I used to think walking, even though I knew better, was not really exercising.

And by walking, I mean doing so for a good sustained 20 minutes or so.

I was the guy who would jog 30 minutes to the gym, do a 45-minute group exercise class, and then jog home.

Those days are long gone

Time constraints in the post-pandemic world changed things.

But I’d be channeling Pinocchio if I didn’t admit there are times I’m convinced I can deliver one of Dr. Smith’s from “Lost in Space” signature lines better than he could.

You know the one: “Oh, the pain, the pain of it all.”

And I owe a lot of it to a “mildly” arthritic hip.

Do not misunderstand. 

I still exercise every day with light weights, rowing machines, and such. I use a treadmill at maximum incline as well as a stair stepper. And any chance I get, I go on long hikes.

What I don’t do is jog on pavement any longer.

I’ll do so on that treadmill for 20 minutes. I’ll even do if for five minutes repeatedly going up and down the carpeted (with carpet pad beneath it) hallway at work.

But if I jog for more than a quarter of a mile on asphalt my hip reminds me that it is connected to every nerve in my right leg.

I’m really not wild about treadmills.

Most of it has to do with why walk/jog/run on a treadmill when you could do that outside with the added benefit of sunshine and even brisk winter air? Even jogging in the rain is 20 times more enjoyable than paying someone $50 a month to jog in place while getting soaking wet with your own sweat.

I kept eschewing the idea of turning a daily jog into a walk believing it wasn’t as beneficial until I got the message my hip was trying to send me loud and clear.

Switching out the jog for a walk hasn’t diminished the cardiovascular benefits especially when wedded with using stair steppers and such.

But it has reduced the pain.

And it underscores the advice you need to keep moving to be able to optimize your physical and mental health.

Folding up the tent when it comes to exercise just because you experience routine pain is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Walking like you mean it isn’t a panacea for everything that ails you.

But there is a whole lot of research on body, mind, and health that says it goes a long way.

There is also anecdotal evidence.

The story that inspires me was 17 years ago as I was starting to get serious about hiking.

I was coming back down from Wildrose Peak at 9,064 feet overlooking Death Valley proper.

It has been a bit of a struggle for me to cover the 2,200 feet in elevation gain to the summit that would end up being an 8.4-mile round trip.

Nothing seriously difficult but my legs and body felt it.

On the way down the switchbacks back from the top, I greeted another hiker on the way up. It was a woman in her mid-30s.

A few switchbacks father down, I found out she wasn’t alone.

There was an elderly, almost frail looking older man who appeared to be taking it fairly slow.

I smiled as I said, “It’s worth it,” thinking I would be offering words of encouragement.

I soon discovered it would be the other way around.

After telling me “It already is” with a big grin on his face, he shared his story.

He was from San Jose and had worked as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard.

After retiring at 65, he noticed his friends weren’t staying as active as they once were. Many had become lethargic. He also said - his words - they “became bloated.” And they always complained of pain or being slightly ill.

He said he decided he didn’t want to end up like that.

So, he decided he was going to summit every walkable mountain 8,000 feet or higher in California.

The day our paths crossed in late November, it was his sixth time up Wildrose Peak,

The woman I had passed less than a minute before was his granddaughter.

And he had just turned 85.

It sounds trite but true.

You can change the course of your life by becoming active.

And all it can take to do so is to take that first step and to keep walking.