I put the YakTrax away … temporarily anyway, since Winter weather is hardly over yet.

Today was the occasion to finally break out the boots.

Yup, I bought these New Balance hiking boots as a Christmas present to myself back in the Fall of 2015.  They were recommended by McLinden’s, where I always buy my shoes.  Margaret, the owner, is an avid walker, albeit a walker who prefers an indoor track, but she assured me that the heavy treads would be perfect for hiking around anywhere during our Michigan Winters.  Up until today, they’ve been sitting in their box, since the past two Winters have been fairly mild and I was able to use my walking shoes all season.

These boots may not be as trendy as Uggs, but they gave me the ability to roam in the snow and say “ugh” to the white stuff.

Today I instituted Plan “C” … sigh.  It’s all about getting these measly miles walked to reach my goal.  If I get this done, and go above and beyond, well … that’s great, but I must reach the 1,000-miles-walked-in-2017 goal first.

Last weekend it was icy on city sidewalks and streets, so, I opted for walking laps around Memorial Park using YakTrax and called that effort Plan “B” and walking on the snowy grass worked well, that is, until we got seven inches of fresh snow on Wednesday.  All that snow would be too high to be walking through, though it might be a great workout.  So, even though it was frigid this morning, there was no fresh snow, so I knew a walk was in order.

Thus, I had to institute Plan “C” wherein I decided to walk around the parking lot at Memorial Park, which I knew would be plowed since it is adjacent to the Senior Center, as well as Fantasyland, our City’s annual animated Christmas display.  So, that was my option this morning.  The roundtrip steps to the parking lot from home equaled one mile and each lap around the plowed parking lot was ¼ mile.

So eight trips around the parking lot and Bandshell area yielded two miles, and, believe me, this was a tedious and rather boring route, but, there I was, tromping along, getting the steps done in my dogged pursuit of “the cause” and I happy to be able to do it.

Another inch or so of snow in the overnight might impede my progress tomorrow, but, since it is the weekend, I can more easily adjust my schedule and leave later if necessary.  The good news is we’re getting temps in the 40s the beginning of the week – just maybe the snow on the sidewalks, and maybe even the perimeter path at Council Point Park, will vanish.  I would be ecstatic, especially if I could finish up my 1,000 miles at my favorite nature nook.

[Image of New Balance Women’s Hiking Boots, Style 1400v1 from NewBalance.com]