I've been substituting mall walks for neighborhood walks for several summers. After I started using a fitness tracker, I determined that three complete loops at the mall was within 0.2 miles of the 3.0 miles I typically walk at home. In July and August, the temperature in the mall is a lot cooler than it is outdoors, and the A/C keeps the humidity under control. The main drawback to mall walking is that I'm always on a level surface, unlike the slopes I walk up and down on the sidewalks at home.
Last summer, I learned to my surprise that the mall opens before 8:00 AM every day, although the stores never open before 10:00 AM (noon on Sunday). I began to start my day with morning walks to take advantage of having the mall pretty much to myself. On most days, there may be a dozen or so people of retirement age walking for exercise, maybe two dozen after 9:30 AM. Still, nowhere near the foot traffic seen during peak shopping hours.
Since I began mall-walking for exercise, I've always followed a counter-clockwise pattern, meaning that the store entrances are always to my right side. Doing the same thing repeatedly eventually gets boring, so yesterday I decided for the first time to be a wild and crazy guy and make three loops walking clockwise (store entrances to my left). I was pleased to find that walking in the opposite direction made the whole mall seem like a different place. I also realized that every other person in the mall (roughly 20-25) was walking in the counterclockwise direction, making it easier to navigate past people who were moving faster or slower than I was.
Apparently, it comes naturally to people to walk mall circuits in a counterclockwise direction, which may be related to the fact that most people are right-handed. Hell if I know. I just know I've been in a rut, and it energized me to break out of a dull routine, even in a small way. I'm keeping that in mind for future reference.
Last summer, I learned to my surprise that the mall opens before 8:00 AM every day, although the stores never open before 10:00 AM (noon on Sunday). I began to start my day with morning walks to take advantage of having the mall pretty much to myself. On most days, there may be a dozen or so people of retirement age walking for exercise, maybe two dozen after 9:30 AM. Still, nowhere near the foot traffic seen during peak shopping hours.
Since I began mall-walking for exercise, I've always followed a counter-clockwise pattern, meaning that the store entrances are always to my right side. Doing the same thing repeatedly eventually gets boring, so yesterday I decided for the first time to be a wild and crazy guy and make three loops walking clockwise (store entrances to my left). I was pleased to find that walking in the opposite direction made the whole mall seem like a different place. I also realized that every other person in the mall (roughly 20-25) was walking in the counterclockwise direction, making it easier to navigate past people who were moving faster or slower than I was.
Apparently, it comes naturally to people to walk mall circuits in a counterclockwise direction, which may be related to the fact that most people are right-handed. Hell if I know. I just know I've been in a rut, and it energized me to break out of a dull routine, even in a small way. I'm keeping that in mind for future reference.
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