So…about that new walking trail I've found near me in Highland Park up here in northeast LA. A quick 10 minute hop in my car and 0 freeways later I'm THERE!
A wilderness area along a tributary of the mightly LA river.
Carol and I are heading off in about 7 weeks to a house just outside a hilltop village. We can walk down into the village across an ancient bridge, and past a castle to explore then walk back through a forest. I will be required to motor in and out on my own accord as there is no wheelbarrow to push me around or a horse drawn carriage at my disposal. Thus I have amped up my walking routine. By that I mean to say that I have increased my walking from 0 times per month to around 20.
It's nice to be able to head out in the morning or afternoon on any day of the week.
My sister Dottie came up to watch the Oscars with me. And we went on several walks. One of them here.
Walking is something that I need to do for myself. A practice I want to build upon…and grow. I want it to become a habit. So while I'm on my sabbatical I like to say my new job is WALKING.
One day at a time. One step at a time.
Recently I came across these inspiring articles about the power of walking. THIS one is just wonderful! I liked THIS one because of the way she writes about how furious rounds of excercise aren't necessary to improve fitness. And THIS one is just fascinating…and there's a BLOG to go along with it which makes it even better!
If you've been walking I'd love to hear about it. So would everyone else, so if you want to share, leave a comment. And a link if you want to share where you've been recently on your walks.
happy trails!
Looks like you have a very beautiful walking trail nearby. How wonderful. Love your photos. I alway walks when in the UK. It´s so beautiful over there – here´s just the wood across the street 🙂
I’ve been walking at least a mile essentially every day for somewhere between 2 and 3 years. I was happy to note, around the 18-month mark, that I no longer MINDED for the first half of the walk (as I had for the first more-than-a-year!).
I still hardly ever WANT to go walk, but I hardly ever MIND, either.
Eighteen months seems like an awfully long time to have to do something before you stop MINDING………
It’s nice for people who love exercise, that they love it. But I surely wish they would get a clue that the entire rest of the world’s population does NOT feel the same way they feel! If exercise made everyone feel better all the time, everyone would exercise. The fact that so many find exercising less compelling than, say, eating bonbons and reading novels, would be a hint………
I’m sure exercise a good idea and all that, but nearly always I’d still rather read some blogs…..
But I get myself out, and spend some time in daylight. Every day. (Well, sometimes it’s dark when I walk.) Once I get going, it’s ok, unless it’s icy, and when I get back, I’m glad I went.
Sometimes I feel noticeably better after I walk, and sometimes I even enjoy the act of walking.
Who knows what will happen in another 18 months?
I love walking! I do it for hours on end. A half hour walk is no fun for me, although on workdays it’s all I get, but it needs to be two hours at least so I can get into that ‘zone’. It’s like meditation to me almost. I roam the island (forest, dunes) and the beach. Well, you have the pictures of what it looks like over here (and then some), haha.
On my blog I do a regular feature called Photography Friday where I show the pictures that I take while on my walks. Because my only steady companion on these trails is a camera, be it my phone or a ‘real’ one.
One thing I really look forward to when I start working less (Oh, I wish it was June already) is that I will be able to walk more. Yay!
I started walking about 18 months ago because I needed to feel healthier. I track my regular walks on the livestrong.com site. You can track your walks on My Loops, and enter them when you log in. So far I have walked around 810 miles. It does help that the beautiful Puget Sound coastline is 3 blocks from my house. It also helps that I have a co-pilot- my Border Collie Cody. And on really nasty weather days (like today) I haul out a walking exercise video and “walk” two miles in front of the TV. I think the hardest part is always getting started. But if you force yourself out the door, it’s easy to walk a mile or so out. Then you have no choice but to walk back, and bingo, you have done 2 miles, you feel great, you sleep better, and I even find I eat less. It is win win all the way.
I started walking 15 years ago. I was 35 and had just given birth to my 1st child who died two hours after he was born. Walking was the only thing that got me through that dark period of my life. I’d walk and cry and cuss and talk to God and cry some more. You CAN walk your way out of depression. It really does work. And I still walk everyday.
This post and comments have been such a blast from the past for me. I am a native of Pasadena and I have pictures of family picnics down by the San Rafael bridge (we called it the “suicide” bridge, being silly kids…the railing has been seriously and beautifully upgraded for safety since the early ’50’s…) I went to college in San Luis Obispo and still return to visit my 94 year old mother there so Morro Bay and Cambria are favorite haunts. I walk to take pictures, my husband walks to look for birds…I would recommend the Morro Bay Bird Festival on MLK weekend every year. Great walks and great scenery and don’t miss the nesting peregrines on Morro Rock.
Your photographs are so beautiful. Here is a link to a recent visit to Central Park in Huntington Beach. http://jansartandmusings.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-saturday-in-park.html
Your pictures and the links to different articles were super inspiring! I wil be walking this morning 🙂 (and taking pictures..)
Have a wonderful day!
Glad you are enjoying your “walkabouts,” Mary Ann. Ahhhh, the lovely leisure of it all! I am taking an on line painting class w/Flora Bowley (HIGHLY recommend this one!), and one of our homework projects was to take a walk (or a ride, or just do something DIFFERENTLY)without premeditation as to where we would go. I really enjoyed taking a different path and even walked with my eyes closed a couple of times for a short while. I came home w/seed pods, gingko leaves, and a bunch of inspiration. I hope you find lots of that on your new walking paths.
When I retired from teaching I thought for sure that my knees would not recover from day-long standing on concrete for so many years. After our first trip (to Florence) I knew I would have to do something, so we started walking at 6:30 each morning every day. Two trips to Paris later, I am proud to say I can keep up the day long walks in the city (my husband is a planner.) I always take my iPhone with me on my walks so I can take pictures. http://loisreynoldsmead.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/the-walk/ and http://loisreynoldsmead.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/morning-walk-2/ Now, it is a rotten day if I don’t walk…who would have thunk it?
I love walking! Eighteen months ago my husband and I started walking 5 kl (3+miles) 4 days a week. It’s not only a fitness work out, it’s a mental booster as well. We’ve gone days and weeks when we couldn’t walk because we were looking after an ill and dying parent but even with life’s interuptions and minor injuries, we always come back to it. It energizes and takes a crappy day and puts it into perspective. Right now we’re not walking quite as much as we’ve been in a small Mexican town for the last 6 weeks with cobble stones that are really difficult to walk on but it’s a part of my life now and I know as long as I can walk I’ll keep on with it! My friends walked the Camino in Spain last year…20 miles a day for 4 weeks but that takes serious training. Happy walking Maryanne!
PS…. make a few itunes music playlists to listen to on the track.. some for quieter strolls others to get you movin’…so helps to keep your pace. Happy to share my list if you want? Deb
the walking apps sound neato, but i do not walk with my phone or ipad.
erin your walks sound like heaven on earth. what a lovely way to begin and end your days.
yay the walking mary ann. 18 months ago.. is was a real effort for me, now I walk 4-6km per day 5 days min per week. Definely makes you feel well walking in the sushine, dawn & dusk, in the rain and even under rainbows.
i put my success down to a little iphone app called WALK METER which I think I read about on Ali Edwards blog some time back. (i note others have been mentioned here and I have check out many over the time this one is truly THE BEST of the BEST in my ever so humble opinion LOL)
yes it is brilliant! plots your course, gives you the distance.. will talk to you every three minutes to tell you how far you have travelled and your pace speed, automatically keeps a calendar and will even send a message back to someone so they know you are out walking and where if you so desire (great for when you are on the path alone), plus so many other great features.
keep up with your walking… so many new paths to walk and explore…you’ll find your self excited to be walking each day before you know it and it will become a habit. xxox Deb
Almost makes me want to move to LA! almost.
I drive up to Cambria every morning from Morro Bay and spend 40 minutes or so walking along the Moonstone Beach boardwalk. It’s right on the cliffs overlooking the beach. I get to say “hi” to the sea lions and otters, and at the right time of year even migrating whales. This time of year lots of wildflowers are just beginning to bloom too. In the evenings my wife Margot and I walk along the harbour in Morro Bay – again otters and sea lions- and lots and lots of bird life; egrets, herons, pelicans etc. Ah, it’s a tough life – but someone’s gotta do it!
Erin in Morro Bay
Greetings Moss cottage, so glad your walking walked all my life, till I came down with illness and cant walk anymore so Ill come here and go on your walk abouts with you and dream Im going to. Walking will take you on many of journey and the treasures you will fing if you just look down sketchbook is another gem to have on your walk about with taking 5 or so min to sketch your journey, nothing better,
Have a wonderful day,
Linda
I have been looking for scenic places to walk with the Hound where he can explore without bothering people. I have found a local state park that has an easy loop despite snow and wind. And I would love love a job with the description “Walking, Photographing, Sketching and Journaling.”
Enjoy your walks!
Walking is FUN! I just spent 5 days in New York City and walking I did! Even though it was COLD, I walked everywhere. No particular agenda in mind…,just went where the wind blew… I feel like I KNOW this city. Your 2 feet are you best friends. They let you discover SO much. So glad you are picking up a new routine. Have fun on your next adventure, as I cannot wait to hear where you are heading!!!!
Until recently my exercise consisted of jumping to conclusions and running away from reality. Now my crack medical team is saying I mustmustmust walk, mostly to maintain what I’m told is a quitegood condition. Soooo I found today’s entry a good read, and thanks for the articles and blogs etc. Maybe I’ll just walk on over there now…………or later, with my fiveish glass of wine. Yours from slugville………………….
last year i walked every day and had to give it up due to bursitis, a side effect of hi surgery a couple of years ago. Miss it a lot as it was so much fun and so pleasant to hear the birds singing and to greet neighbors. It is very hilly here and our homes are usually set back and on several acres so it feels at times that you are alone. make it habit that when you return to work you will put it in your schedule. LA has many beautiful walking paths and perfect weather.
a whole ‘nother view of LA 🙂 I like to walk-used to go with my sister to a “nature;/green” area nearby-but we fell out of that habit-so i tend to get on my treadmill and crank up the music or catch up on tv-i prefer the outdoors but 9 mo of the yr it’s too stinking hot here in Texas ~
Enjoy your walks Mary Ann. My favorite walking haunt is up in Northern MN, along the shore of Lake Superior. Beautiful, our midwest version of an ocean. Guys even surf on it in the winter when the wind kicks up amazing waves. All True. They deck out in dive suits and don’t think twice. Another cute story is in the winter when the temps dip below zero, many malls open up at 7am, not the retailers; just the mall so that you can use the halls to walk. Lots and lots of seniors do it, it’s cute to see them power walking around the mall and I dare say, you don’t want to get in their way, they’ll plow right over ya without nary a glance in your direction.
Lovely views Mary Ann. As for this next walkabout with Carol…..Provence?
RUNKEEPER is another good app for walking.
Mary Ann, Do you have the app ACCUPEDO? It’s wonderful. It keeps track of how far you’ve walked and many other things. Such a handy device when walking.
Walking does become a habit that you look forward to. It is a form of exercise that is exhilarating. I live is Wisconsin and walk about our 40 acres of woodland daily. Each season offers natures secrets. Today I strapped on my snowshoes …saw several deer and an owl . Good stuff.
Walking is great great exercise! I too am trying to walk more… so much better than being lazy and doing nothing! We recently moved to FL on the beach and now there are no more excuses.. I hv a beautiful beach to walk on every day….
it really is so so good for you.. at whatever pace u walk… so much to discover and appreciate. xo
bonitarose
Hubby and I love to walk the extensive streamway trails here in the KC area. We’ve watched owlets hatch and grow and learn to fly. We’ve watched wood ducks and herons and kingfishers dabble and dive for food. We love the wildflowers along the trails in all seasons. We’ve seen groundhogs and deer browsing along the stream banks. We also love to walk along the Kansas and Missouri Rivers nearby. Sometimes you can sight eagles fishing along the rivers. If we can get out of town to walk, we do; but when we only have a short time to spare, the city trails are a wonderful bit of nature close-by. I know you will enjoy your new-found walking habit. 🙂
All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I am still waiting for my great thought but every day I go out on a walk, hoping….My advice? Just go do it and take your camera!
I am with you Mary Ann, I am trying to get it to be a habit. Your pictures are lovely.
My last one was at Peters Canyon in O.C. :http://jackilong.blogspot.com/2013/02/day-190-take-hike.html and before that another view/trails at the same park:
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7635550476170647270#editor/target=post;postID=7708613090382994987
http://www.amazon.com/The-Unlikely-Pilgrimage-Harold-Fry/dp/0812983459/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361903179&sr=8-1&keywords=rachel+joyce
The best book ever about walking
Definitely a book you want to take with you when you and Carol are heading off to the house just outside the hilltop village.
connie – youre a fitness stud! about where were going…in due time. in due time.
p.s. so where are we going in 7 weeks?
A fave walk of mine in L.A. ~ from Fern Dell up to the Observatory and back. Quite a workout, too.