Walking a mile or 6...

This holiday weekend the Nerd asked me if I wanted to go for a walk, given that it was a beautiful day.  My initial impulse was to say no, but on reflection, I thought it would be nice to actually get out and go for a stroll, to take advantage of the day off.

We decided to walk up Yonge Street to Bloor, and then over to Avenue Road by the university, and back home.  Halfway there, the Nerd suggested that instead of turning for home at Avenue Road, we should continue westbound until Spadina, and stop at Greg's Ice Cream. 

For those of you who do not live in Toronto, Greg's is a Toronto institution.  Previously located near the University of Toronto on Bloor Street West at Avenue Road, a few years ago Greg's moved to Bloor and Spadina, in a little hole in the wall by the Jewish Community Centre.  It's still near the university, just near the western edge of it, rather than the central portion.  Greg's serves some of the best ice cream in the city.  There are more than 100 flavours of Greg’s Ice Cream, but there’s one recipe the ice cream maker is particularly known for - -  roasted marshmallow.

At any rate, it was a nice day for a walk, and it was fun to walk the 3 miles over to Greg's.  I was having visions of Greg's roasted marshmallow ice cream (which every sensible person agrees is the best flavour). 

Alas, it was not to be.  Greg's was closed for the holiday.  Too bad, so sad.  So the Nerd and I enjoyed a tea in the sun whilst watching an outdoor salsa dancing class before turning for home. 

It was a very nice walk, and after all was said and done, we did 6.4 miles in about 2 hours.  A nice stroll. 

That evening and the next day my hip flexor on the one side was very sore, which made certain things (like going up stairs, or lifting my leg to get into bed) very uncomfortable.  Fortunately, I didn't notice any problems with the elliptical, so I was able to do my new-usual Saturday workout of 55 minutes on the elliptical without missing a day.

I was pleasantly happy to discover that this morning my leg (including the hip flexor) felt fine - - as good as new.  So no lasting damage was done by our enthusiastic walk.  I felt so good that I walked home from a friend's house this afternoon rather than taking a cab as I usually do, so I got to do another couple of miles today (only 1.5 of which I tracked). 

I love that my increasing fitness levels are allowing me the option of going on these walks, and using my own power to get places.  Toronto is a great walking city, after all, and it's nice to be able to take advantage of it.  I also like the savings that comes with walking, as opposed to cabbing it everywhere - - that adds up quickly!

I am a poorly adjusted bipedal hominid

I remember reading one of Stephen Jay Gould's essays on life, the universe and everything, and he was discussing our present bipedal form, and how as humans we generally suck at bipedalism (compared to other animals).  As Wikipedia notes:

     Even with much anatomical modification, some features of the human skeleton remain poorly adapted to bipedalism, leading to negative implications prevalent in humans today. The lower back and knee joints are plagued by osteological malfunction, lower back pain being a leading cause of lost working days, because the joints support more weight. Arthritis has been a problem since hominids became bipedal: scientists have discovered its traces in the vertebrae of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Physical constraints have made it difficult to modify the joints for further stability while maintaining efficiency of locomotion.

I was never more reminded of this than this weekend when I hurt my lower back - - what a typically bipedal hominid thing to do!  There I was, standing there, minding my own business when BLAMMO!  my back went out.

Saturday and Sunday were painful, but Monday was especially bad - - with all the water I drink in a day, sitting still is just not an option, and every time I got out of my chair to walk it was agony.  That is, until I wised up and took 3 extra strength Advils.  Once the pain was down to a dull ache, I could function again.

This morning my back is still sore, but I definitely see progress from yesterday and the day before.  And I will make a point of remembering that painkillers were invented for a reason - to stop my incessant whining - so I should stop trying to be a hero and take something when the discomfort is starting to impinge on my ability to function.

I predict tomorrow I will feel 100% better, at least according to my mother's scale of things.  For her, every day is 100% better than the last.  She's an incurable optimist, my mother.  A stoic with a high pain threshold, and an optimist at the same time, she possesses the perfect combination of traits to get over physical issues, and I am happy to have inherited these qualities from her.  Yay, mitochondrial DNA-linked traits!

On the good side, my back has not affected my ability to sweat on the elliptical machine, which is good.  I would hate to give back all my hard work due to inactivity.  As it is, the weight is trending in a very nice direction (i.e. downwards), and I just need to keep it up.  I'll just keep putting one foot in front of the other until I don't notice my lower back any more...