Who Was the Wiseacre

that said walking was good for you??!!? After listening to my friend, Corrie, go on about the benefits of walking, I thought it was time that I get back to it again.

About five years ago, I was walking 2km in the morning and then 2 km at night. Then it slowed to 2km in the morning. I loved it. Then it got harder to do cause my hubby was not home to watch the kids, and there was no way I was dragging a horde of hooligans along on my sanity walk! Talk about an insane thought!!

So the walks stopped.

Last week, this influential friend of mine was telling me about *her* daily routine - 4.5km in the morning *and* at night! HELLO?? Is she nuts? No, but she's healthy!! So I figured, if she could do 9km a day in summer and 4.5 km a day in winter, then I could certainly do 2 km a day - period!

Thursday, I cheerfully got ready to go. Boys took their bikes, and I took the 3 year old in the stroller cause I was not looking to drag him half way home. Off we went.

Not too bad. Except, as we are halfway down our road, the five year old tearfully informs me his bike is too small. It is. He must have grown over the winter. You think?

I tell him he can ride his bike and pretend he is a circus clown or he can push it. Not many other options. Tears ensue, as he wobbly tries to ride this bike that no longer fits him.

Okay, okay, this is not working. I call to my ever-so-helpful 11 year old and ask him to hike the bike back home. He willingly does this, and off I go, pushing the stroller and cajolling the miserable 5 year old along. Yes, we now have 1.5 km to walk with him walking and them riding. The unfairness of it! At least in his eyes.

After a few minutes of this quiet wailing, I can tell I will not make it another 1.5 km, unless he and I have a talk. We stop, and I tell him that if he wants a new bike then he will have to cheer up. God will bless him with a new bike, but not unless he is a happy boy. God likes to bless us when we are happy in our loss. With that puppy dog look that he gets when he is sad, he looks at me with absolute belief in everything I say.

We say a quick prayer that God will help him get a new bike and that in the meantime, he can enjoy his walk, as he learns to be the *fastest* runner in the house!

After a hug, off we go happy once again.

We carry on down our road walking slowly, while waiting for the 11 year old to come back with his bike. Austin asks if he can ride back to our house to join his big brother. Sure, I say. Off he goes. Soon enough, they are both back and we proceed on our way.

Until....

As Austin gets up ahead of me, he decides to stop. How does he stop? He drags his feet (new runners) on the ground. STOP that! - I say. I have 6 boys to clothe and shoe, and they will NOT drag their shoes.

He goes on to inform me that he doesn't have brakes, therefore, he has to use his shoe. Excuse me?

I turn to the 11 year old. "Didn't I ask you if the bikes were all road-worthy before we left?"

Yes, I did - he says.

I guess his idea of road worthy and mine are two different things. So now I have a choice. Send a second child's bike home, or allow him to push it down hills and ride it up hills. Hills where he can ride into the snowdrift to stop. That's what I decide to do. And off we go again.

By the time we get home, I am not sure I will make it this way tomorrow!! I am *not* an exercise buff. I am never going to say I *enjoy* walking or running. Nope. I do it cause I have to.

The next day, I am determined that this will become a habit. A healthy habit. The boys are psyched and off we go! They were not too thrilled when they heard they would be going without bikes. Obviously, they need to be fixed before we head out again.

I figure I am going to get this torture over as fast as I can. So I plunk the three year old in the stroller and get hiking. I mean, jogging! Whoa, when Ray found out later I jogged he was *impressed*. He asked if he could watch!! laugh Obviously I don't walk or run much!

I did the loop in the fashion our oldest taught us: run, walk, run, walk. We got through this in good time and order. I figured I could do it again the next day.

The next day we did it again. The boys were not so enthusiastic this time. They wanted to ride bikes. I told them running would be good for their hearts and lungs. Big brother joined us for this run and kindly piggybacked Cooper part of the way. I was still doing fine.

Then I took Sunday off... There must be a religous reason why I shouldn't exercise on Sunday, right?

Then Monday we ran.

Tuesday was a Pajama Day. And for those of you who don't know what those are - you don't have to get dressed. Get up and work hard and don't get dressed. There was no way I was dragging myself out the door, in to the cold, blustery day, while I was cozy in my pjs, with my wood stove cooking. Nope.

Then Wednesday was a town day - no time to run. Oh, I was starting to feel guilty. I knew I had to get back into it, or I might not start again! Also, that morning, I noticed something odd. The area under my left arm was tender. Strange. By the end of Wednesday, it was bothering me enough to relax and not do any scrapbooking.

That night at about 2:30, I woke up. Man, was I sore. That arm was sore, specifically. Probably was on my mind when I went to sleep and the worrying as to what it was woke me up, more than the pain itself. But I couldn't get back to sleep, so I quietly cleaned our room. *smile* Got to use those moments when you have them!!

When I woke up this morning, I felt like a truck had rolled over me. My arm was still sore, and my legs were tight in the thigh area. I figured it must have been my body seizing up from all that *healthy* huh? exercise. I think the arm is sore from steering the stroller away from the road into the side of the road.

You ever seen those marionette dolls? When you play with them their legs sometimes look like they have no joint in the knee. Well, as I walk around this house today, my right leg sort of does that thing. Walk the foot forward, no knee working. It kind of flops forward. It is like my muscles in the upper thigh are dead! You know when your foot is asleep how odd you walk? Poor old things, never been used for so long. You would think walking around my house chasing kids, running (walking) up and downstairs would constitute exercise - but apparently not!

So, here we are today, Thursday. I take the kids out for our 'run'. Yeah, right!! I was so sore today, there was no hightailing it behind that stroller. More like a invalid walking!

I guess I will have to do this for a while to work out all that pain that my poor old body is feeling. Meanwhile, my sweet little five year old running beside me called to the kids way up in front, "Wait up. Mum likes to run. I don't" with a cute little smile and a rosy face.

I looked at him, like, "I do?"