Walking as Therapy

This morning I walked 9 miles. Jennifer couldn't make it so I walked it alone. You know, two hours and 20 minutes are a long time to spend with just yourself. Especially walking. But Saturday mornings are pretty busy on the trail so I wasn't totally alone. In addition to the regulars, the Team in Training was out and so was the high school cross country teams.

I was watching the high school kids run. And interact. The boys run in their group, and the girls are about 50 yards behind in their little group. But between the two groups are a couple of girls running by themselves. Those girls made me wish I had been a runner when I was in school. Not now. I'm pretty sure I'm past my prime. But back then, I think it would have been something that would have suited me. Not to be in the group of girls who were saying things like "And he was like....and I was like...." No, I definitely would not have wanted to be with them. But I probably would have liked running by myself.

So why didn't I? Ah. I came up with plenty of answers during this morning's walk. Because, you know, I had plenty of time to think about it.

Here's the first. I did join the track team in middle school. I lasted two days. My body wasn't used to running so it ached pretty badly. Clearly I didn't give it enough time. I'm sure my body would have adjusted after a week or so, but there was something else. I wasn't very fast. Actually, not fast at all. And maybe I was too touchy, but as I was running, one kid (let's call him Kevin--because that's his name) passed me. He let out a little laugh. Then he passed me again and said something like "I'm running laps around you" and laughed some more. Well who needs that? So, I could blame it all on Kevin.

Or maybe it was because my brother was the jock and I was the nerd. Except that Nick was a smart jock, so I had to be really nerdy to be anything. I didn't have time to be on a team. I had too much work to do.

Then I had what those therapy people call a break-through. The reason I wasn't a runner didn't have anything to do with either of those things. It's because I tend to not do things unless I'm sure I can do them well. I hate doing things where I don't excel. And it's about time I get over that already. I should just try new things.

So here I am at 33. Wondering what I should try to get out of my comfort zone. Well, I have plenty of time to think about it because I have plenty more walking to do.