{"id":2358,"date":"2015-03-19T20:00:35","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T20:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cccumovemore.wordpress.com\/?p=86"},"modified":"2019-02-07T10:50:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T10:50:25","slug":"just-walking-the-dog-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/christchurchsport\/just-walking-the-dog-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Walking the Dog\u2026 More"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u2018end of dog walk\u2019 routine is now well rehearsed; dog is made to sit on the door step; towel is laid on hallway floor; dog commanded to lay on towel; dog only partially completes task leaving large dog shaped mud stain on carpet; dog is rubbed down with second towel; dog tries to eat second towel; dog commanded to run straight through house to the kitchen; dog stops half way to shake; dog given biscuit for completing routine\u2026 which dog takes into the back garden only to get wet again!\"\"<\/p>\n

Walking the dog in the winter can become time consuming\u2026 but my dog, Scout, has been a large part of my motivation to Move More. It became too easy as the nights drew in and the mornings remained dark to do the bare minimum; to take the shorter, cleaner route but I soon realised that this wasn\u2019t really fair on the dog, and it wasn\u2019t really fair on me. As my work has become increasingly desk and meeting based, I have noticed that it has become harder to motivate myself to exercise. With the aches and pains of an ageing sportsman, I know my limitations and I know I cannot do what I used to do\u2026 and this in itself had become a barrier to me taking part in sport \u2013 I was finding little enjoyment in reinforcing the fact that I was no longer the sportsman I once was. The problem was, my inactivity was making things worse\u2026 the less I exercised, the worse I felt\u2026 the less I felt like exercising\u2026 and the more \u2018timber\u2019 I was beginning to carry! Something had to change.<\/p>\n

The decision to use walking as my pathway to improved health and fitness was the result of a slightly self-pitying conversation with my better half which went something like;<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you play squash?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy squash partner is injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you play five a side?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you go for a run?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy back hurts when I run.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t you ride your bike?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPuncture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2026 what can you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWalk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell go for a bloody walk then!\u201d<\/p>\n

So I did\u2026 except I decided to walk further\u2026 and that was the start of it. I set out on a walk, to the top of what is known locally as Elephant Hill. It was hard work, I had to stop several times and it took me an hour and a half to complete. The dog was shattered too; used to short fifteen minute outings she had run from the first and must have covered ten times the distance that I had done. It was a good walk\u2026 but something slightly competitive inside irked me that I had not been able to reach the summit without stopping\u2026 must do better the next day. So I did, pacing myself from the off, my goal to reach the top without stopping. I found that the walk became self-motivating; and because I had in mind that I was walking for fitness, I found I walked quicker than usually would have been the case; and as I walked quicker, the time became important; could I break the one hour mark? Absolutely I could\u2026 I even found myself putting in a little \u2018shuffle\u2019 to shave a few extra seconds off the time. Within two weeks, I had broken the hour and could feel some semblance of fitness returning.\"\"<\/p>\n

I guess we all lose our motivation to exercise at some point; and the problem is that once we stop it is so difficult to find a way back. For me, it was the realisation that all I had to do was to just walk a little further, and with a little more purpose. To find the time (and the inclination) to go to the gym or play sport was so difficult with all the competing pressures on my time, but to just walk a little further was something achievable\u2026 and something that most of us could do! Dog is optional\u2026 but mine certainly helps!<\/p>\n

Paul Carney<\/p>\n

Director of Sport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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