Walk, Hike, Trek, Mosey, Meander, Amble, Ramble, Saunter, Stroll, Hoof it, Tramp, Stride, Wander, Tread, Roam, Traipse, Move, Go, Proceed, Make Way, Perambulate, On foot, Stretch the legs, Leg it, Sashay, Stalk, Strut, Swagger, Shuffle, Stagger, Stumble, Toddle, Waddle, Scramble and Trot.
An entire paragraph of Walk Synonyms. Stagger, Stumble and Waddle bring up some bad memories and there are a few more possibilities I suppose but I prefer quality over quantity. It’s probably apparent by the website domain, (3MPH.ORG) that we think walking is important. Beyond survival requirements; breathing, drinking, eating and sleeping -walking is perhaps the most important thing that we can do.
Doodlebug
My first real job as an adult was a Doodlebugger. Doodlebugger’s walk a lot. I expect I averaged 9-10 miles a day. Roaming the High Plains, Hiking in the Mountains, Trekking across Deserts, Meandering down Canyons, Hoofing it through Badlands, Scrambling over Foothills and Sauntering in the Islands – what an awesome job. On my time off I went hiking, backpacking and wandering. I don’t know how many pairs of hiking boots and running shoes I destroyed in that 10 years but I estimate I walked enough miles to circumnavigate the earth at least once, (roughly 25,000 miles).
“Not all those who wander are lost.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien
In that time, I never gained a pound. I was a lean, mean, walking machine. Then I got married, had a family and decided it was time to get off the Road, so we moved to town. I took a management position and spent more time behind the wheel of a pickup truck, on an airplane or in a rental car than walking. In another 10 years as I graduated into middle age, I switched jobs. A full-time desk jockey in the Drilling Engineering Center. The only walking was from the house to the car, to the desk, the coffee pot and the Operation Support Center.
Middle Age
Then right around the middle of my middle age, I went in for a physical and a heart stress test. A lean, mean walking machine I was not. After nearly throwing up on the treadmill, we finished the rest of the poking, prodding and testing. Then the prognosis. The good news is that your prostrate is not overly enlarged. The bad news is that you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, your triglycerides are out of whack and you’re obese. Damn, I just thought I was big boned.
I know that obesity didn’t just sneak up on me one night in a dark alley. But there I was, listening to the prognosis, surprised that the doctor was actually talking to me. He recommended some medications to help with the cholesterol and blood pressure, said I should probably get more exercise. “How do you feel about walking?” He asked.
Walking is man’s best medicine. – Hippocrates
I waddled out, wondering why I had let myself get to this point. How on earth did I not recognize what was happening. I weighed in at close to 260 pounds. 80 pounds more than I weighed when I was traipsing around the countryside back in the day. I was dragging the weight of a small person around all day as I slogged about the office searching for another cup of coffee. There’s another one for the list, ‘slog.’
Good Stuff
I started walking again. Not like Forrest Gump but an hour in the morning, before work and again at night. The pounds of fat started melting away. The mind fog cleared. My blood pressure normalized. The cholesterol problem went away. But that wasn’t the good stuff. I was out in nature watching the sun rise every morning. Life slowed down, I was experiencing it, instead of watching it zoom by the window of the car. I started hiking, backpacking and climbing again.
I’ve continued to increase my daily mileage in the last decade or so, as I advance toward old age. I’m not back to the 9-10 miles per day of my youth but I am a lot closer to that, than what I was getting riding the desk. As I look around in the Great Wide World, I see a lot of folks waddling about, carrying the weight of a mini me along for the ride. I am so glad the doctor asked that question so many years ago. “How do you feel about walking?” Walking may just be the key to life.
“All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Walking is so much more than a physical endeavor, it has a special relationship to creativity. Research has documented several ways that walking and physical activity can influence and improve cognition. Here is an interesting research paper from Stanford; “Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking” Body, Mind and Spirit all benefit from a good brisk walk. 3MPH – The Speed of Life.