Exercise:I'm walking the floor over you

I am taking a temporary running break to train to walk a half marathon with my sisters and sister-in-law. ( She got roped onto our crazy train in a moment of weakness, I am afraid).  


The three of us decided to walk the Country Music Half marathon in Nashville to help my sister get back into shape. She is an amazingly funny and creative girl (yes, she is a girl, I am her OLDER sister), who has had some health and stress issues that have allowed her to gain some weight.  I mean seriously, mother of three teenage  boys and one strong willed daughter is enough to stress any mother out. 

We are showing our solidarity  in getting her healthy by forcing her, against her will, to walk 13.1 miles. We are so sweet like that.




Now, I am a runner and regular at the gym, so I have been half -hearted about "training" for this race. I mean seriously, it is walking. I have run three and trained for five half marathons, and finished most of them with decent times. So, walking? Piece of cake. 





 That is exactly what I thought, that is until I actually started walking. Now, don't get me wrong, it is easy, as in "I could go out today and do the damn thing". But it is not easy, as in " I am enjoying this". I actually hate it. 



I have the attention span of a gnat and running keeps me interested by making me look where I am going, trying to beat my previous time, and being quick. Running 6 miles, less than an hour. 


Walking is slow and boring. I have no experience with it, so there is no time to beat and the 6 miles took me an hour and 10 minutes. I have started listening to books on tape and that is a little better for the ADD, but all I can think about is how fast I would be if I were running. I should download some Rosetta Stone and learn a language and freak out the other pedestrians by talking and walking. Now that would be entertaining!

The upside to all this walking is I am using muscles in different ways. I feel it in my glutes and quads and it has been nice enough the last two times that I have gone that I have seen my neighbors out in their yards.  Today, the eight miles I did made me realize that I should wear sunblock if I am going to walk for two hours. 

And, I , along with my other sister and S.I.L.,am hopefully inspiring my sister to get back into shape. Now whether it is via sisterly love or sisterly bullying, I don't really want to find out. 

All I know is after I have gone insane walking for hours, she is going to finish that half marathon. Because, after all,  I am her older sister and I  said so!