Yesterday I went hiking to prepare for my trip. I hadn't eaten since breakfast, making this one of my random IF days. The weather was very lovely, sunny and warm, even in the afternoon, real T-shirt and shorts weather. I packed a pair of yoga pants and a windbreaker in my backpack, just in case, but ended up walking in just bike shorts and a fitted T-shirt. I didn't want to overheat!

I ended up walking roughly 17 kilometers, along marked trails in the woods just uphill from my parents' house. At the end I was really footsore, but nothing a good sleep didn't cure fast!

As I walked I thought about what Mark Sisson has written about "forest bathing", and I guess that's what I was doing. The only sounds were my breathing and footsteps, and bird song and purling brooks. And the occasional crackle from the high-voltage wires I passed under. I left all the traffic noise far behind me. We NEVER get to experience that, most of us, we're just used to the sound of cars and tune it out. Even my aunt's arguably remote farm has a road running through the valley and there's always noise.

I found that doing squats for over a year means I can go uphill much faster and easier now. I don't run uphill, but I think I probably could if I wanted to! I just rise up like an elevator, instead of hauling myself painfully up with the aid of the nearest tree, LOL!