking, and that makes a nice walk. These are just a few ideas that I have to make your walking more fun.

[Edwin]

Me and the doggies had a good walk this morning. We usually eat a late breakfast as Carol never gets out of bed until late. Then I have been walking as soon as breakfast is finished. During the night it snowed and the wind blew, so there were some snow drifts, but they were not deep. The county road now is not very wide because of drifted snow on both banks and out into the middle of the road a ways. It is kind of pretty actually. My big doggie, Scooby, loves to walk in the snow! I am a push over, and I let him take me where ever he wants to go within reason. I will not go out into the deep snow however, and it there are really muddy places I insist that he avoids taking me through those places, but other than that I let him go where he wants too. He is very loving, and there is one place in the road, at least one time on each walk that he hops up on my shoulders with his front paws; yes he is that big! Then he wants me to love him, rubbing his face for a while. Finally he gets tired of standing on his hind legs and we are ready to go again. Both the doggies get really excited when they know it is time to walk. It is work, so it is surprising that they would love it so much, but they do. It is good for me to know that the doggies love me, and them wanting to walk is good for my health, so it is good all the way around! They say in order to get the maximum benefit from walking, you are supposed to pretend that you are late for a very important meeting, and walk like you are hurrying to get there. The road is not all completely level, so it helps me to get a slight workout, but the incline is not steep anywhere either. I think today I completed my 10th day of walking; I did not walk yesterday, yesterday being Sunday, and we needed to be down in town for a long day, being there after dark.

[Edwin]

A miracle has happened! Carol started walking a few days ago! She has now walked twice. I walk 6.5 miles on my walk taking about 2 hours. Here lately I have been walking just after breakfast, except yesterday we went to town and came home just in time for me to get my walking in just before dark! I would rather do it earlier, but any time is better than no time! Carol walked a few days ago 1.5 miles, and that is good for her! Day before yesterday she did not feel well; she said her heart didn't feel very strong, and when that happens her breathing is labored, so she can't walk if she doesn't feel well enough to walk. Year before last she was able to walk 2.5 miles, but last year she was only able to walk 1.5 miles. She carries her cane with her and uses it on her last little bit of her walk on the way home. I am glad she is walking even if it is only for a short distance and short amount of time. Any walking is better than not walking!