Day 66 - Vita Trail

A few months ago my friend T was hit by a car.  She's still recovering, and part of her therapy is to walk the Vita Course at Byrd Park.  Today I joined her for her walk.  The course is a 1-mile loop, and she pushed herself to get through the course twice!  Way to go T!!!  It's not as far as I'd usually go now, but 2 miles is better than totally skipping today!

Day 66: 2 miles (111.14 total)

Day 64 - 6.85 miles (109.14 total)

Back to the gym.  I was still pretty wiped out from all the Zombie Walking and staying out too late for midnight movies and friends' parties.  Did 2.85 miles on the elliptical, then settled in for another 4 miles on the recumbent elliptical bike, bringing me to 6.85 miles and a grand total of 109.14 miles!  WooHoo!

Day 62 - Zombie walking for 2.29 miles

Today was the Richmond Zombie Walk.  I walked for 2.29 miles: from Kroger in Carytown down to the Byrd Theater, then back up to Kroger, then walked back down to New York Deli for my friend Phil D's book reading, then back up to Kroger and over to my parked car.  Holy CRAP is was cold today!  Viciously cold.  But, I'm now at 102.29 miles!

2011 Richmond Zombie Walk by Gamma Man, on Flickr

Day 61 - Highs and Lows

Well, today was a day of highs and lows.

The high came this morning when I jogged 6.41 miles on the elliptical, bringing me to a grand total of 100 MILES!!!  I was so excited I took a picture:

My excitement, however, was tempered when I got home.  Phil Pollard, someone I know, someone who just turned 44 yesterday, almost died this morning.  I didn't know him well, but from what I knew of him, he was an all around nice guy.  He had been in a band with some of my friends, was a volunteer at WRIR.  I wished him happy birthday on Facebook yesterday before my radio show.  Later on that morning he acknowledged my birthday wishes with a "like."  And within a few hours he had suffered cardiac arrest and was in ICU.  And now today he is almost gone.  But even though he didn't know me that well, I take comfort in the fact that he knew that I wished him happy birthday yesterday.

Days 55 & 57 (93.59 miles total)

Day 55 - Saturday - I kinda wiped myself out last week going such a long distance on Monday.  And then I went and saw a band play Tuesday night, so I was up late and didn't go to the gym on Wednesday.  And then I saw another band play Friday night, so I was up late again.  But I went back on Saturday and walked/jogged/ran for 7.73 miles on the elliptical.  I was trying to get to 7.75, but I was also trying to get home before Mark went to his meeting.  Alas, I didn't succeed in either attempt.  So 7.73 miles it was, for a total of 87.89 miles.

Day 57 - Monday - We got back to our regular routine today.  Only about 45 minutes at the gym, so I pushed for my "double" distance of 5.70 and made it just in time.  93.59 miles.  That's the equivalent of running from Richmond to Warrenton, VA.  (Or, more realistically for me, the equivalent of running to IKEA in Dale City and then running around the store for about 10 more miles.)  That means I only have to go 6.41 miles next time to pass 100 miles!  WhooHoo!  I wonder if I'll have enough time to go that far at the gym next time.  Stay tuned!

Days 48 & 50 (80.16 miles total)

Day 48 - Saturday - Zumba with Dawn!

Day 50 - Monday - Elliptical with Enzo!  Well, not really with Enzo, but his music selections were an integral part of my morning.  As usual, I was using the elliptical machine and streaming WRIR on my phone.  But I was not really FEELING the exercise that morning.  I did 2.85 miles, but I was getting tired of the elliptical.  So I switched over to the seated elliptical where Mark's usually exercising.  I figured I'd go another 2.85 miles there and then maybe go home.  I pushed the 2.85 to 3 miles because the music was energetic enough and because, since I was sitting down, I could actually check my email and stuff WHILE I was exercising.  I know, it's lame, but at least it kept me on the machine.  I can't remember what distance I was at.  I think around 4 miles.  And I was thinking of leaving.  And then, dammit, Enzo played "No Cars Go" by Arcade Fire.  That song is packed with so much energy that it was like it was physically impossible for me to stop.  In fact, I had to pick up the pace and push as hard as I could to try to keep tempo with the  music.  I ended up going another full mile, finishing at 5 miles on the seated elliptical.

So thank you to Enzo and Arcade Fire for helping me cover 7.85 miles on Monday, for a grand total of 80.16 miles!!!

Day 47 - 72.31 miles total

Wednesday - Elliptical - 5.7 miles!  I was wiped out when I was done, but I got my double-distance in, which brought me to 66 miles total.)

Friday - Elliptical - 4 miles!  I couldn't quite bring myself to the double-distance this morning.  So I went out this evening and walked for another 2.31 miles, bringing me to 6.31 for today, and a GRAND TOTAL of 72.31 miles!

Day 43 - 60.3 miles and a bit of frustration

I did not go to the gym last Thursday or Friday.  But I did walk down to Gallery 5 on Friday night for the First Fridays Carnival of Five Fires.  Got to watch some AWESOME fire artists and hear music play.  Mark met me down there after work, so I just rode back home with him when the show was over.  The walk down added another 1.6 miles to my week, which brings me to 55.55 miles!

Saturday and Sunday were a wash.  A big lazy wash.  Well, ok, not entirely lazy.  I had a flea market on Sunday, so I got to schlep totes of craft supplies from house to car to setup to car to house again.

Monday - Day 43!  Monday we do a good job of getting back in the groove of things.  As usual for Mondays, we were pressed for time.  And the leg that I injured last year was a little twingy this weekend.  So I spent a good chunk of time on the recumbent elliptical: 3 miles.  But I started to feel like that machines was actually putting MORE stress on my calves than I thought it would.  So I switched over to the regular elliptical and covered another 1.75 miles before we had to leave.  Which now makes my grand total 60.3 miles!  Yay!

And then we come to the latter part of my day. . . Zumba class . . . which didn't happen for me.  I went over to the gym 30 minutes early, but there were no tickets left for the class.  I asked the guy behind the counter to double check, since last week the tickets weren't printing out for the class even though none had been printed.  But he seemed to think the class was filled already.  So, with no class to Zumba in, I went home.  It's pretty frustrating to me because even though the class is really popular and fills up all the time, most of the girls in the class are skinny college students.  I mean skinny.  And they'd probably just go to a different class if this one was full.  But I can't go to a different class.  I need this one.  This is the class that works for me.  I can't just do Boot Camp when Zumba is full.  I need this class.  Some of the people in the last class were talking to each other instead of paying attention to the moves.  It was like it was more of a social event than an exercise class for them.  So why bother going?  If you want to chat with your friends, that's fine, but please don't use Zumba class to do it.  I need this class.

Day 38 (53.95 miles total)

But I can't forget Day 36.5.  Monday night I went to Zumba class.  YES!  This is the instructor I had the first time, and I like her class so much better than the Thursday class I went to last time.  The music was good.  The movements were dancey.  The only problem was that tickets weren't printing for the class (which means there was no way to sign up for it), so it was seriously overcrowded.  But I'd take a crowded Monday Zumba over a Thursday Zumba any day.

Ok, on to today!  I know I skipped a walking session yesterday, so I wanted to try to double-up today (2.85/day x 2).  Luckily, Mark didn't have to head off to work quite so early, so we were able to spend almost an hour at the gym this morning.  Which meant I was able to do a solid 5.70 miles today!  WooHoo!  I can't say I wasn't tired.  I was REALLY tired.  And getting through that last mile was really hard.  I just kept counting off 1-2-3-4 in my head because I knew "4" would get me to the next hundredth of a mile.

Today's distance puts me at 53.95 miles, which means I could be in Spotsylvania by now!

Day 36 (48.25 miles total!)

Clearly I'm going to be doing a lot of distance recalculating, but I'll save that for another day.

Lat week I went to the gym on Tuesday (I think it was Tuesday), and ellipticalled (for lack of a better word) for 3.10 miles, which put me at 44.10 miles.  I skipped Wednesday because I was a dork and wanted to skip Wednesday.  Thursday I skipped walking because I was going to Zumba in the evening and I didn't want to overdo it.  And let me tell you, that Zumba class SUCKED.  It was really more like club dancing than Zumba.  I barely broke a sweat.  And there was no chicha or reggaeton or salsa music in the mix.  Instead we had Beyonce.  Very disappointing.

Anyway, I was so let down by that class that I didn't even want to go back to the gym for a few days.

So, flash forward to Monday.  We went to the gym, and I listened to a Enzo's tribute to Moldy Cheese Day on WRIR while I walked.  ("Hold Your Head Up," although a bit slow at times, is a remarkably inspirational song for the gym, by the way.)  Thanks to the cheesefest and the fact that Mark wanted to stay a little longer than I expected, I was able to go 4.15 miles today!  (I probably could have gone further, but I've been alternating the intensity on the machine a bit.  I'll do the first 2.85 miles at a solid jog pace, and then ramp up the difficulty level until Mark's ready to leave, which means everything after 2.85 miles is harder, but much slower.  More like climbing than jogging.)

So let's see. . . 44.10 miles + 4.15 miles today = 48.25 miles!  WooHoo!  That means I've essentially walked from Richmond to Williamsburg!  I think that's something for which I can hold my head up!

What day is it? (41 miles total)

I'm glad I stuck with my initial instinct to NOT make this a 365 project.  Sept 7 was the 10th day, but then I was in Canada for 10 days.  We ended up driving about 7 hours a day, which pretty much meant that we drove and then fell asleep when we got to our destinations.  There were 2 days that we actually had a little bit of time to walk though.  First was a 2 kilometer (1.24 mile) path at the Viking Trail in Newfoundland.  The second was a path to the boats at Gros Morne (3 kilometers/1.86 miles) and then back to the parking lot (another 1.86 miles).    That's a grand total of 4.96 miles of planned walking.  Over 10 days.  That puts me pretty far behind.

Add to that the fact that it took a full week to recover from travel, so I didn't get back to any walking until this morning (which is 19 days since last time so. . . day 29.  Yikes!).

But, I pulled myself out of bed to get to the gym at 6am.  We were a bit pressed for time this morning, so instead of making it to 5.48, I only did 3 miles.  But at least I did it!

That makes my grand total of walking so far. . .

33.04 miles (day 10 total) + 4.96 miles (days 11-28) + 3 (day 29) = 41 miles!

Which means I've got to cover 959 more miles in the next 336 days.  Which means I'll need to average 2.85 miles per day every day, which really isn't THAT much more distance than I originally started with.  But I know that I'll have to miss days here and there, so I'll try to double up when I can to keep up with the goal.


*whew*

Day 10 - 5.48 elliptical after a day off

I took yesterday off, so maybe today should be "Day 9," but it's the 10th day since I started, so "Day 10" it will be.

I probably should have posted a "Day 8.5" because Monday night I went to Zumba class with Dawn.  One hour of high energy dancing in a room full of college kids.  Lots of moves that were hard to keep up with.  Lots of people crammed into a small space.  Lots of cumbia and salsa.  And lots and lots of sweat.  My sides were sore all of Tuesday. But it was a fun class, and I'll definitely do it again.

Here's a video that breaks down some of the basic Zumba steps.  Wish I had seen something like this ahead of time!

After taking Tuesday to recover, I felt like I should go back to the gym with Mark today.  I'm starting to prefer the elliptical machine to walking because I feel like it gives me a better workout.  I did 5.48 miles again today to help make up for my lack of walking yesterday.  My friend Amy thinks that after 2 weeks the exercising will be easier, more of a habit. We'll see.

Day 10: 5.48 elliptical miles (33.04 miles total)

Day 8 - 2.77 grumpy miles (27.56 miles total)

Little Miss Grumpypants here!  I swear, I must have lost my mind.  We needed to run a few errands in Carytown today, so Mark suggested we walk there.  And we still hadn't gone through Scuffletown Park the other day like we wanted to.  So I mapped out a route to include Chop Suey Tuey and Plan 9 in Carytown, and then a swing through Scuffletown Park.  Walking an extra block past our house on the way home would get us over the 2.74 miles mark, and if we were walking a bunch anyway, may as well make sure we go 2.74, right?

I probably wasn't the most pleasant walking companion.  I wanted this walk to be leisurely, and not particularly sweat-inducing, as I'm still planning to go to Zumba tonight with Dawn.  So I didn't wear my sneakers.  I wore my cute little everyday shoes instead, which was probably a big mistake.  Within 2 blocks I felt like I was just slapping bare footed against cement sidewalk.  No blisters, but not exactly comfortable.  And the mid-day humidity took care of the sweat-inducing part that I was trying to avoid.  Luckily we had our stops at the stores to break up the walk, and then I ducked in to Strawberry Street Market to get some tea in the hopes of being more cheerful by the time we got home.

Maybe it will take a while.

Day 8: 2.77 miles (27.56 miles total)

Day 7 - 2.87 miles! (24.79 miles total!)

Geez, I finish up my big week-long challenge, and then I almost forget to blog about it!

So, yeah, today was day 7 of my "can I walk 2.74 miles every day for a week?" challenge.  I spent part of the afternoon with my friend Dawn, who is working on her own fitness challenges (and who assured me that 2.74 miles on the elliptical is just as much exercise as 2.74 miles walking on the treadmill).  After getting back from running around to various stores with Dawn and trying on assorted clothes, I needed to plot a place to walk.  Mark wanted to go through the sculpture garden at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, so I mapped a route that included that bit.  Then after I finished mapping the route, he said, "Maybe we can walk to Shields Market after your 2.74 miles so that we can pick up a few groceries."  (*I attempt to quickly reroute my route to include a section we'll have already walked past and to cut out a few extra turns so I don't have to walk a full 3 miles since it's starting to get dark out.*)

It wasn't pretty, but it got us through the sculpture garden and back by Shields Market in 2.87 miles, which was over my goal for today (which is good because I got a cookie at the market).  That put me at a grand total of 24.79 miles in a week, which is pretty good for someone who generally doesn't walk for fun.

So, now that I've finished this first week, I've learned a few things.  1) I still want to keep active for 365, I just don't think I can limit it to walking.  2) I also *really* want to take a day off once in a while, in part because I'm sure I will run into some sort of allergy or injury at some point in the year which will keep me from being able to do a workout, and I'm afraid if I set a goal of 365, then I'll have set myself up to fail.  3) I probably do need to get new sneakers.  4) I've guesstimated that I'd be able to complete a marathon in 9 hours, assuming I'd be able to actually walk that much all at once.

So, what's next?  Well, I'm really not sure.  Tomorrow I'm going to go to a Zumba class with Dawn.  I'll still be doing something active, but I probably won't walk in addition to that because I don't want to push myself too hard and end up with an injury like the one that kept me sidelined for several months last year.  So I'll just take it one day at a time and keep moving.

Day 7: GOAL COMPLETED!  2.87 miles  (24.79 miles total)

Day 6 - Boulevard loop (21.92 miles total)

I was so relieved that the gym didn't open until 8 today.  I had grand plans of sleeping in late.  I even stayed up late as a treat to myself, knowing that I'd be able to sleep in.  But then the plumber called at 7:30am to let me know that he could come by today to install the toilet instead of Tuesday.  So, goodbye sleeping in!

My day was so focused on the new toilet and assorted house errands that I didn't even remember walking until Mark said, "Did you want to walk today?"  I didn't really want to, but I knew I should.  So I grabbed one of my routes from WalkJogRun.  We were hoping that our friend Ann would be able to join us with her dogs, but we weren't able to catch up with her this time.  Maybe tomorrow.

I realized today that I won't have even gone the distance of a marathon (26.22 miles) by the time my 7 days are done.  I don't know how people run that much at one time.

Day 6: 2.74 miles (21.92 miles total) 

Day 5 - So Tired (19.18 miles total)

I really didn't want to walk today.

No, that's not a picture of me, but I think I was in that exact pose this morning before I got out of bed.

Yesterday's walk was so late in the day that by the time I got home and ate dinner and finished blogging about my walk, it was an hour after when I should have gone to bed.  My alarm went off and I just laid there for about 10 minutes.  And then I thought about my goal of 7 days.  It's really not THAT big a goal.  It would be really lame for me to give up at day 5.  I mean, it wouldn't exactly be giving up if I hadn't gone to the gym to walk.  Mark had offered to walk with me in the evening since he wasn't able to go to the gym this morning, but I feared that if I waited until later we'd find some excuse to not walk - too tired, too sore, too something.  I figured the only way to really make sure I did it would be to get up and go to the gym in the morning.

So I went for the elliptical again.  The big toe on my right foot is sore from yesterday's walk (maybe I *DO* need new shoes), and I figured the elliptical would cause less foot-impact.  I went thinking I would just do 2.74 miles.  I closed my eyes, listened to music, and secretly wondered if it would be physically possible to fall asleep while using the elliptical.  (If other people can sleep walk, could I sleep exercise?  Or would I fall off the machine?. . . . I'd probably fall off the machine.)

Anyway when I finally got to 2.74 miles, I slowed down a bit.  Then my brain started saying. . . "Did you REALLY go 2.74 miles?  There's no way you can go twice as fast when you're just walking, but you go twice as fast on the elliptical.  Is it the same? Or is it like a bicycle, where you cover a bigger distance because you're on wheels?  It's not like there's an easy real-life equivalent of the elliptical machine.  It's not like anyone says,  'Oh, I'm going to go out for an elliptical stroll this afternoon.' Or 'Let's go for an elliptical ride.'"  I suddenly feared that if I stopped, I wouldn't have gotten in the same amount of exercise.  So I decided to push through to 5.48 miles, giving myself a mental pep talk the entire time.  Assuring myself that the first 2 miles seem to be the hardest and that if I just keep going I'll feel better later.  I hope I was right.

Day 5: 5.48 elliptical miles (19.18 miles total)

Day 4 - On the Town (13.7 miles total)

I really didn't think I'd get a walk in today. I had my radio show this morning, which had me out of the house before the gym even opened. And then someone was coming to work on my bathroom around 930am, which wasn't long after my radio job was done. There was no way I'd have time to go to the gym, shower and eat breakfast before the bathroom work started. So I chose breakfast and Mark and I decided to do takeout from our usual breakfast place.

By the time the bathroom work was done, it was prime gym time, so I didn't want to even venture over there. But it was still light outside, so I figured a walk around the neighborhood would do instead of the gym. I wanted to make sure I covered my full 2.74 miles, so I started searching the web for help, and I found a website called WalkJogRun. WalkJogRun lets you map out routes wherever you want, and tells you the distances you've mapped. If you sign up for a free account online, you can save your routes and keep a training diary of which ones you've completed. And if you opt to buy their iPhone app, you can take your routes with you.

Anyway, I mapped out some local routes, protected my feet against blisters, and crossed my fingers that one of my friends would be able to go with me since Mark was working late so I wouldn't have to walk at dusk with just my dog.  Unfortunately, I ended up going by myself, but the important thing is that I STILL WENT! (And I didn't get blisters this time!)

Day 4: 2.74 miles (13.7 miles total)

Day 3 - Elliptical (10.96 miles total)

Three days in a row! Yes!

When I woke up this morning, I still had the blisters from yesterday (which my friends Jen and Elli say means that I need different shoes, but I haven't had time to remedy that yet). So I coated the balls of my feet with anti-chafing balm, slapped bandaids over the blisters, and headed off to the gym with Mark.

We were a few minutes late leaving the house this morning, and I was a bit freaked out about my ability to get 2.74 miles done in the time we had. I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. And I kept remembering how my shins ached from jogging yesterday. So I decided to try something different and use the elliptical machine instead of the treadmill.

I've never used the elliptical machine for any extended period of time before. It's a bit of a weird sensation to get used to because it really moves my legs in a bigger range of motion than I was used to on the treadmill. But there were 2 distinct advantages to using the elliptical.

The first is that, because my feet were always on the pedals, I didn't feel any rubbing against my blisters at all. Not a rub. Not a hot spot. NOTHING! It was very nice. And because I didn't have the impact of my feet hitting the floor, I didn't feel sharp pains in my shins either. So the lessened pain was a very nice advantage.

The second is that apparently I go twice as fast on an elliptical as I do on a treadmill. Seriously. Not sure how. Maybe the greater range of motion equates to travelling a longer distance. I blazed past 2.74 miles in about 23 minutes. That's half the time it takes me on the treadmill! So. . . call me crazy. . . but I decided to keep going. I really don't think I'm going to be able to make it to the gym tomorrow due to my schedule, so I figured I should at least TRY to make up for it today instead of just skipping a day of walking tomorrow.

The only negative from today (well, aside from sore hips, which I've come to expect at this point) was that I had to do math. Yes, math. Before 7am.

I'm not quite sure what buttons I hit when I started what I thought was the manual setting on the elliptical trainer, but after 4 miles the machine decided it was time for me to cool down, and it started counting down from a minute. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I figured I should keep an eye on my distance just in case. 4.02 . . . 4.04 . . . 4.05 and the screen went dark. So I just kept moving and hit the "quick start" button again. Sure enough, I had been knocked back to 0 distance. So I kept moving kept moving kept moving and tried to make my brain work: "ok... my original goal was 2.74... But I'm doubling that today... So my new goal is... 2.74 times 2... crap, what's 2.74 times 2?... 8. . . carry the one... 5.48... 5.48 is my final goal... minus 4.05... wait, what was the number again?... 5.48, that's right... 5.48 minus 4.05... that's 1.43... ok, so I have to go 1.43 more miles!" And by the time I figured it out, I was on my way to the finish line!

Day 3: 5.48 miles (10.96 miles total)

Day 2 - Blisters (5.48 miles total)

(photo from http://www.strongperformancesystems.com/)

I made it to day 2! Yes!

That's quite an accomplishment. When I got done with yesterday's walk I could feel some hot spots on my feet at the same points I usually get blisters. I silently cursed myself for not putting anti-chafing balm on my feet beforehand, and tried to stop the blisters by putting anti-blister bandaids on my feet. Of course, I only had 1 of those blister bandaids left, so it went on the left foot while a regular old bandaid went on the right foot. By the end of the day, I seemed to be in the clear.

This morning I wanted to start things off right. Unfortunately, I woke up at 4am and had problems falling back asleep. By the time my alarm went off at 5:50am I was exhausted, but had to make it through day 2. Determined to avoid blisters again, I applied some Friction Block to the balls of my feet before I went to the gym this morning.

One of the nice things about going to the gym at 6am is that you can actually find a place to park (which is tough if you know anything about the Cary St Gym). Once again I was on a tight schedule: trying to make it back from the gym before plumbers arrived at my house this morning. So I managed another walk/jog to make it out in an hour. My shins hurt. My hips hurt. And, you guessed it. . . blisters. Back to the bandaid drawer as soon as I got home. And some preemptive tylenol.

My goal was to make it through 2.74 miles every day for 1 week, but I'm already afraid that I may have set myself up for failure. I have an early work day on Thursday, and then a contractor coming to my house, so I'm afraid I won't be able to find an hour to get away to the gym that day. I'll be off to my job before the gym opens, so we'll have to see how the day plays out.

Day 2: 2.74 miles (5.48 total)

Day 1 - 2.74 miles

Monday, Aug 29, 2011

Noah said. . .


So, what if I walk instead of make?

The other day Noah posted about a guy who's running 3 miles a day for 365 days. I've never done anything like that. I'm not a runner. I'm barely a walker. But I thought to myself, "Geez, he'll have gone well over 1000 miles after a year!" And then I thought, "How many miles would you have to walk per day to reach 1000 miles?" So I grabbed my calculator, did the math, and came up with 2.7397.

I've walked 3 miles before, so I know I can do 2.74. At this point, I can't imagine walking this much every day for a year. I can't imaging myself doing ANYTHING every day for a year. So I'll start small. I will walk every day for 1 week.

I weigh more than I would like. According to official statistics, I'm about 70 pounds over my "ideal" weight. I haven't been in that "ideal weight" range since I was about 15. I don't know that I ever will, but I'd be really stoked if I could lose about 25lbs.

I went to the gym with Mark this morning. I used the treadmill and listened to WRIR on my smartphone. I had just under 1 hour to do it. So I started walking. And a few times I actually jogged for a few seconds (due to my innate desire to walk to the tempo of what I'm listening to). I was determined to get the entire distance in in the time I had, and I just made it.

2.74 miles. Day one.