Not walking also could be unwise. One study found that walking briskly for 30 minutes five times a week reduced the risk of dying prematurely by 20 percent.
Do I have your attention?
The more I learned about walking, the more I felt compelled to walk. Time to get moving.
Squeezing in 10,000 steps, or roughly 4 to 4.5 miles, requires dedicated time to walk. I made it my starting goal. Going out for a walk, even a short one, nets a couple thousand steps, but I also love yoga and lifting weights. I had to figure out how to walk more without taking away time from those.
I needed to get smart about adding in steps.
I looked first at my commute. Hopping on transit was the simplest approach. The 10- to 15-minute walk to my local light-rail station after parking, plus the 10-minute walk from my downtown stop to the yoga studio where I teach and the return walks, would net me 4,000 to 5,000 steps.
I argued with myself to get this new system in place. I was accustomed to curling up over my computer screen right up until the moment I had to hop in my car. I had to build in more time on the front end, since my new plan added about 30 minutes to my commute. It appeared at first that this was going to eat up valuable work time.
The reality was quite different. I saw that I could shift my mindset about taking the train and turn it into productive work time. During my 25-minute ride, I completed writing projects and answered emails; I realized I lost time sitting in my car in traffic. By using transit, I also arrived at my destination with more energy from walking and no stress from traffic. Taking the train also fed into an environmental goal to drive fewer miles.
Soon, I loved my new pattern.
From there, I added in more walks. One day, I walked three miles to an appointment. When I ran out of time for the return, I took the bus. That day, I hit 15,000 steps. On another day, I walked one mile from the light-rail to my gym, did Olympic weightlifting for two hours, and walked another mile afterward back to the station. In the rain. It proved to me I could walk on days I lift or do yoga—and while getting soaked.
I walked while making work calls. If I was 10 minutes early to an appointment, I walked around the block instead of sitting in my car on my phone. I proposed walks with friends rather than meeting for a drink or a meal.
Sometimes, I imitated my mom, a committed walker, and walked laps around my house in the evening to get my last couple thousand steps in. Circling the house felt silly, but I was happy every time I hit that magic five-digit number.
The best days are when I head to the mountains to hike. I reach 15,000 to 30,000 steps on days spent reveling in fresh air, forest trails, and all those glorious steps.
At first, walking 10,000 steps on days I lifted or did yoga exhausted me. Over time, my walking endurance grew. After building it into my routine, I walked my four-plus miles, did other activities, and felt energetic and steady throughout the day. After several months of hitting my 10,000-step walking goal at least five times a week, I was ready for my biggest walking challenge yet.
Katy Bowman had mentioned 20-mile walks to me. She takes these long walks at least once a month and adds them into movement retreats that she leads. The long walk is a lost art in the United States, Bowman says. Americans once took long walks as a matter of course and used to admire great pedestrians. Remember Edward Payson Weston?
I liked the idea, and I was nervous. I wondered if I would make it to the end, or if it would be painful. Still, once the idea was planted, I was not turning back.
On the day of our 20-miler, I met Bowman bright and early on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, close to where she lives. Bowman mapped out our route and estimated it would take us eight hours with a break. A light mist came down as we collected two other walkers she’d recruited, and we set off.
I asked if I should have trained for the distance. The best way to prepare for a long walk is to do one, Bowman said. Your body uses different muscles at 20 miles than it does at 5 or 10. The long walk is the training. As muscles tire out, your body adapts by relying on different muscle groups. If your feet or ankles are stiff—true for most people—your body has a hard time getting other muscles to join in, so you might get tired or hurt. The same could happen for knees or hips. It does help to stretch and strengthen your feet and joints over time before your first long walk.
Our fellow walkers were Michael Kaffel, a teacher with Bowman and a veteran of many walks, and his friend Owl. Owl’s dog, Ki, walked with us, and Bowman’s husband would join us for the last 10 miles.
Worried we might run out of topics to talk about, I’d come up with a list of questions for Bowman, eager to pick her brain. This prep was unnecessary. I didn’t even get to my questions because, as I discovered, if you’re walking with new people, you’ll spend all your time getting to know them.
For the first few miles, clouds spat light rain as we moved along a paved trail close to a highway. Our conversation was nonstop as we shared brief summaries of our life histories, with asides into work catch-up for Kaffel and Bowman. The miles flew as the conversation moved to books. Soon, we were five miles in.
Around eight miles, Bowman moved her backpack to the front of her body. A backpack makes it easier to carry a lot of things, as opposed to carrying things individually in your arms, but your body gets tired holding it. Change position to use new muscles and rest others, Bowman said; it’s resting while you move, an idea both novel and sensible. I slung my backpack to one side and noticed the other side relax even as we moved at a quick clip.
To rest our feet from the paved trail, we walked in the grass. Flat ground is easier for fitness, Bowman explained, but more complex terrain is easier on your musculoskeletal system. When you walk on flat ground, you use the same muscles the whole way. On complex terrain, the same concept of alternately resting muscles as you go applies.
We paused to look at a steep ravine filled with lush green forest while we nibbled on cucumber-flavored Indian plum leaf, but our pace otherwise was fast at a little over three miles per hour. At three hours, we had covered 10 miles and arrived at Bowman’s house for a mid-walk break.
In her home, Bowman pointed out squishy balls and half-dome rollers in the living room for stretching calf muscles and feet then went to the kitchen to mix batter for crepes. I stretched my legs, squatted, did lunges, and twisted to release tightness in my back. It felt so good to stop walking and stretch.
I thought I would struggle to motivate after lunch, but I felt refreshed and physically good. With Bowman’s husband now in tow, we were off to the Olympic Discovery Trail, a 130-mile trail that winds across the Peninsula. Our conversation shifted to Ayurvedic nutrition and acupuncture. Bowman and I chatted about writing books and running our own businesses. We paused when Owl pointed out swarming termites, red ants, or the shape of a vine on a tree. We looked at books in Little Free Libraries. We stocked up on fresh eggs for sale in a cooler by the trail. Bowman took pictures and posted movement tips to her Instagram account.
At mile 16.5, we stopped to stretch. I asked if long walks always pass so quickly. Kaffel, who has done longer ones, smiled and said, “When it’s only 20 miles.”
Around mile 19.5, my right hip spoke up. It’s often tight from an old injury, and it made itself known for the final stretch, aching as I walked. A long walk will show you repetitive movement patterns and weaknesses, Bowman said. Fortunately, we were almost at the end.
As anticipated, our walk lasted eight hours. I thought 20 miles might feel hard, but it didn’t. The walk took a long time, but it was nothing compared to the exhaustion I feel from a 12- to 14-mile hike with a lot more elevation. It was just fun—and so simple. For the curious, our walk added up to about 45,000 steps.
I have days I don’t reach my daily 10,000-step goal, though it is less frequent since the arrival of my pup,