Why Do I Love Walking So Much?

I Walk with These Legs

I have been thinking a lot for a long time about why I love walking and some people don’t. Actually, the question is broader than that, it includes exercise in general, but I’m going to narrow it down to walking for the purpose of this article. What is it that makes me love walking? I mean, specifically, not just because it moves your body, or it makes you healthy etc., but, exactly, what is it about walking that I love so much? 

Unscientific Analysis

One thing I know is that walking has a calming effect on me. Some people arrange the furniture, take to knitting or listen to music but I walk because it is calming, even if don’t go outside, even if I'm just in my room. 

I mentioned specifics, and I've been paying attention to the specifics when I walk. By the way, let me know if you feel the same way towards any of these.

These are the specific things I love:

- The motion of going forward. 

- The pressure of every footfall against the ground.

- The tremor or the stomp of every step.

Walking has just the right amount of intensity of all of these things compared to running or jogging. 

I don’t go out and walk. I simply walk indoors. I feel like if I have to get ready, put on a walking attire [or just a proper attire to go out], put on walking shoes, it would be too much of a hassle and I would just not walk. Please tell me I’m not the only one.

The Route

When I walk, I prefer to walk in one straight line and go back and forth preferably without any obstructions. So there shouldn’t be any turns in between the ends of the route or any stuff in the middle. This helps with the rhythm; the less distractions the more calming it is and the better I can think. I always take this opportunity to think or reflect. 

I used to be able to walk two, three or even four hours at a time with little breaks in between, and two or three sessions every day. Meaning, there are two to three [four if necessary] hours in every session repeated two or three times a day. Nowadays, I can only do one hour or more per session twice or maybe thrice a day, and that is if my legs are not killing me.

That reminds me of my knees. Or kuh-nees as I call it. As I get older, the pain in the legs will eventually go away soon enough, although not as quickly as it used to be, but my knees are not so forgiving. In fact I have a niggling pain on my left knee that doesn't seem to want to go away. I wrote about my bad knees a few years ago. I do still take collagen supplements but I have since changed brand and formulations. I'd like to think that if I hadn't taken those supplements my knees would be even worse, though I have gaps where I stopped taking them for a while. I might have to consider taking glucosamine in addition to this eventually.

I shudder to think the day I can't walk as often as I'd like to because of my knees, just as my mom is struggling with hers right now. Life is cruel isn't it?

Let Me Also Tell You About Daphne Shoes

Daphne Shoes/Wedges

I don't want to end this post with a sad note. So let me also talk about those wedges I have in my picture above. Four out of six of my last shoes have been wedges. What I love about wedges is that you can have the elevation without the strain. Especially if it's an even platform without the upward curve which requires you to virtually walk on tiptoe.

The pictures I have here were taken when I had just bought the shoes before the hiatus of this blog. The shoes are no longer around.

Although these wedges are not what people might call proper walking shoes, I can surely tell you that they were really comfortable to walk in. The insoles are the key. They were comfortably padded. Despite the thickness of the wedges, they did not cause strain in the foot because the curve was not as high, so there was no strain on the bottom of the feet and legs. 

Despite the apparent heftiness, these wedges were really lightweight. The large chunk of the wedges were made of, I assume, cork which I think contributed to the lack of weight. 

The straps were comfortable, soft and did not scratch the top of my foot. They were something like a cross between plastic and rubber. I have no idea what the material was. 

However, after about a year of using them, the area where the cork meets the insole started to peel. This, I’m assuming, is because of moisture. To be clear, the shoes were never drenched or soaked in water. So, the fact that they did not last as long as I'd hoped was the only disappointment. But, overall, they were really comfortable shoes. Comfortable enough to walk for a long period of time.