Yesterday’s walk was along the Glade Trail, which lies in a protected valley but offers a workout at the end, two uphills and two downhills. I’m looking now for paths with elevation gain. The muscles grew accustomed to it over the last several weeks — and it’s bound to be good for you, in the way that all things that don’t kill you make you stronger.

Living near the fall line as I do, there’s only one direction I can head — west. Even in western Fairfax County the landscape grows hillier. In fact, my neighborhood sits atop a rise that is painfully apparent if you walk alongside Fox Mill Road.

Still, it seems strange to seek out the difficult. It’s so much easier to tramp the level trails, and there are plenty of them around here. I hope I can keep pushing myself to hike the steep and narrow. But I’m not counting on it.

(There’s plenty of hill hiking an hour’s drive west of here in Shenandoah National Park.)