Extra mile for guilty cake pleasure

Pleasant day for a walk.

IT was fresher this morning after overnight rain. Puddles on the footpath and glistening drops on the grass created a slightly shimmering effect (or was that just me shivering?). It seemed cooler, but with a brisk walk, things soon warmed up.

I followed one of my favourite routes, where the surroundings vary from homes to leafy park, and I know roughly how long it will take. You’re soon able to judge the timing for certain distances. Five minutes to the first lamp-post, another five to the turning for a narrow ally, five more to the gnarly old tree. You can gauge time according to the ‘route-markers’ along the way.

A slightly niggling drawback is crossing the main road. When the traffic is heavy, you have to stop, which interrupts the momentum. But once on the other side it’s easy to get back into your stride.

Couple exercising in the park

Once you’ve settled into a rhythm, you become aware of your body; yet it seems to ‘take over,' as if on auto-pilot. It looks after itself. You hear your breathing. Today mine was a strong, slow, pattern of in-2-3, out-2-3, in-2-3, out-2-3. Your walking creates the rhythm, but the rhythm in return helps you to sustain the pace. It feels relaxed, comfortable. You could go on forever. Magic!

As with previous walks, the park was again buzzing. A large group of joggers talked excitedly as they waited for the off, young soccer hopefuls pushed through their routines, owners walked their dogs. Cotton-wool clouds billowed into the blue sky, long tree shadows stretched across the bejewelled grass, and everything was an enriched green.

On the return stretch I ended up behind a slow-walking smoker on a narrow pathway, unable to overtake. I had to reduce my pace – and breathe in some of the cigarette smoke. Thankfully it didn’t last long!

What did last longer than I’d planned was my walk. My wife makes wonderful cakes, specialising in heavenly brownies. And guess who’s the chief cake-taster! This week there was a lot of baking, including a chocolate cake that was a sort of giant brownie. I confess, I have been taking the job very seriously indeed, and undertaking a great deal of tasting! (I know, but somebody’s got to do it!).

Tempted by Heavenly brownies - life's so unfair!

To alleviate the effect of my guilty pleasures, I decided to extend my walk – and so did an extra mile or so at the end. I thought of it as my ‘cakewalk.’ I finished almost exactly on the hour, save a few seconds! It was a good feeling!

By this time I was beginning to feel the pangs of hunger. Trouble is, the first thing that caught my eye was . . . chocolate cake, anyone?