Walking - Week 2 starts...

I wanted to roll over and go back to sleep this morning.  It was just after 7 and my body cried out for more sleep.  But it also cried out, more loudly, that I get up and get moving.  8 minutes later, I was out in the bright sunlight, walking down the same street as every morning last week.  Yes, I did rest yesterday, but that was yesterday.

I went further than any day last week.  Not all that much further, maybe a block and a half.  But there is a 7-11 now within sight and at some point in the coming days, I will walk all the way there.  I will treat myself to some cold water, before walking back home.

There was a man pulling into a parking lot as I passed.  He fell in behind me, and for a moment I felt vulnerable and became much more alert.  I am not comfortable with someone walking close behind me that I don't know on an otherwise empty street.  I quickened my pace, but he stopped and used a key to go into a storefront that had been closed and locked.  The quickened pace felt good and I maintained it for a bit, until I started feeling slightly short of breath.

For part of today's walk, I was running in my mind.  In South Korea of all places.  The small U.S. unit I was part of was stationed on a large Republic of Korea Air Force base.  The main road, which ran next to the barracks I lived in, ran on into the interior of the base as far as the eye can see.  It became one of my favorite runs while I was there, a run I used my commander's pick-up truck to measure off.  There was a 2.5 mile stretch that I would run out and back, to make a 5 mile run, most afternoons after the workday was over.  There were few buildings or activities out in that area, and unless I happened to encounter another runner (ususally Korean), I'd be all alone.

I also noticed something different this morning as I walked.  I saw a flower shop I'd never seen or noticed before.  I saw several empty storefronts I hadn't paid attention to before, and noticed their "For Lease" signs.  I saw a big "For Lease" sign on a building that is occupied.  Is the occupant going under?  Moving elsewhere?  Perhaps in the days to come, I will find out as I continue to pass that location.