Taking It Easy (Day 11)

Walk - 3 miles, 55 minutes

There was something extremely pleasant about this morning - the equivalent of a rest day but with some token exercise that puts a tick in the Janathon box. A gentle walk amid the long shadows of a low January sun - just the ticket.

Just because you are trying to exercise everyday does not mean you have to do everything full bore. In fact it is important not to as we are not machines capable of reproducing the same performance day after day, always working to a specified level. We work in cycles, we get tired, we need to recover. That is why one of the basic principles of training is to alternate hard and easy days. Rest is necessary.

So today has no pressure. I walk; I breath in; I look about: I see other people enjoying the respite from the weather that has kept them indoors; I see the sun lighting up the landscape in dramatic ways. It feels good and I sing to myself Robert Wyatt’s “A Beautiful Peace”  (which is actually uplifting and downbeat at the same time). Mainly I repeat to myself “It’s a beautiful day” and do not finish off with “But not here”.

Afterwards iI have a coffee and a read of the paper, where I read, amongst other things, more about the weather: pictures of high seas,  people who follow storms, extreme cold in America, and a mild winter in Scandinavia that has confused the bears.

The climate might be on the brink of being truly messed up but I put that aside as for now “It’s a beautiful day”.

P.S. I have messed around with the photo a bit. Reality is not so green and orange