Beauty of walking vs. beauty of running
For majority of my 20s I walked. A lot. I think the only times I ran was when I had to because otherwise I was going to miss the buss. I preferred walking over running as means to exercise because I was afraid of getting injuries. Now that I started running as a real workout, I can tell that there are certain differences between the two activities that are very beautiful in their own ways.
Walking allows room for a lot of “taking in”. As I walk, I notice all the trees and flowers around me. If I encounter animals like rabbits and blue birds and red birds and squirrels and crows, that’s a great day. If I come across deers and little hawks and snakes, that will blow my mind in a phenomenal way. I don’t want to miss any of these wild and interesting living beings. As I walk, I think about all these things I have already been thinking about. The thoughts take front stage, and I keep on walking on the path without accidentally falling off the path by thinking too much. By then, I am a walking healthy zombie. When I think a lot on long walks, I have had times where I was able to recollect them and organize them nicely as well as other times where the charged emotions overwhelmed me. During the latter, I end up not really noticing anything interesting and fluffy around me anymore. Nevertheless, walking still gave me some several thousands of steps in, so I see that as a gain despite the mental and emotional cost.
Running is the opposite. I notice a lot less things, I think a lot less things, and that’s why I love running. As I start running and my body realizes that it’s going to be working harder than just a second ago, I count numbers in my head. I sync my breathing with my pace. From zero to hundred, I create a rhythm. Wo-one, Two-oo, Three-ee, Four-rr, Fi-ive, Si-ix, Se-ven, Ei-eight, Ni-ine, Te-en. I breathe in and out every number or two at a time (inhale at wo-one and exhale at two-oo). Each half note of my breathing is each foot landing on the ground. I fluctuate the ongoing rhythm based on how tired I get at certain elevations of the path. As I run, I have to be in the flow, concentrating on myself. I gladly let things pass me. They will distract me and stop me on my track, and that is not helpful. I still see houses and trees and animals around me, but not in a sightseeing kind of way. I just mind my own business.
Walking is a space where I enter the domain of others in the presence of others. I spend a lot of time to observe creatures and things I usually don’t get to see at home or other parts of town or city. I walk to experience something other than myself.
Running is a space where I enter the domain of myself in the presence of others. I exert my intention in front of the surrounding nature and neighbors. I run to experience everything about myself.
Strictly speaking, the walking experience and the running experience are both a combination of where I am and what I doing, of course. Without my love for nature and animals, I would not enjoy walking the way I do. Without the way my running path is made hilly here and there, I would not run the way I do. It is the prioritization of the activity that directs how I experience these activities.
I enjoy both walking and running very much. It has been much too hot for me to do either the past couple days. I hope I can go outside and run/walk again soon!