A Journey of 35 Kilometers

Five things I learned by walking 5km every day for a week

I had an unfortunate ACL tear over the Christmas break — what looked like a minor fall while skiing was not at all minor, and I found myself with a full tear and awaiting knee surgery. In the words of my knee specialist “you may think it was a small fall, but to your knee this is a major injury.” When he spoke these words, my heart sunk and my eyes filled with tears, devastated by the sudden knowledge that my life was about to stall while my body first needed to heal from the initial injury and then while it recovers for 12 months post-surgery.

I sulked and sobbed for eight weeks, highly limited by movement and frustrated by my inability to participate in the activities that I enjoy. I love being active — tennis, golf, skiing, or whatever the moment calls for — so this was a hard shift. As you would expect, my body got weak, my mind got dark and self pity took over. I knew it was time for me to emerge from my victim mentality and make a change. I was ready for a new narrative, so I mustered up some mental strength started making a plan. Life is meant to be lived, and I had been watching the days pass me by.

Cue: 5km a day — my commitment to everyday movement

I jumped into this challenge once before. In the early days of the March 2020 lockdown when I was in a similar pattern of scarcity-based thinking, I committed to myself that I would walk outside for 5km a day. Doing it kept me sane, breathing fresh air and {gratefully} even helped me shed a few pounds. In the light of this injury, I’m renewing that same commitment and sharing a few lessons I’ve learned along the way.

1. The best goals are simple goals

When I look back on the all goals I’ve set for myself — and there have been many — the most meaningful ones are those that are really clear and concise. When we set the right goal, I think it’s an indication that we succeeded at accurately defining the problem and working towards a solution with clear action. There’s inherent direction in simplicity.

In the case of my knee injury, I could have sat back and said “I need to lose 10 lbs” or “I need to improve my mental health.” Instead, I addressed these problems by defining a goal that go to the root of the problem and then by clearly defining how I would get there. My boyfriend suggested that I could swap the 5km walks with swimming, or a workout — but I decided to keep it simple and commit to walking every day (that doesn’t have to stop me from doing more activity; this is the baseline.)

2. You can always make time for a 5km walk (even when it feels like there isn’t time)

I get it. Life is busy. After a fully day at work, we have obligations at home, family time, social calendars and a never-ending to do list. I’m often tired and run down and somedays, the idea of finding an hour for exercise sounds like unachievable torture.

True, some days are harder than others in finding the time. But what I have learned is that with a little intention, you can make it work. Book club at 6pm? Perfect, leave at 5pm and walk. Meeting friends after work at the pub? Suggest a spot just beyond your immediate area, walk and be a few minutes late if you have to. Exhausted after a long day of work? Put on a warm coat and tell yourself you can lay on the couch and binge your favourite show as soon as you get home (or insert your favourite reward here, maybe it’s a bubble bath or a glass of wine or cleaning the kitchen!)

Each of the 7 days I committed to walking, I always found a way to make the time, even when I didn’t think I could.

3. My body *loves* it

As you can imagine, after 8 weeks of being immobile, my waistline was looking a little less than tight. After only one week of walking, my muscles again feel activated and I’ve started to see definition in my legs again. I even see a better person when I look in the mirror; I like myself more.

Whether or not my body actually tightened up is irrelevant, my mind felt the difference. How I see and feel about myself started improving after only a couple of days. That’s it — less than an hour a day and my world shifted to a much more positive place. That’s something to get behind!

4. Doubling up: walking is the perfect “me” time

A 5km walk will take you somewhere between 45–60 minutes — the perfect time to invest in yourself. Haven’t caught up with a friend in a while? Call or invite them to join. Missing quality connection with your spouse? Invite them to come along and let the conversation flow. Interested in self improvement? Find a new podcast or playlist and let the creative juices flow.

Lately, I’ve been guilty of not making enough time for me (though I seem to find time to binge the latest Netflix show) so I love mixing it up. Sometimes I’ll call up a friend, other times I invite someone to join, bring my dog, or listen to music. It’s guilt free time for me to indulge in something that makes me happy, and time that I’ve come to absolutely love.

5. There’s magic in the 5km distance

Admittedly, there have been days when I’ve had to split my walks into segments — maybe doing a couple kms when I can find 20 minutes during the day instead of doing it all at once. I don’t know exactly why, but how I feel after 30+ minutes of walking is drastically better than how I feel at the 20 minute mark. My step is more intentional, my outlook is more positive, my muscles are more engaged and I find it easier to look forward to the next day’s walk. The days I split it up are the days I find less fulfilling and more difficult.

I experienced this same sentiment in my running days too, at first feeling the cobwebs, aches and drains but finding my stride at the 30 minute mark. So by the time I would hit that 5km mark, I would voluntarily keep going and would feel almost like an entirely different person than she who started the run.

It’s been just over 2 months since my injury and I’ve noticed a reduction in pain levels for some of the routine, linear movements. I can walk, climb stairs and stand on my tippy toes. I still have to be really careful, as even a small icy patch or uneven surface can send my knee flailing out from under me and the sharp pain and swelling return. I thank this daily ritual for much of that improvement and after walking 35km in a week, I’ve committed to at least 30.