Saturday, February 23, 2008

this is weird, but true

Ok. I haven't been able to get my walking in for a few days. We had an ice storm, I am working on a deadline, yadda, yadda, yadda. But here is what is weird -- I really really find that I miss it. I have gotten used to taking a walk, and apparently, it has become a habit.

The creators of the 10,000 step plan say it takes about 21 days of daily repetition to develop a habit. And it's been, ummmm, about 21 days. So. I am a walker, now.

And there are benefits. My stress level is manageable, despite the looming deadline (Monday morning, 9am, http://www.nihandhopkinscme.org launches). And my knees, while painful, are much less debilitating than last winter. The more I sit at a desk chair, or at a table, or in a movie theatre seat, the worse my knees hurt. It's got something to do with keeping my knees bent at a 90 degree angle, which apparently my knees are not constructed to handle.

So now, I get up and take a walk "around the block" every hour or two. "Around the block" is a walk around the central concourse of my building at work. It's all indoor hallways, and is about 650 steps per lap. And at lunch, I walk the hallways of the hospital complex, which is much larger, and has windows to the outside. Once the weather gets warmer, I will be able to walk outdoors and my distance should improve.

1 comment:

Kitten Herder said...

Excellent to hear. Likewise, my back is much happier if I take "a walk around the block" about once every 90 minutes or so.

I guess we humans were not really meant to be seated, sedentary, creatures.