Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Photo by Bill Conway.

Sing it with me! I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more! And tonight I could have. A girlfriend invited me to join her for an after work power walk leaving from the greenest building in Annapolis (Chesapeake Bay Foundation) and doing a 3-mile loop along the waterfront flanked by gorgeous houses.

My friend has got some muscles on the mend from past triathlons and has mastered the art of power walking during her recovery. She set us out at a good clip and even the dog could barely keep up, but soon we all fell into stride and were cruising along the curving road. Given her experience with power walking I noticed her form was a bit more practiced than mine. I could feel my legs wanting to go into run mode so I concentrated on planting my feet and lengthening my stride. With a dog leash in one hand my arms weren’t pumping at the most efficient angles and I could tell that I wasn’t focusing much on my core either.

However, for me the walk was much more about time with a friend than form and it still felt like a great work-out because of our quick pace. I’m also happy to report that I finally did a cardio exercise other than biking in which my IT band did not bother me at all. The walk was a sign that I must be healing and soon will be adding some mileage back to my runs. Even though my focus was on our conversation I definitely appreciated what it means to power walk; it certainly gets the heart rate up and is absolutely a healthy form of exercise.

We passed a couple road bikers as we rounded back up to the CBF building, hunched over their handle bars zooming by us toward the water. We waved at dog walkers, children on skateboards, and I passed several runners on my way back home.

It was a good day to be outside and it was awesome to see so many people out and active.