February 28, 2013
While my friends and my parents--my two most avid cheerleaders--have all been extremely supportive and encouraging of my weight loss work, in the last year almost all of them have expressed concern at some point about the fact that I'm walking on a busy, four-lane highway. I do understand their anxiety, and I'm not blind to the possible dangers. One day last September a flat-bed semi blew one of its re-treads all over the north bound lanes while I watched from the south bound side of the highway. Fifteen minutes earlier, I had been walking on that very spot. Thinking about those possibilities, and other physical exercise issues, I decided to say something about shoulder walking safety. I guess this is my disclaimer.
First, and most importantly, I have no credentials, not in medicine or in physical training. I'm not making any recommendations about anything because I don't know anything. Any practices I talk about have grown out of my own ignorance and what seems right for me and shouldn't be construed as a suggestion or advice. Second, the purpose of this blog is not to promote walking on the shoulders of highways. Frankly, my family and friends are probably right in thinking that it's not the best idea. I appreciate their concerns, but I do take a lot of safety precautions. I never walk in inclement weather or when visibility is low, and I wear brightly colored clothing. I always walk toward the traffic--although, in the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that, when I first started walking and hadn't developed enough stamina to do the full loop, I would retrace my steps back to the start which meant walking with my back to the traffic. I was never comfortable in that situation, and I think that discomfort motivated me to keep pushing on to make the full loop as quickly as I could.
I know that walking facing the traffic doesn't mean that I will be able to leap away from an out of control car, but I always watch to see if the oncoming drivers are paying attention to me. On my route I walk close to the far edge of the Highway 30 shoulder which is wide and well-maintained. The rumble strip at the edge of the highway pavement alerts drivers when they begin to drift which is fortunate because it probably won't surprise anyone how frequently I see drivers holding their cells at the top of their steering wheels as they attempt to text and drive, and, not surprisingly, drift around their lane of traffic. Actually, it can be entertaining to watch what the drivers are doing. There's a lot of eating, drinking, singing, laughing, arguing, and kissing going on in cars speeding down the highway. Who would have thought the interiors of our moving automobiles were such a hotbed of activity?
Assuming drivers are going to do what they're suppose to do is dangerous, so, even when the signal lights which mark each end of my loop are in my favor, I wait until the traffic has come to a stop before I step off the curb to cross those four lanes of highway. At first I experienced some real fear about those two times I cross the road on my daily shoulder stroll. There's a pulse-fluttering moment of vulnerability when stepping over that white line onto the pavement where pedestrians don't really belong. Early on, after checking that I couldn't see any cars for nearly a mile, heart in throat, I scampered fearfully across the lanes as though some phantom semi would suddenly materialize and mow me down. As I've grown physically stronger, however, I've developed a certain confidence that keeps my overactive imagination and fearful negativity in check. Crossing the highway more easily now, I'm also more willing to take on new challenges like performing in public, sharing my creative compositions, and even, terror of terrors, going on blind dates! Yikes!
I do listen to music as I walk--more about my playlist in a later blog--but, when I walk on my two-way, subdivision street, I always remove one ear bud, so I can hear the traffic coming up behind me. Although the majority of my neighbors sweetly wave at me or even call out encouragement when I'm walking in our neighborhood, that small street is, ironically, where I've felt the most uncomfortable; not everyone slows down or gives me a wide berth.
As for dealing with the actual physical exertion of doing the walk, I don't have too many guidelines. I don't carry water with me. My five-mile trip takes an average of 75 to 80 minutes--I'm not setting any land speed records. That amount of time seems short enough to go without a water bottle even in the early morning hours of July and August. I do chew gum to keep my mouth moist. I drink water regularly each day, but not immediately before I walk. I can't be stuck halfway through my routine and need to use the bathroom. I always use sun block and wear sunglasses, not just for the glare, but in case grit from the highway flies in my face. I invested in a good pair of walking shoes and some wool socks which I have to replace soon. It makes me grin to think that I've literally worn out a pair of athletic shoes--me!
The concerns of family and friends not withstanding, I'm being pretty careful, and my walk is the highlight of my day. Okay, end of disclaimer. More posts to come.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Shouldering the Load
February 26, 2013
On March 21, 2011, I was 56 years old, six months into my retirement after having taught high school English and theatre for 33 years, the single mother of an only child who had left home for her first year of college, and I weighed 280 pounds. I'd love to say that I woke up that morning knowing that the day was going to be a turning point in my life, but I can't. I never believe people who say they knew they'd reached a pivotal moment in their lives. Life doesn't work that way. The only way we know we've crossed a threshold or reached a tipping point is when we pause to look back. So I had no idea that day would end any differently than the hundreds of other times I had pulled out an old Weight Watchers program and a small, spiral notebook and began, again, to try to do something about my weight. I don't remember what my thoughts were. In my heart of hearts, I probably thought I'd end up putting the papers and notebook away at some point without being successful, again. So no one was more surprised than I was when, day by day, I continued to stick to the plan, and not just day by day but week by week and month by month and, ultimately, year by year. I'm a little less than a month from the two year anniversary of that day in March, and I've lost 115 pounds so far.
As significant as that weight loss journey has been, however, it's not the subject of this blog. That story is merely background. The events of this blog begin nearly a year after that day in March when I decided that I needed to add some exercise to my program. I had lost about 55 pounds, but progress had slowed, so I decided to take a walk. My community isn't particularly conducive to walking. There are no sidewalks, no paths, not even much paved roadway unless you count the nearby state highway which is what I decided to do.....walk on the shoulder of the highway. And that's what I've been doing for nearly a year -- shouldering the load on the shoulder of the road. Pounding away nearly every day at my five mile route on the shoulder of the highway, I lost the additional weight, but I also began to realize that there was more to the load I was carrying than ounces and pounds. I came to understand that insecurity, loneliness, fear in a thousand different forms, disappointment, and a crippling inferiority complex were all part of the burden that weighed me down as much as any of the fat that hung from my bones. The hours I've spent striding up and down hills as the traffic roared past have allowed me the opportunity to focus on those elements of my weight, and, the more closely I examined those encumbrances, the more they began to diminish along with my hips and thighs. Trekking alongside the highway, I've had some moments of clarity, discovered a few insights, and enjoyed some silliness. So I thought over the next days or weeks or months, I might share some of the things that I've discovered and experienced as I've shouldered the load.
On March 21, 2011, I was 56 years old, six months into my retirement after having taught high school English and theatre for 33 years, the single mother of an only child who had left home for her first year of college, and I weighed 280 pounds. I'd love to say that I woke up that morning knowing that the day was going to be a turning point in my life, but I can't. I never believe people who say they knew they'd reached a pivotal moment in their lives. Life doesn't work that way. The only way we know we've crossed a threshold or reached a tipping point is when we pause to look back. So I had no idea that day would end any differently than the hundreds of other times I had pulled out an old Weight Watchers program and a small, spiral notebook and began, again, to try to do something about my weight. I don't remember what my thoughts were. In my heart of hearts, I probably thought I'd end up putting the papers and notebook away at some point without being successful, again. So no one was more surprised than I was when, day by day, I continued to stick to the plan, and not just day by day but week by week and month by month and, ultimately, year by year. I'm a little less than a month from the two year anniversary of that day in March, and I've lost 115 pounds so far.
As significant as that weight loss journey has been, however, it's not the subject of this blog. That story is merely background. The events of this blog begin nearly a year after that day in March when I decided that I needed to add some exercise to my program. I had lost about 55 pounds, but progress had slowed, so I decided to take a walk. My community isn't particularly conducive to walking. There are no sidewalks, no paths, not even much paved roadway unless you count the nearby state highway which is what I decided to do.....walk on the shoulder of the highway. And that's what I've been doing for nearly a year -- shouldering the load on the shoulder of the road. Pounding away nearly every day at my five mile route on the shoulder of the highway, I lost the additional weight, but I also began to realize that there was more to the load I was carrying than ounces and pounds. I came to understand that insecurity, loneliness, fear in a thousand different forms, disappointment, and a crippling inferiority complex were all part of the burden that weighed me down as much as any of the fat that hung from my bones. The hours I've spent striding up and down hills as the traffic roared past have allowed me the opportunity to focus on those elements of my weight, and, the more closely I examined those encumbrances, the more they began to diminish along with my hips and thighs. Trekking alongside the highway, I've had some moments of clarity, discovered a few insights, and enjoyed some silliness. So I thought over the next days or weeks or months, I might share some of the things that I've discovered and experienced as I've shouldered the load.
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