Walk 3 of 5 and Jazzercise #46 – Week of September 13: Persistent Cacti and Pretty Clouds

Walk 3 & Jazzercise #46

Sometimes the best walks are the ones where you don’t have to force anything.

This morning started a little later than planned. I left the house around 7:10 a.m., but I wanted my walk, so off I went.

And Mother Nature was actually cooperating for once.

It was only about 76 degrees, the rain from yesterday had stopped, and the sun was hiding behind a beautiful blanket of clouds. There wasn’t much breeze, but I’ll take cloudy Arizona skies over blazing sunshine any morning.

So, Walk 3 of 5 was happening.

And, as always, I had no idea what I was going to see along the way.

The Dog Lady Was Back

One of the highlights of my walk was running into a neighborhood regular I hadn’t seen since sometime around April or May.

I call her the Dog Lady.

She walks every morning and evening with what I counted as approximately five or six tiny dogs. Mostly Chihuahua-ish little creatures, although there are a few different breeds mixed in.

And they all have their own leashes.

She also pushes a baby stroller while walking them.

Not because she’s pushing a baby.

The stroller gives her something to hang onto while all those little dogs swirl around her feet and leashes in every possible direction.

And she was trucking.

I always assumed I was seeing her on one particular part of her route, but today I encountered her much farther from where I normally see her. Apparently this woman is putting in some serious mileage with her tiny canine army.

It was good to see her again.

She’s definitely a dog lady.

But I understand the concept.

Quantity: large. Slightly unreasonable. Still trucking.

Honestly, respect.

The Clouds Were Showing Off

The walk took me through the neighborhood, past the middle school and toward my usual Starbucks destination.

And the sky kept changing.

There were dark, dramatic clouds left over from yesterday’s rain, patches of blue appearing between them, and eventually some absolutely gorgeous cloud formations.

Arizona doesn’t always give us the kind of lush scenery people associate with walking, but we get some pretty spectacular skies.

I’ll take it.

Yesterday had brought some seriously impressive rain. This morning, there was still water sitting along the streets and curbs.

At one point, I looked down a long stretch of road and saw puddles reflecting the sky while the palm trees stood against the clouds.

Pretty darn cool for a walk to get coffee.

The Persistent Cactus

Then there was my neighborhood cactus.

This thing deserves an award.

It has been producing flowers since spring.

Some of the original flowers from May have come and gone, but somehow this cactus is STILL producing new blooms in September.

It even appears to have lost an arm somewhere along the way.

Did that stop it?

Absolutely not.

This cactus is basically the Black Knight of the desert.

“You’ve lost an arm. How will you fight me?”

‘Tis merely a flesh wound.

“You’ve lost both arms and both legs!”

I’m jumping around like a little stump, but I can still bite your ankles.

😂

The cactus may be battered, but it is still flowering.

Honestly, I respect the attitude.

And Then There Was the Prickly Pear

My other neighborhood cactus is going completely bonkers.

The prickly pear is covered in fruit, and so much of that fruit is turning this gorgeous deep purple color.

But that’s not all.

It’s also producing baby paddles everywhere.

There are little new paddles coming in underneath the fruit, around the base and throughout the plant.

It’s basically had a whole litter.

I mean…

I make beautiful babies.

They just have a prickly disposition.

It’s fine.

😂🌵

Starbucks Carrot: Still Doing Its Job

Eventually, I made it to my Starbucks.

That’s the whole point of the Starbucks Carrot Method: give myself somewhere I actually want to go, and let the walking happen along the way.

I don’t have to convince myself to go walk 2½ miles.

I get to go get my coffee.

The walking is simply how I get there.

And on the way home, I get to notice things I would completely miss if I were sitting in a car.

Like persistent cacti.

Purple prickly pears.

Rain puddles.

Pretty clouds.

A woman walking six tiny dogs with a stroller.

A kid wearing a melting Rubik’s Cube shirt.

And, yes, a little more sweat than I had anticipated.

The Numbers

Today’s walk came in at:
2.56 miles
57 minutes, 36 seconds
5,745 steps
387 calories
22:30 average pace
111 bpm average heart rate
52 active-zone minutes
32 cardio load

Walk Receipts

And Fitbit reported that I spent about 53 minutes in the moderate heart-rate zone, with no time in the vigorous or peak zones.

That’s exactly what this walk was supposed to be:

steady movement that got my body working without turning the morning into some kind of death march.

And considering I started late, I was pretty happy to get it done.

Because, once again:
I walked because I wanted to walk.
Not because I had to.
And Then I Went to Jazzercise

Because apparently walking 2.56 miles before 8:00 a.m. wasn’t enough activity for one morning.
😂

I hustled home, showered, changed, and headed off to Jazzercise #46.

And this class was SO MUCH FUN!

I was there with Angie and Robyn, and we redid all of the dances we had done Tuesday.

Only this time?
We were IN SYNC.
We were trucking right along, remembering the choreography, moving together, laughing and having a genuinely great time.

That’s one of my favorite things about this whole Jazzercise experiment.

I’m not trying to become some kind of fitness superstar.

I’m just moving.

I’m learning dances.

I’m getting stronger.

I’m showing up.

And sometimes everything clicks and you realize you’re actually having a freaking blast.

Jazzercise #46: Receipts

Still Counts

That’s really what this whole thing keeps coming back to.

A late start still counts.

A cloudy walk still counts.

A sweaty walk still counts.

A walk that includes stopping to photograph a cactus still counts.

Walking to Starbucks still counts.

Doing Jazzercise afterward because it’s fun still counts.

There doesn’t have to be a perfect workout.

There doesn’t have to be a perfect schedule.

There doesn’t have to be a perfect version of me doing it.

There just has to be me, getting out the door and moving through real life.

And this morning, real life included clouds, rain puddles, cacti that refuse to quit, a tiny dog army, coffee, cats attempting an egg-bite heist, and a really fun hour of Jazzercise.

I’ll take that.

Walk 3 of 5: DONE.

Movement in real life still counts. Always!