Morning Mile

There are things I need to do today. But I’m feeling unmotivated to do much of anything. Skies are overcast, ground is muddy still, and it’s still cool enough for a light jacket. Maybe this is a good time to go take my morning mile walk/jog. It’s not really a mile yet, but only a fraction thereof.

All the more reason to just go do it. Alright. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll continue this later when I come back…

Done! Not yet a morning mile but working on it

Alright, I did a fraction farther than I did on Sunday, so I’m calling that progress. Just the fact that I actually did take the jog/walk even though I didn’t feel like doing it is more important to me than the distance I managed.

Sadly, it was only 0.34 mile today. But that’s better than the 0.26 miles on Sunday.

It sounds pathetic to have only gone that far, but this is how I make myself feel better about that: it’s more than a simple walk. It’s downhill on rocky ground/driveway. And once I reach the point where I turn around, I get squats in by stopping to look at rocks, fossils, plants, etc. So it feels like good exercise, even if the distance isn’t great.

Once I’m no longer out of breath when I get back to the house, I’ll go a little farther. If I manage to keep it up, I WILL eventually reach my 2 mile goal. It’s just a matter of staying consistent with my efforts.

And that’s the hardest part.

Anyway. If you’d like to join me on my morning mile jog/walks, I’m posting it as a journal to YouTube and to my Skool community. At the very least, it’s interesting scenery along our driveway. Once I’m in better shape, I’ll start deviating from the driveway to go up the various logging roads we have and show you some other scenery.

I’ll add future videos here, too.

Nature Therapy and Rehab for torn ACL and Meniscus

In 2016 my knee suffered a mishap that resulted in a complete-to-partial tear of my ACL and torn meniscus. When it happened, I couldn’t stand or walk at all except crouched in a bent-knee position. If I straightened my legs, the right knee would buckle backwards. This happened about halfway down the driveway. Fortunately Rob was there and so was the 4-wheeler, so he was able to help me back to the house.

For a long time I was very concerned that I might never get full use of my knee again. Physical therapists were an hour and a half away, so I decided to make my own therapy plan at home.

It took about 6 weeks, but I went from not being able to walk at all, to walking with a cane, then walking without one, and FINALLY able to do squats again.

Morning Mile Therapy

This is what began my morning mile practice, and for years I was vigilant to maintain the exercise. As the memory of the knee incident faded, so did my motivation to continue the effort of staying in shape.

Well, my knee is beginning to pain me when I do a little more walking or exercise than my usual routine. And I know that to get those supporting structures strong again, I will have to continue my effort to stay in shape. So, this is why I’m returning to the morning mile practice. I value my mobility and after being immobile once before, I never want that to happen again.

The type of jogging I’m doing is not the hard bounce on pavement most people do. It’s slow, low impact, and probably pretty funny looking to anyone who watches me. But it has enough impact to strengthen bones and ligaments without damaging them.

Wild Gym Sessions on Irregular Terrain

The irregular terrain is excellent for balance and stability and flexibility. It’s not great for a mindless jog or walk, though. I do have to stay alert to my surroundings. Not only so I don’t trip on rocks, but also so I don’t step on a snake or run into a bear or herd of wild pigs, lol.

While I have had to jump over a snake before, I have never run into a bear or a herd of pigs. It’s just something that COULD happen and I’d rather not be surprised by sucha thing and so I stay alert.

I’m also watching for fossils, interesting rocks, medicinal or edible plants, and simply beauty. I love seeing the wild land and the wildlife.

But I try to stay focused on the cardio part of things for the first half and then allow myself to wander and investigate things of interest on the second half as I make my way back to the house.