Unexpected walk

Wednesday:

My annual parking pass for the Arboretum finally arrived so I was going to go and write at the café there this morning, but apparently there was a five-car pile up near there and the traffic was really bad so I ended up going to the lake for a walk. I was dressed right for a walk because I'd planned to go on a short stroll at the Arboretum anyway before getting down to work, but I didn't have a drink with me or sunscreen on my arms (only SPF face-cream on my face and chest).

It took me a while to get into a good walking rhythm. It was a really hot day, even at 9.30am, and I don't like the heat much, and the flies were really bugging me. But after a while I started enjoying it. I was listening to a zombie mission and my own music playlist and there was lots to look at and find pleasure in. The circuit between the two bridges used to be 5K but they've done some work on the paths and the road crossings and I think it is significantly further now - actually just checked my zombie app and I walked 5.73 km - at around 4.5 km/h, which for me is brisk walk. So it took me well over an hour. About one km from the end I suddenly ran out of energy. I could barely drag myself back to the car, and I would have stopped to rest except I was also really hungry and thirsty. There are bubblers (drinking fountains) at intervals around the lake but I'd only had one drink early on and then didn't find another one in the last bit when I needed it.

I had a banana in the car so I sat in the shade and ate that, and then I had a dilemma. I was really thirsty, and there were a couple of food outlets within a couple of hundred meters of my car where I could have bought a bottle of water. But I was also ravenously hungry, and I didn't trust myself to make good choices if I exposed myself to the sight and smell of calorie-laden food. I'd already decided not to go into the library to write, I was too hot and tired and sweaty, so I just went home. All the way home I imagined tearing into a slice of roast beef! I used that to keep my mind off more starchy and sugary foods. As soon as I got home I had two glasses of water and ate my lunch (even though it was only 11.15) of leftover roast. Delicious.

The soles of my feet were very sore by the end, I need to toughen them up again with more long walks. My hips didn't hurt while walking but they were very stiff and sore when I got out of the car at home after sitting for a quarter of an hour after the walk, and still hurt now two hours later. Got to get this body a lot fitter and more flexible! And maybe start carrying sunscreen in the car; the sides of my neck, exposed by a ponytail and not covered in face cream, are a bit pink.

So I've done my exercise for the day, 9000 steps so far, but that doesn't absolve me from my other work so I'd better get on with it.

photo by longreach