The walking track

Since the beginning of the year, I've been trying to do the whole "exercise" thing and walking is about all I'm coordinated enough to do well and somedays, even that's a challenge. I had to learn how to lace my shoes so that my feet don't go numb. This is a new problem, but I'm pretty sure real athletes don't have that problem. In the past, I've done my walking on a treadmill, but it has become possessed (probably by dust build up) and no longer runs at speeds that I can meet.

I've been doing it old school...actually walking...outside. It's a change for me. And my neighborhood is almost perfect. It's a circle so I can start at my house and end at my house. It's a little less than half a mile all the way around so it takes several laps to cover a good distance but not enough to scare the neighbors or alarm the dogs. And the weather around here is warm enough that, even after I set my cut off point at 45 degrees, I can walk most days. It's free and I just can't figure out how to convince/trick a big strong male type to bring me a new treadmill and put it together. I did that myself the first time around and I'm not doing it again.

I see really only 2 problems.
1. It's not lit very well. And as I am spooky about the dark, particularly with all the new construction going on (just seems like it would be a good setting for a cop show or a horror movie or both), that means I have to leave work on time, not run into any traffic, and strap my shoes on as soon as the car stops rolling. So it's easy to "accidentally" run out of time to walk.
2. The hills...oh, the hills! There's no way around them, one placed strategically on both sides of the track. My only decision is whether I want a sharp pain for a short period of time (go up the drop of death right beside my house) or a dull ache for a longer period (go up the more gradual incline on the other side). Still, it's nice to have choices.

I'm up to about 3 miles an hour, now that my feet stay awake for the entire trip. I don't think that's all that impressive, but for me, it's improvement. The most difficult part is pretending I'm not dying when I make it to the top of the hill. I really hope the houses there don't sell soon. I'd hate to have an audience.