Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

If I don’t take a couple of minutes to stretch out my calves and shins after my morning walk, I end up with pain later in the day. I remember when I first started walking. I couldn’t walk around the block without intense pain in my shins (the muscle at the front of my lower leg). Back then, it was a struggle just to do a mile. I had taken my car to measure how far I had to walk to go a mile and found a nice route that took me past a holding pond. It was so hard to get just to the pond and back, so I would let myself take a break and watch the birds at the pond when I finally got there.

Now, I can walk for miles without leg pain as long as I take the time to stretch. In fact, the weakest link on my body when it comes to walking are my toenails.

It’s so easy to forget how far I’ve come. I get frustrated that I’m not regularly running 12 minute miles, when really, I should be celebrating the fact that my legs rarely hurt, even though I’m exercising every day…

…as long as I do my post-walk calf stretch.