This afternoon I took Ava for a 2-mile hill walk on our street and I saw some gorgeous spring wild flowers. My power walk took me about 1-hour and it put the baby right to sleep! It was 45 degrees outside so I bundled her up in her stroller and she was so cozy (you can see in the photo). I saw daffodils, violets, and these pretty yellow and purple flowers on the bushes and trees outside.
I had a cesarean birth and it took longer to recover than a natural birth, but since I was in shape and healthy prior to the surgery, it helped me recover more quickly. Today, was the first day that I really felt strong to exercise like normal again. The stroller, car seat, and baby weigh about 40 lbs total. Going up and down hills I was working my gluts, abs, and getting a great cardio workout!
Power walking in the spring lets you enjoy the flowers and gets you moving! Here's a couple tips on planning a perfect spring walk:
- Trails and hills: Seek out trails in local parks or a secluded country area. When I lived in Illinois, I walked on the prairie path and in Indiana, many people run/walk/bike on the Monon Trail. Even driving a short distance to an open area and then walking from there gets you to a more into nature. The farther you can get from car traffic, the nicer the walk you can look at the spring landscape and not be distracted by looking for cars all the time.
- Use Google Maps to calculate distance: I mapped my street that I live on, which has a dead end at the top of the hill. It's a 1/2 mile each way so I do 4 legs to equal 2 miles. Some trails have mile markers to make it easy to keep track.
- Be social: I've done lots of walking with friends and it makes the time pass faster because you're distracted by the conversation. It turns out that I've walked farther because I'm having a good time. My mother-in-law walks with her best friends and it helps keep them motivated.
- Take your heart monitor to track calories and heart rate: I forgot my heart monitor this time, but I'm planning to use it for the next walk. I know I worked hard on the hill walk today, but it would be better if knew my calories burned. Here's a post from the summer on using heart monitors.
Please share your tips for spring power walks!
I love walking in the morning and I plan on using our the longer days to get back into that routine. Maybe we could meet in the middle for a walk some day soon!
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