My Last Walk for a While

I didn’t exactly do a hike today, but it was close enough. And with foot surgery tomorrow, that will hopefully take care of this neuroma once and for all, it will be the last walking, hiking, or running for me for a while. I am not sure how long it will be before I can walk normally again: normally for me being at least five or six miles at a pace of at least 14 to 15 minutes per mile. I am guessing at least a couple of months, and maybe longer, will go by before I can walk at that level again. Hopefully the surgeon can give me some clues about it.

On this cold winter weekend, I knew I wanted to go for a long walk at the least, since I won’t be physically able to do it for a while. I had too much to take care of around the house to go for a real hike anywhere – plus I have a cold. So five miles walking laps around Echo Lake seemed like a good way to go. I’ve not been running much or talking walks longer than a few miles very often in the last couple of months, but I was still able to walk the five miles (seven laps on the wooded trail that goes around the lake) in 64 minutes, which translates to 12.8 minutes per mile average walking pace. After five laps, my ears were so cold that I grabbed my hat out of the car for the last two laps.

On the mostly frozen lake, I saw groups of ducks looking for open water. As I moved through the woods, I saw little groups of sparrows, but that was about it for wildlife. I didn’t take pictures, as I have them from before on the other post about Echo Lake.

I was thinking of taking another long walk or even do some running in the morning, but I will get too thirsty. I can’t eat or drink before my surgery. So today will do it for a while. It will feel strange to be so sedentary for a few weeks. Hopefully the thought of hiking and walking in the spring weather will sustain me during that time! And I’ll be tracking recovery progress on my Racing for a Cure blog.