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Walking With Others
How many walkers does it take to walk around the lake? One - but it's more fun with others. As with anything else in life, things you enjoy and share with others become twice as enjoyable. One of the things you will become aware of is with whom you can walk and with whom you cannot. If you walk with another walker, he or she needs to be compatable.
What makes someone a compatable walker? Obviously, he or she needs to be someone you like. But there is more to the perfect partner than being likeable. Probably the most important factor is that your partner walks at approximately the same pace as you do. I find it most frustrating to constantly slow down for my partner to catch up, and it certainly puts a strain on my partner who has to extend beyond his or her abilities in order to keep up with a faster walker.
If you both enjoy walking in the same places and at the same time of day, and you can keep pace with each other that's a great start. Perfect partners can motivate each other and help each other to improve. He or she will watch out for you without supervising and push you a little without nagging. The social interactions can certainly be a healthy distraction on longer walks. In the event of injury or sudden illness while walking, having a partner along with you is certainly to your advantage.
There are times that I prefer to walk alone. Sometimes, after a long frustrating day at the office, I like to grab my portable cassette player, some relaxing music and my sneakers and head for the quarter-mile track at my local high school. It's a safe place where I can zone out while walking and just listen to my music and "forget" about the day. Part of your learning in this awareness phase is knowing when you need to walk with others, and when you need to walk alone.
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