Day 1: April 21, 2013

                                                    Day 1: 6.33 miles  

Well, I almost made an excuse not to do this today...I almost made up many. But, at 5:30 pm, I finally got myself out the door and out on my first day of my 30 day - five mile challenge. I started it off today with the most beautiful walk along the Marina Green. It was a gorgeous day in San Francisco, and the weather was clear and warm. I walked down the hill to the Marina and walked along Crissy Field. At mile 3, I put my fingers in the ocean, drew a heart in the sand, and stood there amazed at how long it took me to realize that the ocean, with sand and seals and star fish is just a walk from my house. This walk today made me feel so incredibly fortunate! It also made me feel more alive than I have been. I saw other people living too! Dogs chasing balls, and couples smiling and laughing, kids looking with awe at the ocean, and some wacky WACKY outfits. The best part of this was that it got me outside, and seeing the world. 

I walked slowly, checking out the views, and noticing as many things around me as I could. I am not worried about the time it takes me to walk these five miles, just that I get outside and walk. I know that I will not have two hours to devote to this each day, but, today I wasn't worried. Part of the reason that I am doing this is that I want to live my life more fully. I want to enjoy what is around me. I find myself in a rut, and often too exhausted at the end of the day to do much of anything. Therefore, often the only thing I see is the inside of my house, the road home from work, and to be honest the tv. For a girl who didn't even have tv for 5 years, that is pretty bad. So, if it takes me two hours, I don't mind, as long as I am outside, feeling alive, I am where I need to be. The real challenge is going to be keeping this up during the work week, so it looks like I will have to speed it up a little. Thirty days :) Looking forward to what I will see tomorrow. 

Inspiration and Solidarity

I created this blog years ago, and only a week ago discovered what I would use it for. I came here to write because I feel a renewed sense of urgency and inspiration. A mentor of mine is going through cancer treatment. He recently sent out an email saying that he is in his 5th round of chemotherapy, and he is working hard to survive and live fully. He wrote additionally that he walks five miles a day, every day. This line stopped me in my tracks. To be honest, it stopped me in my bed, lounging on a lazy, sunny, Saturday morning. I thought to myself, how can I justify going a day without getting outside and moving, when someone just across town, between cancer treatments is making sure he gets outside for five miles every day? 

His email also brought up for me the degree to which I take my health and my ability to walk, and move around freely for granted. I know when I think about it, that there will be a day when I will not be able to move around the way that I can today. I also know that when that day comes, I will miss what I have today. So I decided that I too, would walk five miles. I'm not saying I will walk for five miles a day forever, but I feel a challenge and a desire, to walk in solidarity with him, for my health, and to support him on his fight for his. 

My challenge for myself this month is that I will walk 5 miles a day for the next thirty days***.  This will do several things: 1) get me outside 2) get me moving 3) get me breathing 4) keep me grateful for my health 5) prolong my health and 6) bring sexy back. ;) More seriously, it will help me to support a friend, in a small, private and personal way. 

By the end of these 30 days, I will have walked 150 miles. Wow! Together we will have traversed 300 miles. Amazing!

I will post a picture of something from my walk each day. Can't wait to see what I find along my way.

***Because there will be some days when walking 5 miles will not be possible, I will aspire to 150 miles this month, and I am permitted to have the distance vary slightly day to day. Also, if I skip a day, I can catch up on another day.