Wednesday, April 4, 2012 has been designated National Walking Day by the American Heart Association (AHA). The association hopes to encourage more Americans to adopt active lifestyles and lower their risk for heart disease – the number one killer in the United States. According to the AHA, walking has several benefits – As little as 30 minutes a day can improve your circulation, lower your cholesterol level and blood pressure, and help you lose weight!
Did you know that walking has the lowest dropout rate for any physical activity? So if you have started and stopped various exercise programs, maybe walking is for you?
Seattle Parks and Recreation will host 18 community walks at various locations as part of National Walking Day. For a list of locations and times, visit the Parks website.
Work in the downtown area? The AHA and Union Bank is hosting a one-mile group walk from noon to 1:00 p.m. The walk begins at the Union Bank branch at 5th and University Streets.
Or perhaps you want to start your own annual walk alone or with a friend? Who knows, maybe you’ll want to make the walk more than once a year? SDOT has walking maps, divided by city sector, for the entire city. When you visit our map website, you’ll notice that all of the routes and paths on the map have been labeled with the approximate amount of time (in minutes) it takes to walk each segment based on its length. These estimates do not account for the steepness of the street, so some routes may take more or less time than suggested. Seattle streets vary in slope from flat (or almost flat) to very steep. Those streets with a steeper grade have been colored yellow on the map. If an easy route is desired, avoid those streets with yellow shading; if you desire a more challenging and varied route, the yellow streets are for you!
To learn more about Walk America, a drawing you can enter and a tennis shoe decorating contest, visit the Puget Sound AHA website.