Walking for fitness and general well-being

I can walk the length and breadth of our town, as long as there are shops to go in to. Otherwise I get a bit bored, walking with no purpose.

I love to walk in the countryside, especially with DH or a good friend but I also like to go to the gym to work on other muscles too. I don't have a heart rate monitor so at the gym I can do some exercises which get my heart rate well up but not too high! I don't want to do an Andrew Marr which would be very easy. I can also work on my upper body which walking doesn't really do much for.

In essence I think I go to the gym for fitness but walk for pleasure

Pamaga A route march was the problem with my local ramblers group. For heavens sake why don't people just stop and admire the country side.

IAM
it was rather a pity you read criticism into my post , there was none intended. I was merely stating my position on what ^ I would not do ^.
In my book people should do what they want .
What suits one does not always suit another !!

Mamie - yes I remember discussing John Lewis - wish we had branches here.

I used to walk with the Ramblers but I found that a) the walks were a bit too long for me (13-17 miles) and b)that they were more of a route march. I prefer to walk at a slower pace and take in my surroundings. I find 6-8 miles comfortable. No disrespect to the Ramblers as several members with whom I walked were in their 70s or 80s and were a great testimony to the benefits of walking.
We are fortunate in that we have Washington Wetlands nearby and this seems like a safe area to walk for those who are doing so alone. There are circular routes too plus a cafe awaiting you at the end - that or a pub is always welcome!
I do find that I am often reluctant to set off on a walk but, once I have actually got started, I feel energised. I usually feel really healthy and invigorated afterwards.

I think Nonu was talking about herself. It's a risk you take walking alone in a deserted area for all sorts of reasons and one I impersonally would not take. If I was run over outside my house then emergency services are available. But it's up to the individual .... isn't it?

Nonu - that is your choice, but not the choice for everyone. There is a note of criticism in your post, perhaps you didn't mean that.
Some people love solitary walks in deserted area, and good luck to them. We can be run over outside our own homes, be struck by all manner of dreadful diseases and be gone from our lives in the time it takes to blink. Many of my walks, like the one Flick mentions, involved places with poor/no mobile reception.

I walk, most mornings, the footpaths around my village. Most involve a brisk walk uphill to the downs that lie directly behind us (and mean we have poor mobile reception).

The last two days I have replaced the walking with two hours hard work each day in the garden pruning bushes and clearing cuttings. I now have three of those cubic metre builders sacks filled up and brimming over waiting to go to the the tip plus a heap of long woody stems from one shrub.

ffinnocchio, yes I can walk but am tremendously lazy. Having had polymyalgia for the past 2.5 years, I have sometimes felt tired and not inclined to take exercise. But on holiday or when staying with the family, I can walk with the best of them!

I have to say I would never walk alone in deserted areas , too risky for all sorts of reasons . Specially for older people .

I like walking but prefer to walk from A to B. Just walking round the fields or the houses doesn't tempt me. I save things up for a walk - a letter to post or something light from the shop or just to call in on a friend. its the same with my bike in summer. I used to cycle to Aldi but now it has moved and I do miss it as somewhere to cycle to.
To keep up I cycle on my exercise bike every other day. I used to hike with DH and we did it for 30 years but I am no longer fit enough. My knees and my heart are just not up to his.
Walking for any reason is always good to cheer you up. I don't suffer from SAD rather, from it being too hot and endlessly sunny in the part of Germany where I live. In those weeks I don't walk at all. I feel exhausted and I miss it.
As to John Lewis I have ordered bedding, even a bed spread frm John Lewis on-line. it worked very well indeed.

Yes I have a bit of a tendency to SAD if I don't get out every day in winter. OH came with me today so the walk got disrupted by the discovery of wood blewitt mushrooms....
BTW have a feeling that a long time ago in another place we might have discussed how much we miss John Lewis in France....

Mamie - I live in France too, (quite near one of poor old Carol's rentals, I'm a few years older than she was.)
I walk every day, whatever the weather, I've got many lovely routes, around fields or in woods. Two dogs to get me out there, and a friend who sometimes comes with me.
I have problems with partially blocked arteries in my lower legs, and the specialist I see in Auch always insists that walking is the best way to stop deterioration. Plus medication.
Apart from anything else, it lifts your spirits

Anno.
Are you able to do a little walking?

ffinnocchio, lovely description. Do I detect a poem in the offing? I do hope so.
I've been meaning to join the U3A walking group and perhaps that should be my New Year's resolution.

Iam64 I am also in Lancashire North Lancs not far from Preston area (well about 20 mins) just wondering where your "moorland is" and reservoirs are (roughly) we have some lovely walks especially a bit of hill climbing around Pendle (don't participate myself as not fit enough) but trying to start to do a bit of walking to shed some excess weight (pure laziness) may wait unti l after Christmas lol.

Walking is marvellous. I've recently had to lay off my walks because of a minor problem, but was surprised at how much I'd missed it. So pleased to be back into the swing of it.
This morning, for instance, was frosty and bright. If ever there was a day for a walk this was it. So much to see and enjoy. Everything sparkling: Cobwebs, old-man's-beard, bracken, briars, moss, dried grasses and all manner of hedgerow delights.

sunflowersilk it's worth checking with your local council as most of them seem to run "Health Walks" which are all graded from very short, level walks up to longer, challenging walks. They're all well organised and you will always walk with a group

I've always loved to walk. I remember as a child having the nickname "felix" and my mum singing to me, felix kept on walking, walking. Before I retired, I be out at 6.30 to walk the dogs before work, then again early evening when I got home. Since retirement, and discovering gransnet, I have a leisurely start, and the dogs accept that. By about 9, we're usually out for 45 mins or a couple of hours when possible. Another 30 mins at tea time, or now it's dark, slightly less as it's a pavement walk. I live on the edge of moorland, we have a number of reservoirs with 2 or 4 mile walks around the water. Then there are the forrests behind the reservoirs, and the moorland beyond that. We have a number of walks that celebrate Lancashire's industrial heritage, rambling over hills and dales. The views are spectacular, though I confess to finding going uphill a lot harder than it was a couple of years ago.
Ageing for me has kept pace with the advent of excellent mobile phones, and I always take mine with me. Last week, I heard someone howling and crying in pain, and found my neighbour in a ditch, with his young labrador charging around him. It was going dark, he hadn't brought his phone, but we used mine and called his wife, who came to the rescue.
I also have a spray that squirts invisible dye, that shines up purple if tested. It makes an awful squealing noise when squirted. My husband bought it for me after I was followed by a naked man one summer morning about 8.15 am on our local park. Very unpleasant experience. I dialled 999 when I realised he wasn't content with just standing and scaring me, but was actually following me. The police were brilliant - and the local dog walking community women began to walk as a group for a while afterwards.
The joys and terrors of walking eh.

I am always very careful where I go on hunting days as well, especially as I think that many of them are not very good shots. My scariest moment was when I came face to face with a huge wild boar in the snow.
One afternoon a week the ladies of our village go out together. Last week I was wittering on as usual and said to some cows that were gazing at us with black-rimmed eyes (this was all in French), that they had far too much eye make-up on. One of my neighbours said to me in a shocked tone that it was just because they were the local breed. (I didn't actually think they put eye-liner on the cows.)
Today will be a struggle because the weather has that sort of locked-in greyness with a penetrating chill.

I'm very wary of walking alone if it's off the beaten track. Good advice about telling someone where you're going - it's always possible, even if you just text someone.

Just a warning, if you walk alone. Please take a mobile with you, and if possible tell someone where you're going.

I used to love walking but wasn't up to ramblers levels, and often had to walk alone as it was so hard to find a walking companion.

Then just over 2 years ago I went for a walk alone near a river at Snape, and stuipidly slipped trying to get across a ditch - should never have tried it. I fell and realised I had hurt my wrist badly. I had to struggle in the slippery mud to get up, and walk half a mile back to the car.

I rang my husband and he came from work and took me to hospital, 40 mins away. I had broken it very badly, ended up having an op and now have a bionic wrist!

I've now lost my confidence, but need to walk as I'm so unfit and have put on a lot of weight. I must start again, but will stick to roads this time! Just take care everyone.

Mamie I wish I lived near you and we could walk together in that beautiful hilly area deep in the countryside. I used to do a lot of walking with a friend of mine and we would sort out the whole world's problems while we walked, starting with our own and working ever outwards till we were satisfied that we had achieved our ideal. Walking and talking is not only therapeutic, but also a good indication of how fit you are!

We visited some relatives in the country a few weekends ago, and they accused us of being rude and 'barging' past people when we visited Bath together, and we sadly came to the conclusion that that is what years of commuting in the London crowds have done to us!

I would if I could but my failed knee replacement does not allow me to walk more than 150 yards.