Clipping Along On My Walk

Did my walk yesterday. I counted paces out and back -- 350 going away and 345 coming back. It’s slightly uphill out and my legs were tiring as I reached the turnaround point. My sense was my pace was shortening, so I used the coming back figure for calculations. At a yard a pace, I’ve been walking 2/5 of a mile total; about 640 meters. I need to go farther next time and try make it a ½ mile round trip (note to self: that would be 440 paces one way).

I made it in seven and one half minutes. That is about a 19 minute mile. When I was a brahmacari at the old Vrindavan farm, we used to walk the 2 miles to Bahulaban, then the main farm, in about 40 minutes. Down in the morning, and back up at night, about a 20 minute mile So I have my walking speed back, now it is a question of being able to extend the distance to at least a mile. the interesting thing to me is that instead of being knocked down by fatigue, it is my legs giving out that limits me. Which may sound like a bad thing, but I am enjoying it because it means I have the energy to make the walk, but the muscles are out of condition. It has been years since I have experienced being tired rather than fatigued. Which accounts for being out of condition, naturally. I look forward to experiencing overall tiredness after working for a long stretch, or even all day. After years of fatigue, it will be like bliss.

My pace is usually fairly accurate, with all confidence I would say within 10% accurate and most times closer. I have practiced it, as it was a common need, while still farming, to estimate distances and areas. When you are maintaining over 20 miles of fence line, and constructing more, it was an essential skill. Even for estimating the number of plants that would fit into a given garden space, or for calibrating a sprayer. Of course, I am out of practice.

Hope is an important thing. It contributes to determination. With determination, patience, and some enthusiasm, it is possible to achieve more than one might expect. Regular readers will remember that in April, I talked about the guy who wanted to trade one red paper clip for a house and how it reminded me of Srila Prahbupada. Well, one year after he started, he has got his house. Click here to read all about it.