A Long Day

It has been a productive day, but wearing! I started out with a fast walk up to 99W. That was done in 88 minutes, a very good time for the 6 miles. (14.7 minute miles)

And to top it off...a 12 mile bicycle ride through Bidwell Park. And I got a chance to try out my new Garmin Foretrex 201 Personal Navigator, a very smart GPS unit that straps to my wrist and keeps track of me, something my wife has never been able to do. So now I can walk or ride anywhere and I can always find my way home!

It's The Law!

When I am out walking, I usually don’t use a Walkman or other media device to listen to. I listen to my thoughts. And here is one from a recent walk. We (Laurae and I) are from a generation that was taught from early childhood that spitting was unsanitary and impolite. That’s how we were raised. We make no apologies for it.

But it’s a different world today! And that made me think of Singapore. Did you know that there is a country where spitting is illegal? Yes, it’s Singapore and they make you pay plenty if they catch you spitting in public.

Now there is a law that I would support!

http://www.sars.gov.sg/archive/Spit%20And%20Spank%20(ST).html

Believe it or not...There were cities and towns in the USA that had similar laws in the past.

Good one...

I missed a day yesterday because of the weather and so I knew I needed to get out and get with it today, no matter what. The weather looked "iffy" and so I brought along some pants and a jacket for covering up with after the walk. I also decided to do Bidwell once more, as that would let Laurae go and do some shopping while I was walking.

Well, it was cooler today and that seemed to make the biggest difference in my times. I did the 6.55 miles in 93 minutes. That's a 14.2 minute per mile average. And...I felt as if I could have gone for another half hour easily.

That tells me that it's time for me to up the ante to 2 hours and see how far I can go.

Blah!

This is not exactly the day I had hoped for. It's raining pretty good and has been for the past 5 hours. And it's cold as well...I think it's in the low 60's.

As you can imagine, I'm not walking today. No where, no how. But I did go to Chico and had my bicycle repaired. That will give me one more venue for exercise and I have lots of open space to explore here in Orland.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

That was a tough walk. 6.55 miles at Bidwell and I did it in 98 minutes. Yes, it's just under 15 minute miles (14.96) and that's OK. What surprised me was the humidity.

I shouldn't have been surprised, I was walking in a dense forest with a stream running through the center of it. Of course it's humid! But that moisture really takes the energy out of you and I was dragging when I got around to Caper Acres. Less than a mile to go...

Let me see now; high humidity at Bidwell vs. diesel exhaust on Hwy. 32. No good choices, but I will probably try to do more at Bidwell...it is safer.

Undecided

It's a perfect morning for a long walk...should I head out right now and walk to 99W and back? Or should I wait and go into town, walking all of the way around Bidwell before picking up my granddaughter? 6 miles or 6 1/2?

I hope I'm not this indecisive in a few weeks when I have to decide on 10 mile walks!

A note regarding training for walking a marathon; you don't need to actually walk the full 26+ miles in practice before race day. 20 miles is enough. You will have built up enough endurance to make the last 6 miles easily. In fact, that's part of my own secret for success. You walk the race in manageable segments. I used to use 5 miles as mine. After 5 miles, I would ask myself; can you go another 5? And I would...and when you make it to 20 miles, the answer is even easier. "I didn't walk all this way to stop now!"

OK, I guess it's time for a decision. Bidwell and 6 1/2 miles.

One more time

Yes, I did it again. I walked up to the intersection of 32 and 99W. According to Jill's GPS unit, that is 3.04 miles.Only this time I did the complete 6.08 miles, 2 minutes faster than I did on Sunday. That's a 14.47 average and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Maybe it was faster because of a lack of wind? Or the fact that I started at 6 in the morning, beating the heat.

I did notice the same thing I have observed all over this country...when you greet people while walking, you will be ignored quite often. I don't take it personally (Yes...I do) but I do wonder about it.

If you know me at all, you know that I'm an introvert, with a Myers-Briggs type indicator of INFP. I'm the one who shoudn't even be talking to strangers, but I do.

And another hazard of walking is the fact that people can't see you. Other pedestrians ignore you and drivers are blind to your presence. Twice, I had to stop, jump up and down, just to get a driver to see me as he was exiting a driveway. He looked right at me...but through me.

Paul Richard Smith

I received some sad news on Saturday...my newsletter from the Sierra Racewalkers revealed that Paul had died after a long battle with cancer. He was the coach for the Sierra Racewalkers and one of the founders of the club. Paul was also a most memorable man. Selfless and always of good cheer, he was always promoting racewalking. He encouraged everyone he met and will be certainly be missed.

When I first started racewalking, Paul was quick to tell me that he was certain that I would be able to do a 10 minute mile...and he was right. He just kept telling me until I believed it myself.

I also remember a Volksmarch event that I talked Laurae into attending. a 7 mile hike up and down mountains in the area of Carson Pass. We were at 7,000 feet most of the day and Laurae was having a difficult time. But, then Paul came along and walked with us...encouraging her. We finished the hike. We weren't the fastest by any means. But we had accomplished something.

Progress

Since we were going to be doing a lot of walking on Satuday, albeit slow walking, I decided to skip the Saturday morning long walk. I'm sure that our walking all around Turtle Bay had some fitness value as I was certainly tired at the end of that day.

But Sunday was a new day and it was time to get back to the longer walk. Jill and I took off at 7 AM and headed into Orland. We did a little over 6 miles, going through town and out to the intersection of 32 and 99W. Total time was 90 minutes, so it was still in the 14-15 minute mile range.

The most difficulty came from the wind as we could not escape it. The wind was blowing out of the north at about 20 mph and that gave us a little resistance to overcome. All in the name of "fitness" of course...

Into Town

Just got back from a long walk into town...I went all the way to 3rd Street before turning around. I'm not sure of the distance yet, but it did take me 1 hour, 24 minutes and 40 seconds. I'm going to estimate the distance at 5.7 miles.

It was fairly early, so the heat wasn't a problem at first. I can see that I will need to start earlier in the days to come, as the heat was becoming a factor on the return leg. What a dilemna! The park, filled with dogs and cyclists...but cooler! Or the trip to Orland, surrounded by traffic and asphalt. I'm leaning towards more park time. But the Orland route doesn't require a 30 minute 1-way drive to Chico. As I said, a dilemna.

A Walk in the Park

OK, I did half of a half...marathon that is. 6.55 miles which is once around Bidwell Park and one short walk up and back the path where "Victory Lane" is located on race day. I kept it under 15 minute miles and that is a good thing. But the best part was doing the distance and building some endurance. The day was quite cool and so I didn't break a sweat until almost 25 minutes had passed. And there were very few walkers/runners/cyclists out today. I can understand the cyclists not wanting to be there; the wet road puts a dirty black stripe right down the back of their best shirts.

It really is a great park when the crowds are not present. I only saw one dog person with a problem...she had 3 huskies on leashes and she had a look of terror on her face as she was being dragged down the path. She smiled bravely as she passed me...

4.16 MPH

That's my speed for today...or 14.42 minute miles. Certainly not my best. I was doing 11 minute miles every day back in 2002. But it's a start.

The highway walk is definitely different than my walks in Bidwell Park. To be truthful, it's safer and less stressful. The last time I was in the park I was confronted twice by people who were having a terrible time trying to control their dogs. Why do people own dogs like that? And then I was constantly being passed by cyclists who ignore the polite method of letting you know they are about to pass you..."On your right" is the preferred method of hailing a walker who is on the path. But no, these cyclists never say a word and flash past you, causing you to be startled. Very good for your heart!

The highway walk does have it's drawbacks as there is no sidewalk to give you a little safety from approaching traffic. And that traffic is going about 60 mph. And you have those exhaust fumes to deal with as well. You also get a closeup view of all of the detritus that society flings out the windows of their cars, cigarette butts, cans, bottles and the occasional "road kill".

The good part is the fact that I feel stronger today and my attitude is more positve...Now I guess I better weigh myself and see what this does for my weight control. When I did the 2001 Portland Marathon I weighed 200 pounds, with a low weight while training of 197. Can I do that again?

I'm Back

OK, I did it...two days in a row now and without injury. I just finished a one hour and 15 minute walk to Orland and back. I walked to the first signal, close to Holiday Market, and then turned around and came back. Now I will drive into town and see how far that is. Yesterday I walked for one hour in Bidwell Park while Laurae was getting her hair cut.

Tomorrow I will see if I can't go a few blocks further...

I also kept my tape recorder with me and made observations as I went. Now I will have to transcribe those into something intelligible.

Disaster

What a disaster! My foot is still messed up and I have a blister on my right heel...all because I was trying to prove something. Now I have lost 2 more days of training. I will try it again tomorrow; slowly!

Ooops!

I forgot and had anonymous Comments turned off...they are back on.

First, in a Series

Who says I can't do three blogs?

This morning I headed into Chico to begin training for the Portland Marathon, doing a walk in the park...which, as it turned out... it wasn't.

My right foot has been bothering me off and on for the last six months and so I kept putting off the training date. Since my calendar was off by one day, I thought that today was June 1st and that sounded like a good date to begin.

I started off strong, just a few hitches in my stride at first and those went away as I warmed up. My plan was to do 4 miles and then as the first few miles went so well, I upped it to 6 miles. That was my undoing. Oh, I completed the 6 miles all right. But now I'm limping again. My right foot, of course, feels like it has been through the mill. I had a chance to change my mind at the 2 or 3 points along the way, but no! I had to be some sort of hero.

With any luck at all I will be OK for a 3 mile walk tomorrow and then a "gradual" return to the higher numbers.

And while I was walking, I noted that I need to bring my mini-tape recorder next time. I have plenty of thoughts that seem important at the time while I'm walking and I sure can't stop to write them down.