Lately
I’ve made two changes to my walking routine. One was forced upon me by construction.
Our commuter railroad is being extended to run a branch line about a block
behind my condo. I’m fine with the railroad, but it has taken away two of the
three bike paths I normally use for my walks. There are other bike paths in the
area, but unless I want to double the time I’m out, I would have to drive to
them.
One
of my regular hiking trails runs along the tracks and is currently totally out
of commission. They may open it again when the work is done, but there are no
guarantees. For the second, the path still exists, but the construction blocks
easy access. The access point will probably reopen since it is part of a
greenway that runs from Indiana into Illinois, but I don’t know when that will
happen. In the meantime, I have to go out of my way to get there—either driving
or walking along a busy street. The busy street has sidewalks, but it’s can be hard
to maneuver around people when using trekking poles.
That’s
the other change, and this one is completely voluntary. I walk for exercise three
days a week, plus walking to church and sometimes to do errands. Those walks
exercise my lower body, but I’ve been less consistent about exercising my upper
body. Then I read an article stating that trekking poles are good for upper body
exercise. They aren’t a fast way to build strength but they are an improvement
over what I have been doing. Besides, I’m not as concerned about building
muscle as I am in keeping it from atrophying.
The
trekking poles took a little while to get used to and using them correctly slows
down my normally fast walking speed, but they allow me to exercise my lower and
upper body simultaneously. And since I listen to audiobooks while I walk, it’s
an efficient use of my time.
So
I’m glad I got the trekking poles.
Now
if I could only get my other walking paths back.
4 comments:
So they are finally going ahead with that. I used to enjoy walking the path with my dogs.
I wonder if my old property indeed will become parking.
What type of trekking poles do you use? I think I'll need to start using these soon to help with balance issues when doing long walks.
Carole, I think you are right about your old house becoming a parking lot. They are building a station on the northeast corner of Ridge and Manor.
My trekking poles are TrailBuddy. I got them from Amazon.
Post a Comment