18.3K

Tonight's walk, which did not include any "pre-walking" on campus (because I didn't have work today), was 18,294 steps. Drank a lot of water during the walk, so I probably gained weight instead of losing it. Climbing the hard slope tonight was more arduous than usual; there were a couple moments where I wanted simply to stop and rest, but instead I slowed my pace and kept on trudging upward.

A detached, analytical portion of my mind observes my huffing and puffing and sees the body for what it is: a machine. True, it's a living machine that articulates a human will, but this doesn't stop it from consuming oxygen at a certain rate, producing a certain amount of force per step, generating heat and sweat and moving to a certain rhythm as I forge my way upward. Sometimes, giving in to this analytical detachment is a good way to keep moving. Tonight, for example, when I was flagging, I had to unplug that lazy, emotional part of my mind and just let the machine take over, moving automatically and inexorably up the slope.

Same walk again tomorrow night. Or maybe I'll take the stairs this time.


_