Walking In the Wet and Warm

The forecast for Saturday was overcast, warm, with a chance of showers. At 5:30 a.m., my enthusiasm was waning, by 6:30 it had turned and I was recommitted to the park and my two-mile walk. My left knee has been bothering me. I seem to vacillate from tough training thoughts to cautious recuperation logic. At 7:12, I was motoring to the park in cloudy half-light and a gentle constant misty rain. At the park, there were a few walker joggers and the rain had stopped. I decided to go clockwise on the North trail, which is mostly downhill.

Walking in the early hours, the past week, allowed me to forget the many smiling faces that are out in the light of day. A friend said she had started walking the lake at 8:30, so I sent a text message saying, "Come walk - R." I did not see her before I left at 8:10, but she might have been there. The lake is large enough that if you walk in the same direction with some distance between, you may never know the other is there. Ken was walking the other direction but he caught up with me and we chatted while walking in the rain.

Staying at a slow pace helped me protect my knees. Ken, who is a former professional athlete, suggested that I do some exercises to stretch my knees, like deep knee bends done slowly and carefully. The old sports adage, "No pain, no gain" always seemed illogical and never called me to experiment with it. Health, vitality, enjoyment and experiencing the beauty of nature are my goals for walking the lake at the park. Even in the rain, the morning walk was grandly invigorating.