Different Ways of Walking, State of the Fitness for April 2022

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. UTNews: Plastic-eating Enzyme Could Eliminate Billions of Tons of Landfill Waste, Apr 27, 2022.
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The majority of my pasture walking this month was part of our Virtual Tevis rides, rather than my usual virtual strolls. [VT archives, Walking Virtually Kyiv]

Physically the same; mentally different.

Format for warm-up walking. Tack up horse. Put halter over bridle. Tack up self. Drop stirrups. Tighten girth. Horse all ready to go except for rider. Walk lap(s). Get on. Finish ride.

This allows Rodney to loosen up without having to deal with a rider. This allows me to not have to deal with a tight horse.

Both are laps around the pasture. Walking is walking, right?

Ehhhhh, not really.

When we are warming-up, I am definitely in a riding headspace. When I am strolling on my own, I’m not in any particular headspace. Sometime I think about work or blog posts. Sometimes I wander along and look at the pretty trees.

I finally did a solo stroll at the end of the month. Realized how much I missed it. In the future, the plan is keep up with solo walks even if I have done/will do warm-up walking the same day.

Of note. Listening to a lecture for the entire walk falls in the first, pre-ride category. Walking with horse on leadline is in the second, strolling category. From this I conclude that the difference has to do with the level of concentration required.

It’s not just me. Rodney approaches walks differently if he is tacked up versus loafing along on a lead rope. Which is why I tack up and tighten the girth for warm-up walks. From this I conclude that he is also affected by the level of concentration required.

I will still need to listen to an audio book or easy lecture for the middle lap as a marker. [Keeping Track]

Places

Pasture.

Local Park. Muddy day.

The Shops at Grand River. Daily mile. In area to pick up bib for …

Indy 5K at Barber Motorsports Park. [post pending] Plus 1 mile toward Virtual Kyiv walking to start & from finish. [Indy 5K Walk]

Lakeshore. [Another Impromptu 5k, Shades Creek Greenway]

Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Credit Union Cherry Blossom 5K Run-Walk. [waiting on medal]

Data Dump

Walk. 22 out of 30 days. Non-walking days were the usual mix of riding lessons, rain/mud, and days when I couldn’t even.

TC. 10 out of 21 weekdays. Over-moused my shoulder playing games on my computer. Waving my arms around held little interest for several days.

Bike. 1 day.

Onwards!
Katherine