A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to 8 Miles....

All of last week’s walks felt like a fight for some reason. Wrong gait, wrong technique, wrong this that or the next thing. On Sat I went out for my long walk and had an awakening of sorts….or maybe common sense finally stepped in.

Patrick had a 10 mile trail event, so it was truly a solo 8 miler for me. No worries that he’d be waiting for me to finish to head home so decided to head down to a really nice (flat) trail and try to have a better walk.

It’s the I&M Canal trail – a crushed limestone surface that was the old tow path for the canal traffic before the larger shipway was created. The path actually sits between the two water ways so you have the small canal on one side and the wide one on the other. Nicely shaded almost the entire way as well.

Unlike other trails we’ve used, this one was oddly but pleasantly quiet. No runners so into their zone they don’t see anyone else or cyclists blurring by without any warning (I cycle and HATE that –always announce yourself please). On my outbound 4 miles I encountered about 6 people in total. Everyone said “good morning” and the 2 cyclists that came from behind me announced themselves (thank you).

Parked at the trailhead, grabbed my amphipod and iPod and prepared to set out. It was 7.30a and although temp was a pleasant 68, it was 85% humidity. Yep, going to be soggy mess in about oh, 15 min.

So I set off and did what I promised myself, take the entire first mile nice and easy. When the Garmin chimed the mile, I switched gears and very shortly found myself right where I had all week. Calves/shins start to hurt, unable to get the right feel. Tried switching to songs that usually help with tempo but no good. Getting angry and doubting myself and thinking this is going to be one long nasty walk if this keeps up.

Then I hear plopping type noises coming from the small canal. Took out ear buds and looked toward the sound to see fish jumping up to feed on surface bugs. With the iPod off I also hear more than just the birds closest to me. There are full beautiful songs going on out there and looking around (instead of trying to concentrate on a spot along the trail) I see all kinds of birds going from tree to tree. And butterflies – lots of them – on the wildflowers that line the path. Then there’s the wildflowers themselves and sun in broken patterns across trees, leaves and flowers. Then I noticed two fishermen quietly casting lines from their boat on the larger body of water which the sunlight had given a shimmering silver appearance.

Soon I’m coming up on one of the trail signs. They’re not every mile but when there show distance to next park/access area as well as little bits of history on the canal system. It showed 0.1 mile to next spot and last one I saw showed 2.1 miles. Funny, didn’t feel like I’d gone 2 miles. Looked at Garmin and realized had less than a half mile to go until time to turn around. I made sure the iPod was off and coiled the ear buds around it for the journey back. Not using it anymore today.

Just before the turnaround heard the familiar “on your left” so waved my hand to let them know I heard. It was a couple on a tandem recumbent (looked cool). They were in the same parking lot getting the bike out of their car and put together when I headed onto the trail. As they came up alongside me the lady said “Wow, you walk fast! Have a great day.” I hollered “Thanks and you too!” then thought - me, walk fast? Not really, so many people faster than me but….thanks. You can see the smile that crept onto my face, right? :-)

On my way back I saw really big flowering water lilies in the small canal (at which point made note to bring camera next time), heard woodpeckers ‘talking’ to each other from one side of the water to the other, boats heading out of the marina, a tug pushing 3 barge containers. I slowed as I came upon a bridge over a mini waterfall to enjoy the sound and sight just a little longer then picked up the pace again.

There were more people on the path the closer to the parking area I got and I realized something. With the exception of myself and 2 others I saw, no one here appeared to be training for anything. They were out enjoying the weather, the day, each other and just getting out. Walking, casually biking and saying Hello to everyone else who had come out.

I also realized the walk had gone far better after I shut off the music and stopped analyzing every single step I took. Nasty habit of mine and it had gotten the better of me all week. With the music running I focused on staying with the beat, checking arms, legs, core, swing, push, etc until I can’t figure out what’s right or what’s wrong. On that trail when I listened to nature and just let the body move itself along, it was comfortable and it felt good. Do still check my shoulders as they pull up when I move faster.

Plus negative splits! Every mile was faster than the previous one …well until the last one (it was mostly in the sun, I was hot, dripping wet and hungry. GU’s only work for so long.)

So seems I need more “nature” walks. I’ve always enjoyed hiking for the sites, sounds, smells (ok sometimes not the smells) and the people you encounter on those trails. For some reason I thought in order to be a better, faster walker I had to give that up when on training walks. Not so. Appears that’s when I need it even more.

Not saying I’ll never walk without my iPod – let’s face it, some places are not scenic – but I will definitely start enjoying the music regardless where it’s coming from.