Meet the Mall Walker
ME!
I am not a mall person.  I am not a shopper.  But desperate times call for desperate measures.  And winter in Cleveland can make you desperate!
You are probably familiar with my Couch to 5K journey.  I knew that winter would be a challenge.  It has been, but with the mild winter we are having I have been able to squeeze in running here and there.  Not as regularly as I would like but at least enough to make me feel like I won’t backslide too much.  My husband has even joined me on the weekend!
All that running (or “walking” as some in my family would call it) and my knees have been fine.  But I was on my knees one day and felt something pop in my knee.  It has behaved mostly like a bruise and I am hoping it will heal just fine.
But in the mean time I signed up to be a mall walker.  Signing up with the Cleveland Clinic probably means I’ll get some mail and I got a nice drawstring bag.  The line for the free breakfast was filled with the throngs of seniors….so I started walking!
My first thought was that it was going to be incredibly boring.  Our mall does not seem that big and I thought it would take 10 rounds to make a dent.  But I had my music, walked at a good rate and looked in the windows to see if anything caught my eye.  (Oh yeah, the thongs at Victoria Secret….)
Before I knew it I completed one round and passed 15 minutes!  It suddenly became very doable to make 2 or 3 rounds and try to fit this in once or twice a week or more.
As the senior crowd finished their breakfast they joined in and it was interesting to see couples, young and old, buddies, a man with an oxygen tank.  I was haunted by the older gentlemen that walked alone, however.  They remind me of my dad.  They seem lonely.  Perhaps my real purpose for mall walking is to spread a smile.
I think I’d enjoy the walk more if I had a friend join me.  But for now I have my music.  
Watch out Granny, I’m off to buy some velcro sneakers!
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