It’s irony at it’s best. In Change #11 I wrote about registering for the 10 km hypothermic run in March of next year. Now, I write about walking instead.
But sometimes I need to slow it down. Take a step back and relax a bit. But, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult as I race to work, home, through chores, to walk my dog, workouts, get groceries and tend to my writing with any time that remains. I run on 6 hours of sleep from Sunday through Thursday night and on Saturday and Sunday I sleep in till 5:30 am. (I am up at 4:30 am the other days.) I don’t even have kids. I honestly don’t know how people with children do it. I can barely manage the pup.
Today, I had breakfast at home with the hubby. It gave us a chance to chat about the upcoming presidential election in the USA (yup, we’re watching over here), our jobs, and of course on a much lighter note – LBM (Little Brown Monster). It was a wide range of conversations, that gave us the opportunity to reconnect.
After my long standing tea date with a friend, I left my car in the downtown core and walked from downtown Ottawa to Lansdowne along the Canal. It was a beautiful fall day; it was overcast and cool but it made for ideal walking conditions. It was nice just to be outside. I seem to have spent all summer indoors, missing the very long summer we had.
When I use to run more consistently, I would run the stretch from the core to Lansdowne and beyond it. I thought about running today. But I didn’t want to run. I wanted to walk it. I wanted to have a chance to gaze at the orange-yellow fall colours without my headphones pounding out the rhythms of Ed Sheeran, Adele, or One Republic (I love you all, but sometimes it’s nice to hear natural sounds); or the ongoing beep, beep of my watch that orders me to run or walk. (Those 10’s and 1’s.)
I wanted to savour the moment; feel the wind on my face, watch the man that walked over to the side of the railing of the canal and just gazed across to the other side. Running is wonderful; it energizes me, helps my concentration, and helps me relax and guarantees me a good night’s rest. But so does resting.
I have rarely walked this route . Time and I, are consistently in a fight. But there’s a time and place for both running and walking. And today I chose to walk.
Pushing Boundaries 