Park-hopping: A new twist on the outdoor walk
  
(Photos courtesy of Daniel Swiers; taken at Peninsula
State Park, Fish Creek, Wisconsin)
True, I may be a fitness professional and nature enthusiast, but even I am not immune to the occasional bout of boredom with my outdoor fitness routine. The truth is, while my personality generally thrives on structure and a certain degree of regimentation, I can also have a very short attention span. So every now and then, I find myself in desperate need to shake up my program and do something different. Enter one of my strategies to address this challenge: the Park Hop. I began interjecting park hops into my routine a number of years ago, and found them to be a great way to give my outdoor walks the shot in the arm they needed to keep me fully engaged. Here's what you do: find 3-4 neighborhood parks within reasonable (read: not more than a few miles) driving distance of one another. When you're ready to take your walk, drive to location #1 and take no more than a 10-15 minute walk. Return to your car and head to location #2. Again, give yourself just a 10-15 minute jaunt. Cumulatively,
if you do this for each of the 3-4 locations (though I must admit I've sometimes done more), you will have accrued anywhere between 30-60 minutes of walking....and time will fly by amazingly fast! This may sound like more effort than it's worth, but it really does come in handy. Think, for example, of those summer days that are almost too hot midday to take a long walk. By breaking up your outing into several segments, you can cool down, sip some water and take a break while in your car. The same holds true for exceptionally cold days. I've literally stopped off at 5-6 locations en route home from work on the coldest days in winter, scurried out onto the trail for a bracing 5-8 minutes, then retreated to the car for my thermos of hot tea as I drove to the next spot. This kept me warm and comfortable enough to actually enjoy each scene before me. I'll frequently use this approach following fresh snows when I don't have my snowshoes with me.
So the next time you need to add some zing to your outdoor walks, why not map out your own Park Hop? -ep
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