The Long Walk
“The Long Walk” by Slavomir Rawicz is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s about these six guys who escape from a Soviet prison camp and walk to freedom by crossing Siberia, the Gobi Desert, the Himalayas, and other nearly impossible terrain. The human spirit is on full display and it is hard to feel sorry for yourself after reading this tale.
In my small hometown of Norway, Michigan, there were a number of people who were known for walking around town as a form of exercise and healthy living. There was one lady who always walked her beautiful golden retriever, and a few other couples, husband and wife, who seemed to always be out on the sidewalks, walking together, chatting, and enjoying the day. As a young boy, I used to think this was kind of silly. I mean, I could understand riding a bike to get somewhere quickly or going for a run because running could be a good workout, but walking? Come on, that’s not a workout. My younger self proudly proclaimed that if I ever got to the point where I considered walking to be a workout, someone might as well put me out of my misery because I must be old and/or in terrible shape. Basically, I had the same mindset Jim Wendler describes in his original “5/3/1” book:
“Walking?
I remember thinking to myself that if I ever reached a point in my life where I had to walk to get exercise, it might be time to clean out my ears with a gun.”
Fast forward to today. I’m now 36 years old (that happened fast), which is certainly not old, but my perspective on walking, and many other things, has changed in the last 20 years. My wife and I, with Zeus of course, are now “the walkers” in the neighborhood. Our walks have led to us getting to know many of the neighbors, and people recognize us as friendly faces on the block. Some days, it’s a little warm for Zeus’s big black fur coat or he just needs some rest, and inevitably someone will ask why our trusty companion is absent from our excursion. We have relationships and friends simply because of the time we spend traversing the loops that make up our community.
In my opinion, walking regularly is one of the best things a person can do for overall health. Walking gets you off the couch and moving around outside. It gives you time to think, relax, breathe, and listen to music, podcasts, or audio books. If you have a partner, walking lets you spend more time together talking, sharing ideas, and learning about each other. A person can easily turn walking into a workout by going for a hike, wearing a weight vest, carrying weights, or just walking a long way like Cali and I did a few weeks ago.
The day may come where I am incapable of casually leaving the house and going for a walk, but it’s not today, so I’m going to savor every step.