The Four Mile Obsession

     I just do not recall when I adopted 4 miles walking as my target each day: or why I chose four miles.

    It couldn't have been something like 10,000 paces, as my 4 miles at 28 inches a pace only gives me 9,051 paces. I'am, in any event, suspicious of the 10,000 paces requirement: it seems to have started in Japan, and its origin is unclear.

    But, somewhere along the line, 4 miles became the aim, and I do try --religiously or obsessively--to achieve it. Today, for example, Joan ran this morning, and I walked in Rock Creek Park--she taking a longer route while I did my usual, which comes out at about 3.5 miles.

    And so, when later in the day, Joan suggested we take another stroll, I was keen to go, and my pedometer now shows 6 miles--which makes me feel very virtuous.

    Sometimes, in the evenings when I go to get the mail from the mailboxes on the 5th floor, I walk a few corridors to get the mileage up--one corridor in our building from the staircase in the northwest corner--next to our apartments--to the staircase in the southeast corner is about 150 yards, and often I often check my pedometer to see if I can get up to my four miles with a few corridors.

    I am not sufficiently obsessive to make sure that every day I achieve the four miles--sometimes on a rainy day, I might walk all the corridors from the 15th floor (our floor) all the way down to the first floor--boring, but often I can listen to a podcast or some music on my phone.

    So there we are: not an obsession, but something that encourages me to take exercise--and I am sure I am the better for it, rather than lying or sitting around all day.