8 Reasons Why I No Longer Jog

On my blissful morning walk, I gazed at a young runner and thought wistfully, that used to be me. Young. And able to run. Don't get me wrong, if the house were on fire (heaven forbid) or I wanted to beat out a crowd to get to the front of the line at Sprinkles Cupcakes, I could run. Though, I might hurt myself. So why bother?

I can't really remember when I gave it up, though I'm sure it was sometime in the 1900s. Back then I didn't carry so much stuff when I ran. Now I practically need a tool belt to hold the water bottle, BlackBerry, iPod, Kleenex and lite snack for my daily hour long walk. You can see why running just doesn't make sense.

Here are more reasons why I choose to walk instead of jog:

1. Ouch. (See 2-4 for more details).

2. All that pounding on the pavement hurts my lower back. I can just tell the fluid in the spaces between the vertebrae have dried up for good. It feels like bone on bone (I swear I can hear the grinding). All of which I'm convinced will make me start to shrink faster than nature intended.

3. My knee hurts. It's more of a stabbing pain. And one of these days that knee is going to give out on that little sprint to grab the phone, so I'm not about to risk it running around the block.

4. My feet hurt too. I really think years of wearing heels have ruined them. As I'm getting older, wearing high heels for even just an hour and then jogging is a pain like no other. Any chance sensible shoes are sexy?

5. Running makes it difficult to multi-task (text, read/write emails, check my Facebook status, make marketing list).

6. It's tough to have a phone conversation on your cell when you're huffing and puffing. It gets embarrassing when people start to wonder what you're doing.

7. I'll start to sweat. I ask myself, "Is this worth having to wash and blow-dry this big head of hair?!" Never forget your hair. Never.

8. Did I mention "Ouch?" (Please refer back to 2-4).

Do you prefer to walk or run? Do you find your self saying, "What the heck, let's drive instead!"

Carpool Goddess is a Yahoo! Shine Parenting Guru when not walking, shopping or eating. You can find her skipping along on Twitter and Facebook.