I am determined that we are going to train at least 10 miles every week in February. Given that self-made promise, our only walking time option in a busy vacation-week schedule today was to walk first thing in the morning.
In the summer we often start our walk at dawn. In the warm months, walking early in the day means that we will be walking at the “bunny time of day” when we are sure to see critters enjoying the world before things heat up too much.
But walking first thing in the morning this time of year means intentionally deciding to walk while the temps are guaranteed to be below freezing. And yet, that was the decision we made. There was no snow in the forecast, no reason not to walk.
Waking up to a sunny day that looked a whole lot colder outside than it was under our blankets shook my resolve. But a promise is a promise. And so we dragged ourselves out from beneath our cozy comfort; dressed in layers and headed out the door. It turned out that the sun was bright and we were dressed in just the right layers. The sunshine felt great and my legs were strong. It was a rewarding walk.
I wanted to stay in bed. I wanted to wallow in the warm laziness of vacation-brain. It would have been so easy to just roll over and stay in bed, but where is the reward in that? Whose memory would that have honored?
Every time I walk, I am walking for somebody currently in treatment who wishes she could walk. Every time I get out there, I am choosing life. Every time I face something I don’t want to do, I am walking for my friend Mary Kay, who wanted to have years more walking with her kids. Every time I walk, I am remembering the lesson I learned on my very first 3Day walk. The walk can get hard, the blisters can ache, my knees can burn from the inside out; but through it all, it really is just a walk. It’s just getting out of bed and believing that I can do whatever has to come next. Isn’t that all life really is? It’s just one foot in front of the other, and I can keep on doing that. We all can.
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