Walking to fitness!!!

These days, lot of people talk about staying fit. I also seem to belong to that crowd. But wait, I was not like this always. Long years ago,  I used to be a very studious, bespectacled person ( I still wear spectacles !). Then one day, unexpectedly,  I joined IPS. Things have never been the same after that!!

Needless to say, there was an overdose of outdoor activities during training. I was surprised to find that I could do all the activities quite well. I, who never ran even 100 mts, was now running 8 kms ( though with some effort and few pauses). Infact,  running was the only activity  I found difficult- several others such as horse riding, route marching,  trekking, rock climbing and last but not the least , shooting- I enjoyed and did quite well! 

Well, the training got over but the desire to stay fit continued. First I tried my luck with running as my husband is an avid runner. Since it never was my forte, I soon gave up and settled down to simple walking. I am sticking to it ever since. Not a day passes without me going for a walk. To say that my day is organized around my walking will not be an exaggeration. 

These days, out of laziness, I have been walking in the evenings. There was a time nearly 10 years ago, when I and my husband used to be at Chennai Marina beach by 530 am - I for my 5 km walk and he for his jog. Walking on the beach early morning was a lovely experience. Many a times, I felt that I owned that beautiful beach.

However,  with the birth of my daughter, I provided myself with good excuses for not getting up early in the morning and tried various other schedules. While posted in Coimbatore, I loved walking on the race course, sometimes in the morning but mostly in the evening.  Coming back to Chennai, I started going to a nearby park as the traffic near the beach road increased intolerably.

I feel compelled to go out for walk in the evenings.  It connects me with my surroundings and nature.. I find the walk relaxing and invigorating at the same time. The regular rhythm of walking soothes the mind and stimulates thought process. Solutions emerge automatically of pressing problems. Thoughts get sorted out in a way. I also make use of the time to talk to my family members and friends. Walking has become a kind of passion, so much so that if I am not able to walk for more than a day, I  feel I would go crazy...

From my experience, I can say that all it requires to stay fit is a pair of walking shoes and some road to hit. We can walk to fitness and get the thoughts organized - for free !!!