Trail Love

Every time I speed walk my trail, I think about writing about the “Trail Love” I feel. So here it is.

We first encountered the trail years ago while living on the opposite side of town. We loved to inline skate the newly paved trail way that hugged the Portage Creek for a total of about 3 miles. In the beginning, there were not many visitors and it seemed like the trail was ours alone. For several years, we would drive across town as often as we could to “skate the trail.”

When the time came that we considered downsizing and moving, we knew we wanted to find a place close to the trail, so we could use it often. We found a place and fixed it up very near the trail. It’s a place where we could put our inline skates on in our living room, head out the door, down the street and onto the trail. We loved it!

In the earlier days, the trail/park has served us with play equipment for the grand kids, a great place to ride our bikes, skate and walk. We have even kayaked down the Portage Creek within the park! The added bonus of beautiful wild life is priceless. We have seen many deer, turkeys, red fox, rabbits, turtles, and heron over the years.

So, when I speed walk the trail, the first thing I notice are the other people. Some are regulars I see often and some not. There seems to be a bit of “trail camaraderie” present with people greeting each other with a “Good Morning” or “Hi” as we each are eager to do our own thing.

It doesn’t take long to smell the aromas of the air. Some musty, wet leaved smells are unlike anything else you’ve ever smelled. Sometimes there are floral smells from the wild flowers and sometimes I can smell the bakery waft from blocks away. It’s the deep breathing that encourages the smells to take note in my brain with love; I experience the love at that time. A bit of motivational reward for doing what I am doing. I also look forward to the change of seasons and conditions. This spring when the cottonwood trees had released their seed, I saw a magnificent “cottonwood seed tornado” as it blew and created the vortex right in front of me. The changing and dropping leaves are another joy. It just never ends.

I feel the same motivational reward looking and scanning the area for deer, their fawns or any other wild life I can see. I have been blessed so many times with close encounters with fawn and doe. I can see them so close in the wild. I think they are a little bit used to us trail users, but they will bolt away in a flash! Because I try to walk on a regular basis, I use this motivational reward as an incentive to get out and get my workout done! Instead of languishing in the mood of “I don’t feel like it,” I think about the incentive of “Trail Love,” and I find it easier to stay in the habit of speed walking the trail.

And in the meantime, I am getting my exercise in, getting my heart rate up, burning off whatever I shouldn’t have eaten the day before and hopefully staying healthy.

I’ve had this revelation happen to me over the years as I have struggled with my perpetual laziness. Even though I know I should get my workout in, there is a lazy Linda sitting on my left shoulder saying, “Let’s just sit on the couch and watch TV.”

So, the next time you are getting in your workout, don’t think about the hard work it will be, think instead about what you will like about your workout. Think about the benefits or love you may experience in your workout. If you don’t find you have any love in your workout, maybe you should re-evaluate what you’re doing and do an exercise that you enjoy or at least can find some enjoyable aspects of.