Sunday! YAY! Sometimes on Sunday I do a light workout, sometimes I take a rest day. Yesterday, though, was amazing! We haven’t seen weather like this in Minnesota since…well…2012! Probably sometime in September of 2012. So, yes, it has been a while that we’ve seen sunshine and temperatures in the 70s.

We needed hamburger buns. I don’t eat them, but the kids sometimes do. And it is Sunday, afterall. So, why not let them have some bread and eat it, too?

I had a wonderful notion. I could use a walk to loosen up the stiffness from Saturday’s run. Why don’t I just walk to Walmart? We just got a brand new one put in on the corner where we exit the interstate to get home. And there is a back way to get there that avoids much of the main county roads. It can’t be THAT far, can it? Piece of cake! I’ll get my hour in, spend it outside in this glorious weather, and tackle the hamburger bun dilemma at the same time.

Our local Walmart.

“How many miles is it to Walmart?” he asked.

“I have no idea…but it can’t be THAT far,” was my answer.

Now, it is very unlike me to not check out the route first BEFORE I take it. But perhaps today, I was feeling a little adventurous. Or perhaps, I didn’t care…or perhaps my subconscious thought if it really knew, it would tell me to just take the car. Or maybe it was just the weather calling me.

Regardless, out I went, backpack in tow, water bottle in hand. I headed east. And I kept walking…and walking. Wow, 2-miles already? Exactly just how far IS it to Walmart?

Then, finally the turn off…heading north now. then a jog back east, and a jog back north. And then…wait, I have to walk west now? What the heck? I can see Wally World right straight ahead! What is this jog in the road? Well, needless to say, it was 5-miles one way. It took me a bit over an hour. Holy Moley.

I got in and out of there in a hurry. I packed the cold stuff in the pack and carried the buns in hand and headed back out.

Funny, but the wind picked up three-fold in the 15 minutes that I was in the store. It was howling out of the south. And guess which way I had to walk? I had to do everything in my power to keep those buns in my grip, lest the wind tear the bag out of my hand.

Now, at this point, an hour and a half of my day is gone. I’m thinking I could call the hubster and get a ride. But that would make me sound like a quitter, right? Let’s see how far I can go.

So, off I continued…but it was hard. After two miles (and plain Jane on Runmeter telling me I’ve already gone 7-miles), I realized I better preoccupy my brain with something else to get this baby done. My mind must have drifted off somewhere, because before I knew it I was headed west again and in the final stretch. Ah, and the uphill stretch. Still, I managed to finish the walk. It only took 2 1/2 hours! (LOL!) But I got my buns. And some other stuff…and my exercise was done for the day.

But I was whooped. I stretched and rolled it out last night, but despite that, my hips this morning felt like I gave birth to triplets. It was a long walk to the kitchen.

So, now I know the answer as to how far it is to Walmart.

Will I walk it again?

Probably.

Do you have any long walks you love to take in your neighborhood?