Come to think of it, when I was a little girl, I loved to run. Only I called it trotting, cantering, and galloping because I was pretending to be a horse.

Fast forward to my 30s, I came to love running again. It was a great combo of solitude (those dawn runs through the neighborhood) and social life (meeting running friends at 10k races--they were mostly 10k then--and being in a club).

Now I love walking for fitness, and also for sightseeing. The changing seasons. The storefronts you never see driving by in a car. The architecture of houses and churches. The nature stuff you come across, like birds' nests and caterpillars. I live in the neighborhood of a museum, so I get outdoor art, too.

I sometimes wear light wrist weights, and often use my walking music tapes with the great beat. A couple of them were produced by Dr. Ken Cooper, the guy who coined the word "aerobics." I never get tired of the little pep talks at the beginning and end of the 30-minute segments.

I'm a big fan of Dr. Briffa, by the way.