This week has slowly helped me to develop my study theme, so
now that I’ve got a better handle on what I want to study it should be simpler
to follow.
It’s already become apparent that without a car, walking has
become much more important. My irritation with busses has led to a vague sense
of preference for walking, at least for small trips. I walked just under five
miles to pick up some cheap colored pencils the other day without any
hesitation. On average, I’m walking an average of at least four miles a day, in
addition to running.
That alone speaks to the casual emphasis on fitness here. In
the States, everything is much more spread out, thus making it more difficult
to walk from place to place. The hub of activity in the city isn’t surrounded
by nearly as much urban sprawl as it is in the states, meaning that the city is
more condensed and the countryside is emptier.
I’ve also noticed that public transportation isn’t looked at
in the same way. It’s taken very frequently by students and businesspeople, as
well as families going on outings. Not only is this true for Dundee, but also
for Edinburgh. I’ve noticed that public transit in, say, Chicago, is fairly
different and much more difficult to navigate. The ease of navigation and low
cost here make it both affordable and simple. Well…as long as you don’t think
about the exchange rate.
Monday I met up with the Tayside Running Sisters, a running
group for women of all ages. To begin, they’re an incredible group of women.
They were welcoming and friendly, even though I was new and could hardly
remember who was who. I got to know a few of them on the run, and it was
fantastic to be able to talk to a group of locals again. One of the women, at
70 years old, had just completed a marathon a few weeks previously and is going
to be carrying the Queen’s Baton for the Commonwealth Games as it comes through
Dundee (6/27/14).
On one of the women’s recommendation, I’m going to be doing
a 5k Saturday at Camperdown Park. It’s a timed run, although not an official
race. There are results that allow runners to compare their times to others in
their age groups, meaning that I should be able to see where I land in
comparison. Then again, I’m not a highly trained short distance runner, so it’s
not going to be pretty. Regardless, I’m excited to get out and meet people
again, and especially excited to be able to practice a race start and determine
where I prefer to hang out at a start. The TM was good, but I stayed on the
sides in order to avoid the worst of the mud at the start. If I’m seriously
considering longer races this year, I should get the practice on shorter races.
More updates on how it goes next week.
In addition to the more apparent presence of casual fitness
I’ve seen in the city, there are also many examples that can be seen in the
countryside. The accessibility of the land seems to make it much more appealing
to go out for a long walk, and so I plan to investigate the when and why of
hiking over the next few weeks.
Sitting and relaxing in the park or taking laps in the park
has also proved to be useful. It’s possible to sit and watch people in the park
without being observed, which means nobody changes their actions based on the
fact that they’re being observed (I swear, it’s so much less creepy in real
life). Exercise patterns are in evidence both in young and old people, although
middle aged people definitely seem to be lacking. Younger people, who I would
say are probably college aged or younger, are often playing sports, whereas
older people are often walking.
So far, much of what I'm gathering is merely through comparative observation. We'll see where it leads.
