I used to enjoy running, but my hips and knees had differing opinions. After much consultation we all amicably decided on switching to the next best activity: walking.
During the pandemic I, like many others, became curious to see if I could walk 10,000 steps a day.
I work fairly long hours and I wanted to a way to exercise and wind down. I didn’t fancy exercising late into the night very much, as there was already precious little of that left, so to get my steps in, I settled upon splitting my walking into two main sessions, one at lunch and one after work.
The first order of business, where to walk? I work is close to a park, so my lunch hour is spent on a neighbourhood walk to clear my mind for the afternoon’s tasks. That solved half my problem.
I commute on the subway, but I reasoned that I live close enough from where I work that I could make walking work. There is also another nice park between my house and my office that I can walk through. So I took the plunge and quit my evening commute in favor of walking home. I did contemplate walking to work, but that was the less practical choice because of time and a desire to not arrive at work sweaty.
My daily walks have led to a number of positive benefits:
- A more delightful view of the world. I deliberately route my walk through a park, even though it takes longer, because it is relaxing to walk through trees and flowers each night, especially during the warmer months when everything is in full bloom.
- It saves me money. I quite literally halved my commuting costs.
- A reduction of stress. I’m a big proponent of public transit, but likewise, I do get stressed if I get stuck in a non-moving subway train, especially one stopped in a tunnel between stations. Owing to the frequent delays and slow service of the New York subway, I find I am much less stressed walking, since I am in control of my pace and where I am. I’m not sitting helplessly in a dimly lit carriage for no apparent reason breathing dank tunnel air.
- Time saving? Kinda. It takes me around 40 minutes to walk home, depending on my pace, since I use a deliberately circuitous route. Even so, with transit delays and service interruptions, which seem more prevalent at night, I can often beat the subway by walking. Come on MTA, you can do better.
- I map out and explore residential neighbourhoods that I assume few others do, except the people living there. New York is full of quirky buildings and sights in all sorts of random locations; it’s fun chancing upon something new.
- I lost weight. Rather obviously more exercise usually helps lower your weight.
So far, I’ve stuck with my regime for the past 5 years and I aim to walk a thousand miles a year. I’m glad I made the switch and I hope to keep it going. I encourage everyone to give it a go if they can.
Do you enjoy walking? Have you tried walking to/from work?