contemplation

A Walking Dude: The World Outside

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 5 Comments

Walking is to exercise what the insurance is to business: pretty damn boring, but it’s actually pretty beneficial. I’ve been at it 30 minutes every day since 1/1/2018 (minus a couple days, which I more than made up for). It turns out that walking doesn’t have to be, um, lame. Because there’s usually one or more of the following: something new to see, errands to run, people to chat up, music to listen to, or thoughts to think. You don’t need a gym membership, a swimming pool, a tennis/basketball court or soccer/baseball/football field, or a bicycle. Except for some good shoes, which can cost a bundle, there’s little money involved. For those of us fortunate to still be mostly able-bodied, it’s the easiest, most accessible, and reliable health habit we can do. So why don’t more people do it?

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Give Yourself Permission to Just Do Nothing!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ Leave a comment

Thomas Merton was a Catholic monk born in France who moved to Kentucky. He wrote over 60 books, encouraged inter-religious dialog with the likes of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh, and others and advocated for pacifism and social justice. He died in 1968 in his early 50’s when he accidentally was electrocuted stepping out of his shower where a running fan had fallen over. (Some say he was assassinated by the CIA.) While I’ve not read his work, I’ve seen this quote below before. And it seems more relevant than ever in 2019.

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40 Miles in 26 Days. That’s What I’m Walking About!

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 1 Comment

Walking a Mile in A Dude Abikes’ Shoes

“Walking is a man’s best medicine.”

— Hippocrates

“Also, a woman’s.”

— A Dude Abikes

When this month and year began, I somehow tricked myself into committing to walk for 30 minutes every day.  No big deal, lots of people do that and much more.  Many people run for way more miles and hours.  Millions, nay billions of people, may not even have access to bikes.  Others are wheelchair-bound or have just one or even no or prosthetic legs.  My bicycling 10,000 miles in two years may seem impossible to some, but it’s a piece of cake for others.   So hard or challenging varies based on many factors.

But for me, who used to enjoy running before weight gain, age, foot and joint pain set in, it is a big deal.  So far, through three days of juice fasting and a week of vegan food that resulted in anemia, sub-freezing temperatures, flare-ups of plantar fasciitis (which is not related to having a proto-fascist in the US White House), and now being wiped out from cedar fever, I have somehow managed to keep at it.  Has it helped?  Let me walk you through it.  A Dude has puns, ya’ll. Continue reading →