Boy, do those words ring true with me. Recently I went on a business trip to Connecticut. The hotel I stayed at was on the main drag and when I went out for my 5AM walk, I literally took my life in my own hands. There were no sidewalks most of the way and I had cars and trucks zipping by just inches away in some cases. They aren't looking out for pedestrians, especially at that hour.
I now walk 5-7 miles a day minimum and fortunately I have found many off-road places to walk in my area. There are tons of scenic walks, I'm talking hundreds of miles of trail, within a 10 mile radius of my home. These are places I never knew existed in my former lard-assed life. Right outside my office at work are trails that lead through heavily wooded forests. I was amazed when I discovered that I could use my lunch hour at work to walk through secluded ponds and bogs and thick woods.
But the closer you get to the big city, the tougher it is to find places like that.
We have a guy that walks in the dark in my neighborhood (no streetlights) at around 0600 hrs. Unfortunately, I work nights sometimes and I have to be very careful not to run him down when I'm coming home from work dead tired at that hour. So far, I've missed every time. :)
I now walk 5-7 miles a day minimum and fortunately I have found many off-road places to walk in my area. There are tons of scenic walks, I'm talking hundreds of miles of trail, within a 10 mile radius of my home. These are places I never knew existed in my former lard-assed life. Right outside my office at work are trails that lead through heavily wooded forests. I was amazed when I discovered that I could use my lunch hour at work to walk through secluded ponds and bogs and thick woods.
Good job! I don't put that kind of mileage on, but I do put on 1.5-2.0 miles most every day on top of my normal chores. In this hood, I tend to do my walking during daylight hours. I occasionally hit the trails, and I enjoy that immensely.