Age, Feet, and Walking

Already for several days my feet have felt like lead when walking.
Years ago, just before I was pregnant with Ricki, and again about 5 years ago, I was trying to lose weight (I did, too, but gained it back...), and in an effort to do so, tried to walk at least 30 minutes a night, 3-4 times a week. I had several different “paths” that I used: sidewalks that were in good condition, gradual inclines, and no traffic lights were the points I evaluated in choosing these paths. And till today I know just how far I could get on each in 30 minutes. (Of course, if I walked consistently, I was able to stretch the path a bit further and still accomplish it in 30 minutes....)
Lately I have mostly been using a different path. Yes, it has one traffic light, but otherwise it is really an ideal path, and one that can easily accommodate additions if I want to walk for a longer period.
It used to be that sometimes my feet felt heavy at the start, but would soon recuperate and feel fine. This was the case when I started walking again regularly a month ago, as well.
But this week I upped the amount I am walking, and my feet feel like lead. I feel that I can’t walk fast. And today I took one of those old 30-minute paths, and it took 40 minutes. My knee is a bit “squeaky” as well. (Hope it holds out. 5 years ago it would sometimes “crash” for 2-3 days, very effectively limiting my walking to the minimum for the interim.) Now I DID see that my feet feel more like lead on the uphill parts, but still I know that this is not my “usual” self.
And immediately that inner voice squawks: “You’re getting older! Thought G-d didn’t notice, huh? Thought you’d never waddle slowly down the street, didn’t you?” And if that wasn’t enough, the evil inclination pipes in: “HUH! You should have lost all that weight ages ago! Now it’s too late! Soon your knee will give, you won’t be able to exercise, and you will NEVER walk fast again! And even though you are not stopping, your walking isn’t aerobic, because you are not going fast enough to huff and puff even a bit....”

Well, Mr. Yaitzer Hara (evil inclination), listen here. I don’t know HOW bad my system is. But if I shed even 40 kilo, you can BET I will fly along fast, at least faster than I am now, lugging all that weight along! Imagine if a young man would carry around (ALL day!) 40 kilo of potatoes, how slow he would go! So shut up, and tell Mr. Yaitzer TOV (good inclination), that I want him over here PRONTO.

So Mr. Good Inclination showed me that I had logged a good 4000 steps in 45 minutes, not much less than my normal 40 minutes.
But I wish my feet didn’t feel like lead. I’m still hoping I can blame it on the infernal humidity.....