My Thrice-Daily Walks

Back in March 2012, I started taking a walk at 10 am every morning. It was right about the time I got my first FitBit device and the walk served several purposes. It allowed me to get in some exercise. It broke up my morning so that I wasn’t stuck in my office writing code or sitting in meetings all day long. It allowed me to clear my head. I was very diligent about this walk, going regardless of the weather conditions. In the winter, this was a little more difficult especially when it was cold, windy, and rainy, but I still would get out when I could.

Then, in February of this year, I became an Audible subscriber and started listening to books while I walked. My walk is not long, just a mile. It goes around the block on which my office building sits and generally takes me 15-20 minutes. But I loved the fact that I could spend that time walking and listening to a book.

My walk has evolved since then. In late February or early March, I started repeating the walk at 2 pm, getting it in twice a day. Then, as the weather warmed up and improved, I added lunchtime as well. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been walking three times each day, at 10am, noon and 2pm. Sometimes, at lunch, I’ll walk around the block twice. These three walks pretty much ensure that I’ll hit my 10,000 step goal each day. Usually, my FitBit Flex buzzes (letting me know I’ve reached my goal) just before the end of my 2 pm walk. They’ve also had the side effect of breaking up my day into more manageable chunks: 7:30 – 10 am; 10 am – noon; noon – 2pm; and 2pm – the end of my workday.

I’ve grown fond of these walks that on days where I work from home, I miss them. Indeed, I’ve been feeling slightly under the weather the last couple of days. When I woke up this morning, I felt downright rotten, and ordinarily would have considered staying home. But I didn’t want to miss my walks, so I came into the office. (I also have a bunch of meetings this morning that I would have had to reschedule.)

At this point, the walks are the only real regular exercise that I get, and I think it is good that I’ve managed to make them serve so many useful purposes at once. I really look forward to them each day I come in. And sometimes, when the sun is particularly warm on that first walk of the morning, I take it a little bit slower than usual, just so I have a little more time to soak up that sunshine.