Walk – Walk – Walk

September 25, 2011

A rainy day in Whistler to say the least but I still managed to get 5.18 km in and I got the same yesterday on a walk from Alpine Meadows along the new extension of the Valley Trail to Rainbow and then up to the top of the world there which is known as Baxter Creek. You get a spectacular overview of Whistler and Blackcomb all the way down to the Black Tusk from the top of Ashleigh McIvor Drive.  This year, 5 km walks have been the norm it seems but it is exceedingly hard to maintain this six to seven days per week.  I've only worn through one pair of runners [one pair every 500 kms] and I will be hard pressed to hit the 1,000 km mark this year as I am just passing through the 700 mark as we speak.

Why it has been such a struggle is anyones guess as I haven't had any injuries to slow me down, so, I'm going to blame it on psychological factors.  I started out this season destined to break through the 5,000 km mark, which I've finally done, as I am currently at 5,123, but getting there was akin to watching water boil and maybe this has played a mind game with me.  Possibly, it is due to measuring out my walks along the Trans Canada Highway??  Figuratively, I started this 5th walking season just east of Ottawa and am now passing Grand Falls New Brunswick and, that just seems like a long way.  Whatever, it is, I can say that psychological barriers definitely preside between the ears and appear to be real. 

On the positive side, I have increased my pace from about 10.25 minutes per km to often clocking 9 and change per km and have sprinted to pace in at 8.25 minutes/km from time to time.  My immediate goal is to maintain the under 10 minute rates on at least 2-3 of the 5 or so kilometers I do per session until the end of the season.  Being able to do this is part of the reward one gets from walking all summer.  Now that the weather has cooled off,  and the endurance is built up, its just a privilege to get the motor revving from time to time and that feels really cool!

August 8, 2010

It's August 8th, nothing too special going on other than there was a big landslide yesterday in the Meager Creek area and I and an old bear crossed paths just down the hill from here on the Valley Trail.  That scared the dickens out of me as he made a large huff and sauntered off into the woods through the under bush.  The very next day, Manon, who heard all about my chance encounter, just happened to be coming along the trail on her bike.  She sees me ahead and sort of snuck up on me and let out a great big gurrr-ahh scaring the "you know what" out of me again.  And oh yes, in spite of all this grief, I just passed the 4,000th kilometre mark on my walks since I started to record them.  

In perspective, if I were walking across Canada, I would now be passing North Bay Ontario or about 400 kilometres west of Ottawa.  If I left Sydney Australia and walked towards Perth, I would be past Perth by now and down around Freemantle.  If I were walking south to Dallas Texas, I am 200 kilometres past and heading to the gulf.

Most of the summer, I have been chugging along at about 10.25 minutes per kilometre and walking an average of 5 - 6 k's per day.  So here we are; I hope to add at least that 400 km's I need to figuratively walk into Ottawa before the end of the walking season this year.  We'll see how we do.

Spring 2009

It is two Springs since I wrote the first article on walking and perhaps it is about time to do an update.  Over the two years that have come and gone, I have managed to log over 2,200 kilometers or just over 1,000 the first season and nearly 1,200 last year.  I went through 3 pairs of runners and I'm well on to the fourth pair at this time.  At this point, I am starting to transition back to walking but I'm only able to manage one walk a week at this point as I have still been skiing three or four times a week through April.

As you know, I log all or most of my mileage on the Nike + web site and here are my stats from last year:  I walked 216 days taking 1,434,905 steps averaging 13 minutes, 53 seconds per kilometer.  My farthest walk was 12.3 kms, I saved 181 liters of fuel, burned 67,656 calories and my favorite day to walk was Tuesday.

Clearly, what this shows is how easy it is to make a difference in a life, in your own life, by making a resolve to slowly but surely, put one foot in front of the other.  Of course, it does not need to be walking that you get passionate about; it can be cycling, rowing, hiking or a combo of things as long as it is measurable and pleasurable.

Have a great cardio summer out there and keep me posted on your triumphs!

Cheers Wendell

Spring 2007

Listen to your Elders.  Indeed, where have we heard that expression before?  It seems like it has come from a long time ago and from far, far away.  None the less, our SST Survey last year, told us that the numero uno exercise done by seniors’ is, walking.  That said, it doesn’t mean that it is the only exercise cited; but, it was the recurring compliment to a host of other activities that the respondents said that they also did to keep in shape.

You probably don’t need to read about all of the benefits associated with this simple form of exercise as they are well documented but amongst the most heralded are that it is good for your internal organs, your joints, weight management and because you tend to produce endorphins, it makes you feel good to boot.

So if all of these things are so, why are we, collectively, as a society, so sedate?  We can probably surmise that exercise in general and walking in particular has become the sacrificial lamb of our modern mechanized fast paced way of living.  Walking does take time.

The thrust of this article is to get beyond the obvious, that we don’t exercise enough and find a way to aim a conscious effort at breaking whatever the impasses are in front of us so that we can develop and maintain a path to great overall fitness and conditioning.  

My good buddy Pierre [Hebert] has concluded after years of assisting people in Rehab, walking just works.  Last fall, he suggested to me that if I were to walk 20 miles a week, I would pretty much regain my body weight from a decade ago and I would also manage my blood pressure to my Doctors satisfaction.  After skiing with me for a day however, he adjusted the prescription to 10 miles a week; and decided that he needs to walk the other ten.  The point is that, it may be 10 or even 20 miles that we need to walk a week and we have to get a plan together to put us onto that course.

My personal plan started with a brand new pair of runners from Santa Claus.  There is nothing like having those shiny new shoes as motivation.  In my case though, I have come to realize the importance of having a concrete method to measure progress, like a personal Coach.  I also know that people have a devil of a time, to, even set goals; never mind achieving them.

So, when I read about how Nike had partnered with Apple iPod to create a device that allows a person to measure their progress, I started to investigate the setup.  The first thing I found was, that the iPod that I had, turned out to be incompatible with the “pedometer” part of the equation and that I would need to buy a new one in order to play.  Then, I realized that the pair of shiny new shoes that Santa brought weren’t Nikes.

There is always a silver lining to having one of those occasions called “birthdays” isn’t there?  At the end of the day, I am now the proud owner of a shiny, red, iPod Nano equipped with a pedometer.  This little pedometer add-on, allows the iPod to record my walking activity and, lets me send it to a web site where it is stored for reference and tracking.

When I’m walking, I have the option of listening to my favourite music or Manon’s audio books that we’ve synced for replay on the iPod.  If I’m walking with someone, I only set it up to monitor our progress; stick it in my pocket and away we go with no earphones required.  If I’m actively listening to something while walking, I can hit the pause button at any time and a voice will come on and tell me how long I’ve walked, the distance covered, my pace and even the calories I’ve burned.

Later, I determined that I could just purchase a little pouch to carry the sensor on my shoe laces and put the shiny new shoes into service without surgically operating on the sole of my shoe to implant the device.  Slowly but surely, I am now building up my walking stride, shaving seconds and minutes off of previous jaunts and can easily manage the targeted 3 mile [4.8 km] walk.  That is the first step in putting 20 miles per week on the soles of my shoes.  Actually, I am only heading for half of that but I am setting the bar higher and hope to come in on target once I am firing on all cylinders.

All of this costs money of course but compared to outfitting yourself for skiing, it is pretty reasonable.  A new pair of shoes will set you back about $100.00 these days, a basic Nano refurbished starts at $139.00 and the Nike + iPod Sport Kit   costs $39.00.  I bought a “refurb” this time as they are $30 – 50.00 cheaper and carry the same warranty as the new ones do. A little neoprene pouch to hold the sensor on your shoe laces is another $10.00.

Is all this necessary?  One can rationalize that you could find other ways to put one foot in front of the other but this seems to set well with my Id and you know how that influences the ego and so on and so on.  Go on, Google the “Id, Ego and Super Ego,” you know you want to.

The bottom line is it is already 2007 and there’s no time like the present to get ourselves into gear or if we’re already geared up to set or break personal bests.  Find a way that you can walk here or there instead of taking the trusty old beast out and burning gas when you could be doing a little bit for the environment and yourself at the same time.

Good luck and I look forward to hearing about some success stories next season.

Cheers Wendell