Walking Around...and Around....and Around...

This morning I walked a trio of loops around Lafayette Reservoir plus a series of fartleks. Put it all together it added up to 10 miles at a satisfying and comfortable 14:31 mpm average with negative splits on the back half. I ain't complaining. In fact, I had such a good time I was nearly giddy heading into the final loop.

It's been said a person needs to love to walk to walk. It's not about the next race, or how far you walk or where you walk or what destination you'll reach at the end of your walk...it's walking for walking's sake and I'm grateful to the bone that I walked those miles today because if I wouldn't have walked, I would have missed. . .

• A crisp cool morning sheltered by low-laying fog before the heat of the day presses in.
• Exchanging "Good Morning"' and a smile with strangers who passed me on the path.
• Three deer grazing in tall grass.
• An elderly couple strolling arm in arm with their heads held close so they could hear each other's words.
• Young moms with their children and old men with their dogs.
• A flock of red-winged sparrows.
• The giggles and squeals of a herd/gaggle/swarm of young children at outdoor day camp.
• The strength of my legs and the sweat on my neck.
• Ice cold water waiting in my car at the end of each loop.
• Calling my sister only to discover we were walking our 10 milers at the same time six hundred miles apart from each other.

It was a great day for a walk.