Do any of you walk daily? I love to walk as it is both physically and mentally good for me. Occasionally I see and chat with an 80-year-old neighbor that walks 5 miles a day unless it is really harsh weather. She said she chose 5 miles because she can do it and it gives her maximum time away from her husband that spends his time in a recliner watching TV. I walk at least 1 mile a day and usually go for 3 and sometimes 5. Most of my walks are in the country since I live on the edge of the town. When I walk to the medical center, it is a 6 miler, but I can cut it to 5 by taking a shortcut through the old red-light district.
No long-distance walking for me. Perhaps a block or two, but that's it. Anymore, and my old 2007 hip replacement surgery will start talking to me. But, on the other side of that coin, wife and I done a great job of walking while in Las Vegas this last December. I'd say the biggest fitness thing we do is playing our Wii Game, sometimes. Then again, launching and retrieving our 20 foot powerboat can give us a workout.
I walk in the summer but it isn't practical here in the winter. I get a good bit of exercise in the spring , summer and fall around our property.
In the winter I go for a walk every 4 days or so. In the summer I walk behind the lawn mower every 5 to 7 days. I think you need recovery days to avoid overuse injury but every day might work for some.
A year ago last spring, I started walking three or four days a week. I began by walking a couple of miles along a back road, then worked my way up to about five miles. Then I became bored with walking along the road, given that we don't have a lot of roads, so I began hiking through the woods, making my way up to ten or fifteen miles a day. I lost a lot of weight, I felt great, and I'm sure it was good for me. Nice scenery too. On my last hike, I tripped while walking along a logging road, hit my head pretty hard, and sprained my wrist. I didn't know exactly where I was at that time, although I knew that I was walking in the general direction of going back to Millinocket so, although I had a cell connection and was able to let my wife know that I was hurt so that I could let her know once I got to a place that was familiar. As it turned out, that place was within a half-mile or so from the hospital. By then, my wrist and hand were badly swollen, and I thought I had broken something, so I checked in at the ER. After x-rays, I learned that nothing was broken, but it was a bad sprain. Before leaving, I would print out a trail map of where I planned on going but once I got into the woods, things often turned out different. Something that was supposed to be there wasn't, or vice versa. At other times, I'd simply come across an interesting trail that wasn't on my map and decide to take it. I usually carried a compass so it wasn't like I was going to be hopelessly lost. By the time my hand and wrist healed up, the mosquitoes and black flies were in full force, and I didn't feel like hiking through the woods. Last spring and summer, I was too busy with other things. I might do some more woods hiking this spring, like any time now, before the insects come out. I need to get some work done on our camp this summer but I won't be able to get in there until sometimes in May, anyhow.
I used to snowshoe in the winter when I was in the mountains. One mile of snowshoeing tired me as much as 5 miles of walking. Your lifestyle Don requires daily exercise that usually involves a full-body workout. I get that extra mileage in behind the mower also. My mower is a power drive and my yard is about 1/3 acre so I get a lot of walking in mowing also. I never understood people with a riding mower, but then going for a 5-mile jog. Yes, yes you should or something like swimming. Keep moving and keep living I say. I love trail walking and mountain hiking, but don't do the rugged remote mountain trails anymore. I avoid any heavy woods these days because of ticks. As soon as it warms enough, I will alter my route to avoid the road through the alfalfa fields where snakes cross to get gophers. Usually huge harmless (unless cornered non-poisoness) bullsnakes, but I did see one rattler last summer that got my attention.
A walking stick comes in handy for balance in rough terrain and for keeping gnats etc. at bay. When the gnats are bad, I wave the walking stick back and forth in front of me like a windshield wiper and it keeps them away from my face. Don't forget about checking for deer ticks too. If I'm going through brush, I whack the brush with the walking stick to get the ticks off their game before I pass through.
Guess nobody here has arthritis problems with their hips/legs/feet or any surgeries to any of those? Then again, I could probably walk at least a mile on a day that I take one of my 50mg Tramadol along with a 500mg Ibuprofen. IOW, I get a whole lot done on days I'm on both of those. Just ask my wife. She will say to me "yep, it's "T" (Tramadol) day. You filled the dishwasher, ran it and unloaded it. You done three loads of laundry and you are still going like a White Tornado." Well, one thing for sure, I have absolutely NO pain anywhere in my body, on those days.
I usually have a walking stick, or I pick one up from the ground. I don't remember if I had it with me that day, but I had just left the rough terrain and was on a logging road. As for ticks, I know we have them here because the state does ads warning about them, but I haven't seen one in the 22 years I've been in Maine. Maybe the ticks are more common in Southern Maine.