First of all, I am truly sorry to hear about the assault and your resulting PTSD.

If you look at a few of my other stories, what you will find is that walking is my main form of therapy for dealing with my own crushing depression. I try to think about anything besides the horrible circumstances that led me to where I am mentally while I'm walking, but sometimes it is all that I can think about.

But I want to encourage you and I like to read that you are determined to keep getting out there and walking. Also, I will share with you that I am "cutting back" to 7 miles per day this year. I was putting way too much pressure on myself to get to 9, partly so I could write about it and tell people about it, but that, too, was adding to my anxiety.

Jake, you have someone in the NW burbs of Chicago rooting for you and I hope that you eventually get back to where you were before the assault.

My best regards,

Bernard