Sunday Runday: San Diego Heart and Stroke Walk

I wish I could say I had super altruistic reasons for participating in this year's Heart Walk.  I mean, it's a cause that's near and dear to my heart, given that my father, grandfather, and cousin all had deaths related to heart disease, and my father-in-law had a stroke-related death.  But I've never participated before.

This year, however, I've got a new job.  And part of my job requirements include participating in community service.  And my company had a team participating in the heart walk.  Joining them would count towards my requirement.  Community service AND participating in a walk AND that walk actually having personal meaning for me?  Sign me up!

I also signed up Thatbaby, so Thatboy would have one less kid to deal with in the morning.  It was Thatkid's last day of basketball, so this gave Thatboy the ability to focus on him.

Now that all the truth is out of the way, let me tell you how much I enjoyed this walk.  Firstly, it was the old Balboa Park route, which I haven't run in years.  Lately, Balboa Park runs have you run on the outskirts of the park, mostly in the neighboring (VERY HILLY) streets.    This one had us actually walk through the park.

And then we headed down onto the freeway!  I think it has literally been 6 years since I've gotten to do this.

Once we were down on the freeway, Thatbaby wanted out of the stroller to stretch his legs.   And this is where another great aspect came in.  This was a walk.  Not a run.  I know, why write about a walk on Sunday Runday?  Because this is my blog and to quote Eric Cartman "I do what I want."

I haven't done a walk in ....longer than 6 years.  And there was something very freeing about not worrying about time, or getting it over with.  I just sat back and let Thatbaby in and out of the stroller at his pleasure.  

He walked beside the stroller, pushed the stroller, and even ran down the freeway himself.  And when he was tired or done, he just climbed right back in.  The walk was 4 miles, and whenever we finished we finished.

There wasn't a ton of on course entertainment, but what they had was really fun.  There were bagpipes.

Cheerleaders, someone who left their car playing music, and a band.  It was fun to go past the band and see all the kids looking back, trying to watch the musicians.

So I may not have gone into the walk for the right reasons, but I embraced everything about it and really enjoyed myself.  I spend so much time racing - running for the sake of running.  Forcing myself to be fast, to push.  Sometimes you need to sit back and just take it all in, walk instead of run.