I used to wish I was a runner. But, I’m built wrong for the sport (bottom heavy) and since my knee injury back in 1999 my kneecap doesn’t work right for running. So I walk instead. And I love it.
My grandmother was a walker. She never learned to drive, or ride a bicycle, and after my grandfather died she thought nothing of walking three or five miles to grocery shop or go to the bank or elsewhere. She taught me the joy of long walks, how they might make you feel overwhelmed at the start, but provide growing satisfaction as you continued, and a sense of accomplishment at the end. She pointed out sights along the way when we walked together and encouraged me to pay attention to what was around me. Grandma was always a stickler about posture and encouraged me to maintain good posture as I walked – that’s stuck with me as well.
Through middle school and high school I walked to school and back almost every day – our house was two miles away from each school. The trip to the schools was downhill meaning home was uphill almost all the way – I always felt a little discouraged every time I started that walk but I got it done. I lived at my grandmother’s for a few months while I was in middle school and it was the same distance but the thankfully the route was flat. However, there weren’t as many trees shading me along the way. You take the good with the bad though when you walk.
We walked countless miles through the countryside in England
I count walking, along with maintaining a healthy diet, as one of the main reasons I have remained in good health (so far). Walking is another tool I use to help maintain my weight or lose a few pounds when necessary. I’m a brisk walker; you might not know sometimes that Brett and I are together because I often walk ahead of him (although if he wants to he can easily pace or overtake me). I’ve tried to slow down but it just doesn’t work – there’s a pace my legs like to walk and if I try anything different they rebel. The only issue I have when I walk is going down hills, a leftover from my knee injury. It’s the reason I don’t go hiking any more: I can go up, but coming down is killer.
I am pretty much miserable when I cannot get out for a walk. I become feel restless and unhappy, like something is missing and I can’t find it. Apparently those endorphins that surge when I walk are real. A walk truly does lift my mood and keep it up for the rest of the day.
Some of our favorite walks/hikes on Kauai (clockwise from the upper left): Kukuiolono Park & Golf Course, Old Hapa Road, Stone Dam Trail, East Side Beach Path, Maha’ulepu Trail, Waiokapua Bay Trail, Mahaulepu Trail
Hawaii provided the most memorable locations for walks, but there hasn’t been a place we’ve lived where we haven’t found trails or paths to get in at least a few miles most days. When we were traveling full time we walked a LOT, almost daily, sometimes up to eight or nine miles, but the calorie-burning benefits were often outweighed by French pastries, a daily stop for gelato, or cake and tea.
These days as long it’s not raining I walk for two miles every afternoon. I may have gotten in more steps when I worked at Trader Joe’s, but my daily walk is 40 minutes at a consistent pace, with my heart rate raised for a healthy period of time, something I didn’t get at TJ’s. Could I walk for a longer distance or period of time? Yes, and we occasionally walk other trails in the area that provide more mileage, but for now I’m happy with what I’m doing and the course I walk with its uphills and downhills. It works for me.
The Occasional Nomads 
The one thing people cannot understand about a torn meniscus is that it hurts to go down ramps like someone is ripping out my kneecap! Going up stairs was/is less painful.
I do miss walking just out of necessity, not for a walk. Maybe a mile–but I could feel stress rolling off my shoulders. It is a good feeling.
Practical Parsimony
LikeLike
Any damage to the knee makes going downhill difficult and often (very) painful. I am so grateful though that I can still walk following my knee injury, but going downhill is still very difficult.
Lots of endorphins get released when you walk – it’s a great way to relieve stress.
LikeLike
Try walking like downhill skiing and go side to side, it takes longer but more comfortable. I find it helps and use hiking poles. Many that walk the Camino de Santiago have said that the poles saved their knees big time going down the many hills.
LikeLike
I had poles and used them on walks in Hawaii, especially where there were lots of rocks. They would have been great for downhills but I mostly avoided those. If I was ever going to do a long walk it would be with poles! Even using just one makes a difference.
LikeLike
I have a major goal of walking Haridian’s wall in England in two years.
I love to walk, but I have increasingly become lazy about it. Like you, I often walked home from school. I was older- high school-and it was further- five+ miles. In the Phoenix heat I could pay .25 and take the bus four miles and walk the last bit. Those four miles, though, were a tree arched path. I rarely took the bus.
September 2025- come and join us for a great hike- the guides move your bags for you. Yup, I’m lazy 😇.
LikeLike
Well, I’d be up for going on that walk except we expect to just be settling into our new digs somewhere at that time.
I will walk in hot weather – I found that putting a damp cotton towel or bandana around my neck helps to regulate the effects of the heat and humidity.
The interesting thing about walking is the more frequently I do it, the more I want to do it and get restless when I can’t get out.
LikeLike
I’m a walker too. So is Mr S. When we go away somewhere, we walk. People always assume we’d drive places but walking is what we do. Clears the head after work which is a bonus.
I’m not a runner either. Big boobs are not happy when the host runs.
LikeLike
We live so close to so many places here that would be walkable except for the traffic. It terrifies me in a car; there’s no way I’d walk anywhere near it! But, we used to walk all over the place versus driving when we lived in Portland.
I guess I’m both bottom heavy AND top heavy. Definitely not built for running.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I recognized the palm trees at Kuks immediately as I scrolled down and we walked all your other pictured Kauai locations several times as well except Waiokapua Bay Trail. I never investigated, but assume we would not have had access through PMRF. We’ve found places to walk in Ventura, some even along the ocean, but like you, none as memorable as Kauai.
LikeLike
I find something beautiful on every walk (thanks, Grandma!), even in cities, even when I walk around our apartment complex, but *nothing* will top the beauty of Kaua’i. I feel blessed to have lived there and experienced it.
LikeLike
I’ve never loved running, although I did give it a try to lose weight after babies. Over time, I needed both my knees scoped for torn meniscus (menisci?) and they’ve now been described as “bone on bone” by the surgeons. So walking it is. At our previous house, there were hills on my regular path, and I could never figure out why walking uphill didn’t hurt but the downhills were killer. Based on your comments and others here, I learned something. 🙂
LikeLike
I was always active and running around but when my P.E. teacher in high school for three years had us run around the track first thing every day I discovered very quickly I was not built for sustained running. It was drudgery/difficult for me from the start. The longest I’ve ever run was the two miles required to graduate from navy boot camp, and nothing could have kept me from finishing that – I wanted out of there!
I believe I have reached “bone on bone” in my left knee and see a knee replacement in my future although I’m not there yet. When I shattered my kneecap in 1999, the surgeon that did the repair said I would probably need a replacement within 10 years, but it never bothered me (well, except for going downhill or downstairs) until this past year. He did a good job!
LikeLike
Hi Laura & Brett
We are walkers as well. We hardly ever run. We use walking to think about our work or what we have read. You can’t do that when running. We love to walk along the beach behind our house, and we think it’s necessary to move and not only sit reading and writing.
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
Beach walking is the best – I miss that about living here in the middle of the U.S. – and envy your closeness to a beach.
Brett and I sometimes use our walking time to sort through things together, but other times we think things through on our own and then talk it over when we get back. We each notice different things too when we are out: I’m into the colors of things while Brett focuses on the natural world – he sees things I would never focus on while I point out the colors and contrasts that he misses.
A day I can’t go out for a long walk is a sad day for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Laura
I live in a similar relationship, my wife is a photographer and I am an author. She focuses on things I wouldn’t even notice. I like this new perspective I get presented.
Thanks and have a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
Your partnership with your wife is the ideal team in my opinion, bringing the visual and the written word together. Brett and I are both grateful for the other’s vision whenever we’re out and about. He’s the detail guy when it comes to the natural world; I’m more of a “big picture” person, always trying to tie it all together, so we works well as a team.
LikeLiked by 1 person