Walking in harsh weather is no big deal for Joan Monson. She’s endured rain, wind, snow, sub-zero cold and sweltering heat—pretty much everything Minnesota has in its weather arsenal.
So when the state’s largest April snowstorm on record dumped 15 inches on the Twin Cities this year, she wasn’t deterred. She bundled up, swapped her walking shoes for boots and hit the streets of her Golden Valley neighborhood for her daily 3-mile jaunt. She wouldn’t miss it—and hasn’t—for 24 years.
“You just do it,” says Monson, a Blue Cross and Blue Shield member who turned 78 this year. “It’s like brushing your teeth—I always compare it to that. These two snowy days, when I was getting ready, you just go out and you find that oh, this is really nice. It’s actually so beautiful.”
The benefits of regular walking have been well documented, from strengthening bones and muscles to maintaining a healthy weight to improving mental health. Monson, who started walking every day in July of 1994, considers herself a prime example. She is on no prescription medications, has no chronic conditions, has never been ill enough to miss a day and, without question, maintains an always-positive attitude.
“And through the years I’ve had a lot of fun doing it,” she says.
BUILDING A HABIT
Crunching through the snow on a sunny Monday morning after the weekend storm, Monson recalled the early days of her walking regimen. Now retired, she was still teaching elementary school part-time in St. Louis Park when she began walking to cope with hip and shoulder pain.
“And it just seemed like all of my joints felt better the more I walked,” she says. “And by that time of course, I didn’t have any kids at home and I only worked half time, so there was no reason I couldn’t do it every day.”
Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and soon the daily walks were a permanent fixture in Monson’s life, even after the pain was long gone. Dr. Peter Stiles of TRIA Orthopaedic Center in Bloomington says that type of regular activity is key to keep ing pain at bay, improving wellness and maintaining the ability to live how we want.
“One of two things for sure will happen as we age,” Stiles says. “You will either decrease in function, or maintain or increase your function. And the only way to maintain or increase your function is to stay active, strong—whatever that means for that individual. It might be walking, jogging or doing another activity based on your level of function.”
Monson also rides a vintage blue cruiser bicycle when weather permits, but it’s not as important to her as the walks. She used her bicycle odometer to measure her 3-mile route, which she walks in about 50 minutes. She’s adamant about maintaining that distance.
“Two is too few and four is too many,” she laughs.
The route has stayed the same through the years, though the scenery has changed. Passing a new residential development, she recalls the business that was once in its place and quips about how close together the new homes are being built. She mentions residents who have come and gone, and friends and family who have joined her on walks over the years—including on group walks that mark every five years of her streak.
Monson can identify every sight, sound and smell along the route and has a story to tell about each of them. No block goes by without an anecdote.
“These two dogs, I don’t look at them because they’re so mean,” she says without breaking stride while walking past a couple of barking pooches.
Everyone gets a wave and a smile, sometimes a hello or a brief stop to chat. She knows some people by name, but many more by face and location. Walking near a couple of fast food restaurants, Monson scoops up a piece of cardboard and disposes of it at the nearest garbage container. Picking up trash is often part of her routine, as is collecting spare change, which she donates to charity. To date, she’s collected nearly $800.
Monson meticulously logs every mile she walks on a paper chart attached to a cabinet in her laundry room, which is also a memento room of sorts, where past newspaper articles about her walking and a variety of gear is kept. She’s logged more than 26,000 miles since 1994—over 1,000 miles more than a lap around the globe.
MENTAL THERAPY
Walking has helped Monson mentally just as much as it has physically, she says. She walked on the day her husband of 51 years died, at the urging of her children, Tammy and Tom. He had been in a care facility 1.5 miles from Monson’s home and she altered her daily walk to be to and from the facility while he was there.
“It’s like taking an eraser and you can erase anything negative,” Monson says of the mental benefi ts of walking. “You can think about the rest of your day, you think about the people you met along the way.”
Monson will sometimes listen to country music, gospel or news on an old headset during her walks, but she is just as content to soak in her surroundings and use the time to think. Walking outside is her preference, though she has had to get her three miles in at the airport and elsewhere when traveling. Her vacation and mission trip walks have included a cruise ship and laps in a courtyard in Guatemala.
“She’s just incredibly dedicated to it,” says Tammy, 53. “You aren’t going to tell her no, so we don’t.”
Tammy says staying active and eating healthy was always important to her mother and imparted on the family. Though Tammy doesn’t walk every day, she believes she lives a healthier life because of her upbringing and her mom’s continued commitment.
The influence also spread to others. Aimee Sedley of Minnetonka, for example, is one of a couple of families that hired Monson as a nanny over a decade ago. Monson took Sedley’s son Max, now 16, on her daily walks, which Sedley says served as inspiration to continue a healthy lifestyle. Monson has also connected with others who have found her streak motivational, including a young girl from her hometown who suffered a severe injury in an ATV accident.
“She’s an inspiration to more than just me,” Tammy says of her mother. “She’s an inspiration to many other people.”
With a group walk to celebrate the 25-year mark coming up soon, Monson says she has no plans to slow down as long as she feels well enough to continue. “But I’m wise enough to know that one day there will be something that will end it and then I think I’ll probably need a psychologist to walk me through that,” Monson laughs. “I’m just really grateful for everything.”