I got some new walking shoes in the mail recently. Technically, they were advertised as running shoes, but I’m not sure of the difference. Besides, I want to be ready in case I someday break into a trot while wearing them—a trot, because what I do now couldn’t possibly qualify as running. And while I’m not sure what the criteria for running might be, I would think you’d need to be moving fast enough to pass a senior citizen who is walking briskly (my “running” pace is around 5.4 mph). On the rare occasions when I do run, I use the treadmill (easier on the joints), so why hurry? You’re not going anywhere.
I am by no means a fast walker, either. If I’m in a busy area, people are always passing me—even people who are much shorter than me. Their little legs seem to carry them so much more quickly than mine carry me that I once worried my legs were too short for my body, but then I remembered I wear normal length pants for my height. On one walking occasion that remains seared in my memory, a young woman on crutches began to pass me, but I noticed just in time and sped up so as not to feel shame.
My new shoes were made by The Walking Company, a brand I’d never heard of until a few years ago, but which surely must make good walking shoes, or they’d never dare name the company that (right?).
A few years ago, when I was in the midst of a Fitbit fever that has since subsided, I invested in a pair of shoes from The Walking Company that could better accommodate a 12,000 step-a-day average that sometimes went as high as 20,000 on days when I couldn’t stand to let friends beat me. After that one pair, I trust the company enough that I don’t mind ordering my shoes without wearing them first. Wearing those shoes, my legs might get tired, but my feet always felt good. But now they’ve worn out, and while I no longer track my steps, I still enjoy walking and aspire to longer distances.
I should point out that this is not an advertisement for, or an endorsement of, The Walking Company, but of walking itself. I’m a firm believer that there is no better activity than walking to observe the world around you and to notice things that you might not otherwise. You just see more when you’re walking.
Oftentimes, what you see lies outside of your own mind, but walking is great for thinking, too. Whether it’s a problem you’ve been having, something you want to give a little more thought to, or just an empty mind looking for a spark, walking usually does the trick, with the added benefit of being good for your health. When I’m running, on the other hand, usually all I’m thinking about is how terrible running is and how soon it will end.
Today I walked past a cactus collection, perhaps a dozen of them in pots, put outside for some unfiltered sun by their caretaker. One was a favorite of mine—a “paddle” or prickly pear cactus. It’s a happy guy, always waving its thick leaves every which way the sun might shine, and both the paddles and the fruit it bears are edible. Its newest shoots were a fresher green, the small paddles happily waving to passersby, cheering us on to new sights and better health—at least, those of us with new shoes.
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