Save Your Knees; Take a Walk Instead
This Seattlest has nothing against fitness but we just don't get deliberate, gratuitous exercise. We think that it's folly to make an effort to work at working out. Exercise should be incidental, an unwitting byproduct of daily activity, no matter how small the singular act. It should come from electing to take the stairs, for example, or walking down to the corner to pick up that cheeseburger. A little goes a long way.
We've been flaneur-ing for many years now and the idea of willingly running, unless you are being chased by wild boars or baton-wielding fascists, seems so ridiculous. Now, some of our best friends exercise gratuitously and even run. We have endearing names for those friends: fools, chumps, and suckers. So when we found some bizarro Phinney Ridge workout (from SWL Boot Camp via Phinneywood via our Neighborhood News) the other day, our kneecaps dropped their double-martinis and accidentally snapped their genteel walking sticks in disbelief.
"Pull your navel into your spine as you climb. ...Sprint the length of the block. ...jack up your cardio"
What sort of twisted barbarism is this? Seattlest ain't telling you what to do, we're just saying: don't do it! To that end, we propose an alternative to this brute Phinney Ridge torture. We'll call it the Lower East Ballard Workout. You start in Fremont and head up the steadily inclining 3rd Ave NW toward 65th Street. We thought about sending you the other way for the downhill aspect but then you'd start by sadly leaving the neat strip of places on 65th Street and ending up depressed in Fremont. We wouldn't foist Fremont upon our worst enemies.
Check the map below for our sight-seeing suggestions along the way. Because when you stroll you notice things like cute kitties, pretty flowers, and nice architecture instead of the fact that your intestines are pulling back into your vertebrae. So grab a camera or an elegant strolling cane and enjoy the walk. And remember, never run to make a light... they'll always schedule another green light for you.
