[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, I'm Sarah, and I'm Megan.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're two women in our 40s who live in different states and have a lot of different interests between us.

[SPEAKER_01]: On this show, we talk about all the midlife lady leisure pursuits we are enjoying at this stage of life, like travel, hobbies, food, wellness, style, and more.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm super excited today to talk about our walking lives.

[SPEAKER_00]: So Sarah, we both walk a lot for fun and for health, and I want to dive into the minutia.

[SPEAKER_00]: What we're wearing when we walk, where we walk, how we feel about our current walking lives, all that good stuff.

[SPEAKER_01]: I love it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, today's episode is brought to you by our exclusive season sponsor and a longtime partner of ours, Vionic Shoes.

[SPEAKER_01]: Vionics are the perfect combo of stylish and super comfortable and they really help keep us both moving and walking, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Use the promo code midlife at Vionic Shoes.com for 15% off when you log into your account and be sure to check out the special page we've set up where you can see our favorite Vionic styles.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can look for that in the show notes for this episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, thank you so much to Vionic for sponsoring this episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: And let's dive right into talking about walking.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to start with a warm-up question, and that is, what is the difference to us between a walk and a hike?

[SPEAKER_00]: And I will tell what I have seen as the actual definition.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen it, and I don't remember now where I saw this, but some source.

[SPEAKER_00]: claimed that a hike is longer than a mile, and a walk is something up to a mile, which is very different from my personal deficit.

[SPEAKER_00]: I disagree.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I disagree.

[SPEAKER_00]: So my personal definition would be that like a hike involves [SPEAKER_00]: woods or like, you know, um, altitude differences or like a rustic trail, it's kind of like I can't define it, but I know it if I see it and the walk would be on a sidewalk or a paved path and it would probably be [SPEAKER_00]: a little less like up and down, but I don't know, like what's your definition?

[SPEAKER_01]: I think mine's close to yours with a couple modifications.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just with the bias of where I live, there's a lot of hiking trails where I live, and for me a hike means [SPEAKER_01]: you have specifically on purpose gone to a hiking trail.

[SPEAKER_01]: Doesn't mean it needs to be strenuous, or it doesn't mean it needs to be a lot of elevation, like you said.

[SPEAKER_01]: So the chill part, I feel like I could think of some chill hikes, but to me they would be on hiking trails, and a walk would be like you said, [SPEAKER_01]: more in civilization.

[SPEAKER_01]: We don't have as much like truly rugged wild land where you would be neither on pavement nor on a trail.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like I guess on the beach, that would count for that.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I wouldn't call it a hike on the beach.

[SPEAKER_00]: I wouldn't call it a hike on the beach.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that would be a walk.

[SPEAKER_00]: When you and I went for that walk around your neighborhood, which you walk every day, yeah, pretty close.

[SPEAKER_00]: We cut through.

[SPEAKER_00]: a more rugged area.

[SPEAKER_00]: Did we not?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think we did go up that little trail.

[SPEAKER_01]: Or we came down it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Remember, I felt so bright.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we walked me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we walked up, up, up.

[SPEAKER_00]: We were just on a road, walk, walk, walk.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then we, hi.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then we came down a hiking trail.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's so true.

[SPEAKER_01]: That was a hybrid.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't do that trail by myself because I get a little nervous of both animal predators and like maybe a very unlikely human predator.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I don't do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's called fearing trail and it's short and really pretty back there.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I never do it because I don't like to do it by myself.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would do it with a friend like you.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's funny.

[SPEAKER_00]: That was a hard one.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would take a standar would be helpful in a circumstance, which I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: If there was a mountain line, I think he would be unhelpful.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's the much more likely run faster than him.

[SPEAKER_00]: But anyway, that was very macabre.

[SPEAKER_00]: OK, so we're both a little, I guess, undecided about exactly.

[SPEAKER_00]: What we kind of, this is the thing where it's like, I know when I'm on a hike and I know when I'm on a walk.

[SPEAKER_00]: Me too.

[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe it has a little bit to do with the next question, which is what we wear because I do feel like sometimes the intention behind a, let's say, a, [SPEAKER_00]: a stroll or whatever we're like moving our feet and and be lighting forward.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe the intention is set when we get dressed.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm curious if you are particular about what you wear when you walk, like your pants, your bra, your shoes, like what?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, matters to you and what doesn't, and doesn't matter on the, like this is a context matter.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I am so routine oriented about this.

[SPEAKER_01]: I pretty much have the same active wear, [SPEAKER_01]: look or uniform whether I'm going on a walk or two twice a week I go to a group fitness class at the Y and what's funny about that is the group fitness class is quite strenuous much more bouncing much more sweating and my walks are not that strenuous they might be longer but I'm not jogging I'm not like I'm not really sweating but I kind of wear the same thing no matter what and I'm not sure why it just feels like simple so [SPEAKER_01]: For me, that would be like workout leggings, like running tights, basically.

[SPEAKER_01]: My athletic shoes and then I do wear a sports bra when I walk and I really don't need to.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do have a couple sports bras that I consider like I wouldn't wear them to my hit class at the Y because they're not supportive enough, but I would them wear them on a walk, but they're still an athletic undergarment.

[SPEAKER_01]: and then like a t-shirt or a tank top and like a zip-up hoodie or like workout jacket.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that is pretty much year-round over here except in the winter I would add like a puffy vest and if it's really winter I would like throw on a beanie.

[SPEAKER_01]: But yeah I kind of am the same.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even if my walk is not going to be [SPEAKER_01]: terrifically challenging.

[SPEAKER_01]: So how about you?

[SPEAKER_00]: Do you ever find that adhering to that clothing choice gets in the way of more impromptu movement?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because this is something I have struggled with a little bit some curious.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you seem like you've really got your routine nailed down.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there ever be a time where you'd be like, oh, I can't go for a walk because I'm not wearing [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, yes, like I definitely think I have a mental like just like a like a demarcation between walking clothes and regular clothes, even though I could easily.

[SPEAKER_01]: pop out my door and go for a quick walk in any number of like regular street clothes, but I think I have a kind of a fixed mind set about it, but it's funny.

[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't work in the reverse because I will sometimes go for a long walk, not change out of those clothes because again, they're not overly sweaty.

[SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't like, [SPEAKER_01]: in the brambles or anything, and then I'll wear that workout outfit for the entire rest of the day.

[SPEAKER_01]: That doesn't bother me, but for some reason it would feel weird to go in my non-workout clothes on like a mile walk.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's very silly.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know, it's, we're all like this, and I try and, [SPEAKER_00]: to become a little less particular because I have found and part of it for me is that even though I do work from home, I'm still like kind of out in different areas kind of a lot, so I have my T-Shop, which is in St.

[SPEAKER_00]: Joseph, which is in one direction, which is the opposite direction from the beach that I typically walk at.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when I go to the T-Shop, I'm not usually wearing [SPEAKER_00]: Unless I'm also going to yoga like I just I wouldn't yeah probably be dressed in that leisure So I Have found before that like that hesitance It feels like it gets in the way so yeah, it gets in the way of me dressing the way I want to for the thing I'm doing because I feel like I have to stay Or like it just gets in the way of getting the walk so here's kind of where I'm landing right now I always wear or have in my car [SPEAKER_00]: to grab if I need them for later, you know, even if I don't wear them out of the house, I'll have a sneak peekers, or if it's an actual hike, like a hiking trail, hiking boots.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't, I'm not hiking every single day, so I don't wear them as often.

[SPEAKER_00]: But because I am prone to like a lot of foot issues and ankle problems and also just, [SPEAKER_00]: blisters and weird rubby spots on my feet like I don't want to deal with that so choose I've always got um um I've always got good ones Even if that means carrying them with me and sometimes that means as I'm leaving the house I grab my pair of sneakers and yeah, I'm going to treat you and throw them in the car because then like I don't know I might want to go for a walk and I don't want to end up like now feeling like I can't because I work these loafers and they're just not right for like walking to miles in or something [SPEAKER_00]: So there's that, but everything else, literally everything else, I'm trying to relax a little bit, like I can walk in a dress, Janice didn't did it, you know.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can walk in a bra that's just a regular, yes, you know, underwear bra, it's fine, they're pretty supportive, [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not running.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like I'm sprinting up and down a set of stairs or something.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just And pants too, I had this weird hang up about like walking in jeans.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, why can't cowboys did it?

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I know.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like anyone who works outside of any kind of like a park ranger or like they're wearing like thicker fabrics and talking a ton of miles.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so, I mean, I guess the only thing I would say is if I tried to go for like a sweaty power walk and I was wearing pants that had like a seam in the inner thighs, sometimes it rubs in a weird way, but that is like point, well, the fight just, that's like hardly even counts as a real issue.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm just trying to let that go.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in the summer it's quite easy because like I'm gonna get kind of sweaty in the summer anyway and I'm just used to being like kind of a wearing tank tops and yeah maybe I'm wearing like linen pants or maybe I'm wearing a pair of cropped cotton pants that are like rolled up well I can easily walk in that and be comfortable because I feel cool right and the winter it does get a little trickier because I tend to be wearing more like dresses with tights or like [SPEAKER_00]: have your pants, so I think it is sometimes just like a mindset thing, but I guess the moral of the story is I'm trying to get over it because my goal is to walk.

[SPEAKER_00]: And my goal is to dress the way I want to dress and I need to do those two things together.

[SPEAKER_01]: So as you're talking, I'm realizing like my fixed mindset, my lack of flexibility is less about the outfit and it is actually more about time of day because as you're talking, I'm realizing you are committed to walking every day and the walk might happen at any number of pockets of time during the day, you might be at the t-shop and grab a walk, you might be [SPEAKER_01]: in between like drives places.

[SPEAKER_01]: I have not, that's where I could actually use more flexibility.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think I think the outfit thing would not even really be an issue.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's just that if I don't walk first thing in the morning, my brain tells me like, well, oh well, trying to do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like it doesn't.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: It often does not occur to me.

[SPEAKER_01]: to squeeze one in at other times of the day, which makes absolutely zero sense for based on everything, whether where I live, my lifestyle, my schedule, I could absolutely walk at other times, and that's where I just like forget that it's even a thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I feel like we are both actually creatures of habit in our own unique ways.

[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes that really can work to your benefit and sometimes it can get a little silly.

[SPEAKER_00]: And like, counterproductive.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think there's a reason our brains, like our little lizard brains do this.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason humans patternize things and stick to our habits because it removes [SPEAKER_00]: fiction.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Friction.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then sometimes it just is no longer helpful and we have to, you know, think a little bit differently or it benefits us to do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I also think it's totally fine.

[SPEAKER_00]: If all you ever do is walk the exact same path every day at the same exact time and the same exact close with the rest of your life because you've also got other things to think about and other places to express your neuroplasticity.

[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.

[SPEAKER_01]: Have you, I have a come across accounts of people like who walk, older people who walk like five plus miles per day.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like they just like head out for an hour and a half.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just think it's so like comforting to think about and satisfying.

[SPEAKER_01]: I really would like to be someone who walks more than I do.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like I feel good about the amount I'm walking now, but I feel like I just think that's so cool whenever I hear about somebody who walks every single day for like six miles.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's just [SPEAKER_00]: I agree and it keeps them moving like you can keep some healthy and it's good for us and so whatever we have to do to get that you know is great I would also love to be that person and I could see a time more like if if I didn't have as many things as I have in the back of my head going this really needs your attention I would just keep going because I love my walks you know so if I've already done two and a half miles why wouldn't I just do two and a half more [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I don't even really, I didn't write this question down, but it's a good one to talk about now, you might as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have to be listening to anything either.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, sometimes I find that I can go longer with nothing in my ears because then I'm not thinking about, oh, this podcast is going to end.

[SPEAKER_00]: I need to think about what to queue up next.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'll just kind of zone out or like live in my own thoughts or kind of butter to myself, like a person with issues.

[SPEAKER_00]: So anyway, [SPEAKER_01]: I would say I'm usually listening to something.

[SPEAKER_01]: I not 100% of the time, I can walk in silence for part of it, and I enjoy that, but I would say I'm usually listening to a podcast, or listening to a Vox or message from a friend, which is a favorite pairing of walking and boxing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: I kind of like to go back and forth.

[SPEAKER_00]: All right.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have like a an offshoot question about weighted vests because this is a very midlife lady spin on this topic.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to quit.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know we've both dabbled in weighted vests.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm actually not sure where you are with weighted vests at the moment, but I just wanted to quickly weigh in on this because.

[SPEAKER_00]: I, okay, so like a year ago, let's say, everybody was pro-weighted vests.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like yay, weighted vests, it's life-changing blah, blah, blah, blah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then a couple months ago, maybe like in the last three or four months, it got on my radar that suddenly there was pushback against weighted vests and they're going to hurt your joints and like [SPEAKER_00]: all this stuff.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I actually talked to my physical therapist about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Good for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he's kind of changed my life because my neck was really messed up.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it is not anymore.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I give him a lot of credence for being like for just knowing his stuff.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I've asked him things before like, okay, you'll you'll hear people talk about shoes that, for example, are like zero drop and have like [SPEAKER_00]: no arch supported all basically like a barefoot shoe yeah there's the proponents of that and there's their proponents of people who are like you have to have these super high arches and really squishy yeah like the weds it feel like you're walking on clouds and I said like what do you think because I do have a lot of fun issues and he said I just really don't like to say one or the other because it's a time in a place for both like if you're actively hurt and walking on the ground [SPEAKER_00]: hurts your feet, then there might be a reason you would need to give them a break with, like a super squishy shoe.

[SPEAKER_00]: And having support and stability in your feet while you're walking is also very good.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's like, but barefoot is great too.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, they can be everything.

[SPEAKER_00]: So anyway, really trust him because I don't think he's coming.

[SPEAKER_01]: I really like that answer.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that's that is the nuance that I think is lacking from a lot of these conversations, so that's great.

[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely, and so I was like, yeah, and I can listen to my body a little bit like I sort of know when I'm not walking on the ground enough like I'm not getting my feet enough contact with the ground Not stretching them and flexing them enough like I can tell if I really think about it and same thing with how I'm doing a little too much like sometimes the squishy shoe feels really good so [SPEAKER_00]: all that to say this is the same guy I asked about weighted vests and he left he's like what is it with weighted vests I said I know I'm so sorry to have to be the one like the 7th person this week to ask you this you said yeah [SPEAKER_00]: Once again, if you have a weighted vest and you're walking, it can pull on your shoulders and you might feel some tension, you know, that's a true thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you're overloading yourself, it maybe isn't great for your joints.

[SPEAKER_00]: But it's also true that it's going to give you a better aerobic workout at that it's good for bone density because it's adding, it's a weight-bearing exercise, it's adding, [SPEAKER_00]: It's adding that to your to your walk that you're already doing anyway.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he was kind of like, why not, but it's not a panacea.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not like if you, if you start wearing a weighted vest, like suddenly you're going to be ripped and able to run up mountains.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's all about what you do with it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, if your joints are in bad condition to begin with, maybe rethink that until they're in better shape.

[SPEAKER_00]: So anyway, again, a very nuanced position.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, really curious all after all that preamble.

[SPEAKER_00]: what you're, do you still wear yours?

[SPEAKER_01]: I was so glad to hear his input.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I hadn't been paying that close of attention except I obviously I picked up on the fact that they were very trendy.

[SPEAKER_01]: I decided to get one, not that long ago.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to say we're recording this in September, maybe June, May, June.

[SPEAKER_01]: I really has not been that long.

[SPEAKER_01]: I got a 12 pound one on the and the specific one was a recommendation from my friend Erica who's very fit and very like into cardiovascular fitness specifically and I just bought them when she told me and I for a while was wearing it on every walk and now I have started to like [SPEAKER_01]: kind of choose my own choose the experience I want.

[SPEAKER_01]: What I like about it is what your physical therapist said.

[SPEAKER_01]: I like the increased cardiovascular challenge because I can be a little we've already talked about how routine oriented I am.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not pushing myself very hard when I walk.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not speed walking.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not power walking.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not like moving my arms.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, [SPEAKER_01]: like I could be, but I'm just not, because I'm talking to my friends on Voxer, and I'm, I'm meandering a little bit.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so I do, I like that instead of me pushing myself to, like, to walk faster, it's giving me a little bit of a cardiovascular challenge in a different way.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, and I kind of like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, oh, I was having a puffing today, like that's [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's good.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll also use it if I know I can only do a short walk and I'm like, well, make it a little harder.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm only going to walk for 30 minutes instead of 50, but it'll be a little harder.

[SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes, honestly, it's just like what I'm in the mood for.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I would say now I'm putting it on like half of the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: And mine is quite comfortable.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know if it's just that I didn't get one that was too heavy or, but it's not, I don't feel any problems with.

[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't feel too heavy and it doesn't feel like it's pulling [SPEAKER_01]: Um, so I am like cautiously pro, but I'm such a fan of the type of advice that we're talking about here, which is like, what, what are we really talking about?

[SPEAKER_01]: What are your specific goals?

[SPEAKER_01]: What are our expectations of this thing and it's not like, it's not a magic bullet for anything.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm also doing like much harder cardio and weights when I'm at my YMCA class twice a week.

[SPEAKER_01]: that I would actually I would much rather increase that to three times a week.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just haven't found the right class.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then then start to like mess with my walks and make them like aggressively.

[SPEAKER_00]: Very.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's I don't know if that answer your question.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm not anti.

[SPEAKER_01]: I may be not quite as like excited about it as I was a few months ago when I bought it.

[SPEAKER_01]: But that's just how things are.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like when you get something new.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're like into it.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'll see.

[SPEAKER_01]: He has worn off.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, interestingly, I also have a 12 pound weighted vest and it's very comfortable.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, when I'm wearing it, if I'm walking on a flat surface, I almost don't really even.

[SPEAKER_00]: I for kind of forget I'm wearing it.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not creating so much extra work for me that I'm like, oh man, this works, this walks a lot harder.

[SPEAKER_00]: I do sometimes take it off for, so the walk I do most often is at a beach where I park [SPEAKER_00]: Very tall stair cases on either on a dune, on either side of me, which adds a lot of cardio to the walk.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then I walk back into the neighborhoods behind the beach, walk that neighborhood.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's about two miles.

[SPEAKER_00]: So walk way into the neighborhoods and back to my car.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then it's like another half mile or so to do the stairs.

[SPEAKER_00]: So if I do the whole loop with the stairs, maybe it's more like two and a quarter.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because if I do the whole thing, it's three miles.

[SPEAKER_00]: what I'll do sometimes is just do the only do the best for like almost as a warm up for the two and a quarter mile back in the neighborhoods, then come back, take it off and do the stairs.

[SPEAKER_00]: If I just don't want to be because we're where the rubber really hits the road is if I'm wearing that thing and doing the stairs.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it's not as often that I would do both together.

[SPEAKER_00]: But if I'm like, okay, no, I'm ready.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to make this into a workout.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe I'll stop so the stairs have these platforms and what I'll often do is stop on the platforms and like do some squats or something mostly Yeah, I want to not be climbing the stairs for a second and yeah, it's like okay, I'll keep moving but it's a different kind of movement but it's like [SPEAKER_00]: all those things together.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like he said, what is the goal?

[SPEAKER_00]: All the things together are adding up to better health and the moment when I want all of those things in my life and I want to keep moving.

[SPEAKER_00]: I also a couple of years ago, right around the same time that the weighted vest thing got started to get at my radar, there was a lot of talk about rucking, which is essentially [SPEAKER_00]: a backpack to sort of mimic, like wearing a weighted backpack to sort of mimic that, like that, like a backpack.

[SPEAKER_01]: I've never really understood what that term meant, so thank you.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's like rucksack.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a stand, you know, a sort of for, well, I went online and found rucking like specific.

[SPEAKER_00]: Backpacks you would not pack with stuff for like a hiking trip, [SPEAKER_00]: selling for like four and five hundred dollars.

[SPEAKER_00]: Wow.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I was looking at, like, it's an empty backpack that you've been by separate weights to put in.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, what is the, I mean, of course they said it was some special magic because the weight, the weight, the weight, the weight, the weight, the weight, the weight, the weight, the weight, the weight, the weight.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: And like where you pack the weights in so it allows you to sort of target, instead of just filling it from the top, I think you fill it more like from this.

[SPEAKER_00]: back so that you could put weights, if you're only going to have a certain amount of weight, you could have a right at your back, like your lower back and not higher.

[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, whatever, it doesn't matter.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't need that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't need to spend that much money on an empty backpack.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have backbacks.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I guess I point to any of these things can be taken to kind of an extreme that where you're diminishing returns, probably, but I feel like our 12 pound weighted vests are just fine and my physical therapist agrees.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I appreciate that little thumbs up and yeah as we're talking about this I think you and I are pretty aligned on like we we want functional movement for as long as possible we want to feel strong We don't want to put obstacles in the way of getting out there and doing the thing and I know we're going to talk about where we walk and like sometimes an obstacle is [SPEAKER_01]: Do I have to get in the car and drive somewhere?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do I have to have special clothes?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do I have to have special shoes?

[SPEAKER_01]: So finding that middle place of giving yourself a good walk, but also not at needing to have all of the fancy equipment and making it into a bigger thing, because that defeats the purpose of the goal.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right, absolutely.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's a good lead into our last question, which is about where we walk, like what is our walking routine?

[SPEAKER_00]: And how do we feel about it?

[SPEAKER_00]: Do we want to change things up?

[SPEAKER_00]: Are we happy with where it is?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, um, [SPEAKER_01]: Mostly happy, although we're, you know, anything in September, I feel like is an invitation to like tweak a routine, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: I have all my fall back to school energy right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I can think of a few ways I'd like to change it up.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I currently walk about three to four days a week.

[SPEAKER_01]: from right out my front door, with or without the weighted vest, almost always with my dog.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I leave my front door and I'm typically gone about 50 minutes, somewhere between 45 and an hour.

[SPEAKER_01]: I live in a hilly area.

[SPEAKER_01]: I always see where I live described as semi-rural.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's a good descriptor because there's no sidewalks, there's no street lamps.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it's also not fully rural.

[SPEAKER_01]: The roads are paved.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's older neighborhoods on bigger lots.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so you can kind of wind.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's kind of winding.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's quite hilly.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I can get some elevation.

[SPEAKER_01]: I always get elevation.

[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, I can't really avoid at least moderate hills when I walk.

[SPEAKER_01]: I usually log around two miles.

[SPEAKER_01]: But that can kind of depend on which way I go and how fast I'm walking and whether I do 45 versus an hour, et cetera.

[SPEAKER_01]: So [SPEAKER_01]: Um, that is the current situation.

[SPEAKER_01]: I often walk at least once a week with my mom.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, she has been, my parents were out of town all summer, but they're back.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we're going on a walk tomorrow.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when we walk, we go faster.

[SPEAKER_01]: She's fast.

[SPEAKER_01]: And she really does like the aerobics part of walking.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I would say we go a little faster.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I get more out of breath.

[SPEAKER_01]: But otherwise, it's about the same.

[SPEAKER_01]: We either go at my house or her house.

[SPEAKER_01]: In terms of changing things up, I have a couple of ideas for this fall.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would like to combine my walks with my mom with walking downtown neighborhoods in Santa Barbara in the city where we live because we both love to look at old historic houses.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can I just put a quick, quick, like, pin here?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I feel like we could have a whole episode just about walking neighborhoods [SPEAKER_00]: a door with my all my heart and yeah, I don't do a whole lot of these days.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just because not part of my routine, but I have lived in neighbor has before where like there was just lots.

[SPEAKER_00]: Every time I travel, that's the thing I wouldn't do the most is walking in an old neighborhood.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so yeah, not, I don't care about fitness in those cases, although it can be both, but yeah, that sounds totally different.

[SPEAKER_01]: It can be both, especially if you [SPEAKER_01]: go long enough.

[SPEAKER_01]: I spend a lot of time because of where my kids go to school in their various activities.

[SPEAKER_01]: I actually spend a ton of time driving around Santa Barbara's really historic.

[SPEAKER_01]: um, interest architecturally interesting residential neighborhoods.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so I'm like, there's something in my body like craving, no, like I want to get out of my car.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to look closer like I want to.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I was thinking that I would propose to my mom that we move our walks downtown this year.

[SPEAKER_01]: And again, back to the friction and the routine, it would require probably a different time of day.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we would have to like meet down there and drive our cars and stuff.

[SPEAKER_01]: But that I think would be a fun.

[SPEAKER_01]: week because I love walking historic neighborhoods.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that, you know, I always say I want to go to the beach more.

[SPEAKER_01]: We talked about we did a whole episode about living in beach towns and just last weekend, Brian and I were going to go on a walk together, which we don't do that often, but I always enjoy it when we do on the weekends and he's like, do you want to drive down to the beach and walk the beach?

[SPEAKER_01]: And I literally was like, oh, that sounds hard.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, [SPEAKER_01]: And we would be walking on the beach like six minutes from.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: So it's those it's those getting out of the routine a little bit.

[SPEAKER_01]: So maybe some more downtown and some more just varying up the location.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's so funny because my where I'm at right now is almost the exact inverse of of you in that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I also love the idea of being able to just walk up my door, but my neighborhood walk, which I sometimes will do out of expediency.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like if I truly don't have time to drive anywhere to walk, I will do that, but it's really kind of boring.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like a boring walk, it's kind of like a, again, like a semi-rural walk, but also the neighborhood.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not very interesting.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just like newer developments and not the kind of neighborhood walk I love.

[SPEAKER_00]: Plus there's long stretches without sidewalk, which I also don't love because then I feel like I have to be really careful about where I am versus cars and I get nervous anyway.

[SPEAKER_00]: All those things.

[SPEAKER_00]: So my habit has been to go to this beat, one of the other beach.

[SPEAKER_00]: So there's always a beach involved just because of where I live.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you really can't go anywhere worth walking.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's also not, you know, near a beach right here.

[SPEAKER_00]: I feel like, but there's, there's the St.

[SPEAKER_00]: Joe walk.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there, there's the Bridgman walk.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Bridgman walk is the one I do more often.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the one I described earlier and then if I go back into St.

[SPEAKER_00]: Joe I probably do this once or twice a week.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can do a three to four mile walk there And that feels like a little bit more of a occasion like oh, I'm gonna go do the same Yeah, walk it's all right or is also Yeah, that's a long Like the log I'm doing is probably like two and a quarter on a regular on a regular day.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah [SPEAKER_00]: Well, and then also because it's a little bit outside of my usual, it feels like an event or an occasion.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I want to pair something.

[SPEAKER_00]: I always want to be like, I'm going to go, do that walk, and then I'm going to go to the library, then I'm going to go to the coffee shop and work like, and sometimes I have to remind myself, I'm there anyway, Clara goes to school there.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, it doesn't have to be, it doesn't have to be like a, there's another reason.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, like, it's just, it's, because it's there, and it's pretty.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think, sometimes like you, I can be such a creature of habit that if it's not like part of my walk, I don't seize the opportunity to walk.

[SPEAKER_00]: If I don't feel like if I don't have a full half hour, it's not worth it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Or if I don't have like we talked about the right clothes on or whatever.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I am trying to move past that because I don't think it's...

[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't necessarily help me achieve my goal.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, the fact that every day I'm thinking about when I'm going to walk from the time I get up in the morning to me feels like a win because it's Yes, such a habit that I have been it expected.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had a probably a three week streak in the summer where I really didn't walk because it was so hot.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there was just no time of day when, you know, I really wanted to go outside and I was kind of miserable like I really missed it and I like that I missed it, you know, yeah, because it means that it's it's really entrenched, um, it's just become really entrenched in my day to day and I remind me how winter went for you last year because this is a big difference in where we live.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm actually looking forward.

[SPEAKER_01]: to our winter because I can put on my sweatshirt and not be hot and so yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: But that's, like it's prohibitive.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was cold, there was a long streak where it was really, really cold.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so did you just not walk at all?

[SPEAKER_00]: I went to the high school, and walked on their little track.

[SPEAKER_00]: I did that for, [SPEAKER_00]: Like it's only open certain days.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think Monday Wednesday Friday or something like that But I did that for like a two or three week period in there, but there was definitely a strike a stretch of time We're all like walking outside.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not gonna say was dangerous, but let's put it this way when I went down take care of the chickens Like I was completely bundled up [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: In all of the things, including a snow suit, and I was going down there multiple times a day to keep them from freezing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like I remember that a lot.

[SPEAKER_00]: The year before that, I walked all winter.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was really never a problem.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it just kind of depends what weather you're handed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't mind walking.

[SPEAKER_00]: I like walking in snow.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't like walking on ice, sometimes that does change things like I'm more likely to find a neighborhood where I know the sidewalks are going to be shoveled and that kind of thing or find a track somewhere.

[SPEAKER_00]: The neighborhood that I typically walk in, it would be very difficult to walk in if there was a lot of snow on the ground because they're sand and the sand freezes and then there's no [SPEAKER_00]: So I could do the neighborhood part, but I wouldn't do stairs.

[SPEAKER_00]: So like it does change things.

[SPEAKER_00]: But a couple of years ago, I feel like we had so little snow that I was basically with a few extra short lived exceptions.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was out there year-round doing that same walk.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it's like it does throw off your routine, though, because you can't necessarily count on it being the walk that you did two days ago.

[SPEAKER_00]: You just depends on the snow.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I find other ways then to get my movement in the winter.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay everyone, well just a reminder that you can find our expanded show notes with photos and links on Substack at midlifeladyleisurepresuits.substack.com.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's also where you'll find the special page we have set up with some of our favorite vionic styles.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can use the promo code midlife at vionicshoes.com for 15% off when you log into your account.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for being here, everyone.

[SPEAKER_01]: We'll talk to you soon.