Komen walk, mile one.

I participated in the Komen Race for the Cure yesterday. Got up super early and wore layers and had lots of coffee. I even got to be on TV (in the background) and see a certain news personality on whom I have a serious crush that my wife likes to tease me about (winks at Dan).

There were weird things about the whole event. There were a lot of people doing the walk (not the run) who were wearing brand-new track clothes and stretchy things I don’t even wear for 10 mile bike rides and 20 mile hikes. I could not tell if they were congratulating themselves for doing the “race” for a good cause or if they really thought that walking for a whole hour was a serious physical undertaking.

One thing that I thought was weird was how many people had their photo taken next to the one mile marker during the walk. The whole walk was three miles, and there were far less people getting their photos taken at the three mile mark.

Don’t get me wrong. I know that I’m no explorer. I don’t walk for Thoreau’s famous four hours a day. I never jump the back fence armed with tea, bread and a blanket like John Muir. No one’s arrested me for being in the wrong country during a coup like Chatwin. But I walk more than the Komen’s three miles in a normal day, usually even a day that involves cycling.

What I mean to wonder is, are my fellow Marylanders so sedentary that they need to prove to their family, friends or themselves that they actually in fact definitely walked a whole mile at one time? I wondered that as we passed the other mile markers and noticed less or no people getting their photos taken. And when scores of people collapsed at the end, perfectly young and/or apparently reasonably fit people, I did feel a little, I don’t know, awesome because I was ready to walk all day.

I hope this is not all true because we are taking 5-10 young men on a 20+ miler in the mountains this coming weekend. They are very good kids, but they are a lot less…active than even I was at their ages. My first 20-miler at age 14 wrecked my feet (I was stupid enough to wear new boots), but I made it. I know these boys can do it, but yesterday’s Komen walk has me a little nervous. I have not the upper body strength to be carrying anyone.

Speaking of Muir, I have something neat in mind for the youngins this weekend, which I’ll share later.