So... What are YOU doing? - Part 8

[Lamb]

Haven't posted in here, but thought I would start. After a short night of sleep, I went to get my hair done. Came home, had lunch and then went to the doctor to check out a cyst on my back, my painful ankle and my A1c. A1c was perfect. He tried to drain out the cyst, but apparently no more was coming after what we did. Will watch that. Seems Arthur (arthritis) and come to my ankle also. That makes both knees and one ankle. Once my prescription takes effect, I will be back on the walking routine. I need to get back to the 2-3 miles a day routine.

I love it when I get out and walk! 2-3 miles is a perfect distance but there is one trail my daughter and I love to do that is 4.2 miles and sometimes my knees don't like it.

 

[tango]

I love it when I get out and walk! 2-3 miles is a perfect distance but there is one trail my daughter and I love to do that is 4.2 miles and sometimes my knees don't like it.

I've been pondering an attempt at a thru-hike of a localish trail that's a little under 90 miles all in. It would take several days and my main concerns are how I'd get back from the furthest point and whether I can carry enough water with me to see me through the sections where water is scarce.

 

[Lamb]

I've been pondering an attempt at a thru-hike of a localish trail that's a little under 90 miles all in. It would take several days and my main concerns are how I'd get back from the furthest point and whether I can carry enough water with me to see me through the sections where water is scarce.

Are there any nearby streets throughout the trail for your wife to bring you water?

 

[tango]

Are there any nearby streets throughout the trail for your wife to bring you water?

It crosses roads a few times but I'm not sure my wife would be thrilled about coming out at random hours of the day and night to bring me water. I think if I were ever to attempt it I'd need to just accept that carrying a gallon or more of water was just part of the requirement.

Realistically speaking the most likely outcome is that I'm not going to do the trail as a thru-hike any time soon. I know of a local couple with five kids who are walking the entirety of the trail, one section at a time. If they can do it with five kids (their youngest is probably no more than six or seven) then I can do it too. It just makes for a whole lot of extra driving.

 

[Forgiven1]

I was building up to 4 and 5 miles, but since I haven't been lately, I need to start back slow. Though 3 miles is my goal each time. If I go further, all the better.

 

[tango]

I was building up to 4 and 5 miles, but since I haven't been lately, I need to start back slow. Though 3 miles is my goal each time. If I go further, all the better.

When I started walking regularly my wife and I would do a local loop that's a little under three miles. The times I walked without her I pushed the speed a bit until I found I wanted a longer walk, so I checked the map and came up with a route that turned out to be a little under five miles. I wanted to tip it over five miles so added a flourish to the end that shifted it from about 4.8 to about 5.1 miles. Then I walked that route when I was going solo and the shorter route when we walked together.

As I got my speed higher on the longer route I looked at the map again to find ways to make it longer, and found the 8-mile route. My wife now regularly walks the 5-mile route with me but has yet to do the 8-miler. On the days I don't want to go to the woods but do want to just walk and walk and walk and clear my head there are other variations I can do that go up to 18-20 miles (the longest I've actually done is a little under 13, but there are bits I can add to extend).

If you can find routes that are based on each other but with extending loops added it means you can start out without committing to a long or a short walk, if that helps. All the routes I walk regularly start out with the exact same couple of miles. At about 1.9 miles the shortest route goes straight home while the others turn off. Then at just under 3 miles the 5-mile route turns one way and other routes turn the other way. At 4 miles the 8 and 10-mile routes diverge. It means we can set off and decide which route to walk on the fly - usually the decision is between the 5 and 8 mile options but every once in a while we'll bail and do the shortest route and every once in a while I'll go out planning to do 5 miles but end up doing 10.

 

[Forgiven1]

Today the plan is to put together a cube shelf that is just under 5' x 5' together. Then to get things organized in that room. It is my sewing/office space.

 

[Lamb]

Working on sewing some pillowcase dresses. My eyes are not liking the fatigue.

 

[Forgiven1]

When I started walking regularly my wife and I would do a local loop that's a little under three miles. The times I walked without her I pushed the speed a bit until I found I wanted a longer walk, so I checked the map and came up with a route that turned out to be a little under five miles. I wanted to tip it over five miles so added a flourish to the end that shifted it from about 4.8 to about 5.1 miles. Then I walked that route when I was going solo and the shorter route when we walked together.

As I got my speed higher on the longer route I looked at the map again to find ways to make it longer, and found the 8-mile route. My wife now regularly walks the 5-mile route with me but has yet to do the 8-miler. On the days I don't want to go to the woods but do want to just walk and walk and walk and clear my head there are other variations I can do that go up to 18-20 miles (the longest I've actually done is a little under 13, but there are bits I can add to extend).

If you can find routes that are based on each other but with extending loops added it means you can start out without committing to a long or a short walk, if that helps. All the routes I walk regularly start out with the exact same couple of miles. At about 1.9 miles the shortest route goes straight home while the others turn off. Then at just under 3 miles the 5-mile route turns one way and other routes turn the other way. At 4 miles the 8 and 10-mile routes diverge. It means we can set off and decide which route to walk on the fly - usually the decision is between the 5 and 8 mile options but every once in a while we'll bail and do the shortest route and every once in a while I'll go out planning to do 5 miles but end up doing 10.

My city has a lot of hike/bike trails and many are in great condition. I choose one of those. A hobby of mine is geocaching so I combine my walks with finding caches if I can. Right now I need to get out on a trail and place some

 

[tango]

My city has a lot of hike/bike trails and many are in great condition. I choose one of those. A hobby of mine is geocaching so I combine my walks with finding caches if I can. Right now I need to get out on a trail and place some

I used to enjoy geocaching but haven't done it for years, I got tired of everywhere being spammed with micros that weren't being maintained. It was geocaching that helped me build my fitness years ago - as I found everything close to home I had to strike out further and further, which meant I improved my fitness substantially without even noticing I was doing it. Where I lived back then it wasn't worth taking the car so I walked and then cycled when the distances got too far to walk.

 

[tango]

... and speaking of walking, I just got back in from a cold walk. My wife stayed home, which is probably just as well because she doesn't like walking in strong winds. It was chilly and windy - one road in particular is very exposed and I ended up leaning hard into the wind to maintain progress. I shaved a small amount of time off my personal best, which was nice.

 

[Naiwen]

Yo sup there? How are ye all doing today? Today, just playing some games on my phone before hitting the sack tonight.

 

[Lamb]

Spent all day at the car dealer and ended up with new tires. I hadn't planned on spending so much money.

 

[tango]

Spent all day at the car dealer and ended up with new tires. I hadn't planned on spending so much money.

Cheaper than a new car though, right?

Fun running errands this morning, and now dealing with an administrative headache. It's one of those things that should be simple in principle to manage but it needs at least three other people to do their thing in a timely manner, and if any one of them drops the ball the whole thing collapses. It's not the end of the world if that happens but does create some complications I'd really rather not have to deal with.

It's cold outside again so I might be walking solo this afternoon.

 

[Lamb]

Cheaper than a new car though, right?

Fun running errands this morning, and now dealing with an administrative headache. It's one of those things that should be simple in principle to manage but it needs at least three other people to do their thing in a timely manner, and if any one of them drops the ball the whole thing collapses. It's not the end of the world if that happens but does create some complications I'd really rather not have to deal with.

It's cold outside again so I might be walking solo this afternoon.

Yes, cheaper than a new car but I was hoping it was just a valve that was leaking. I couldn't even ask to see the "nail" in the tire because they were doing construction in the dealership and no one was allowed near their service section. It was a mess. I'll be going to a different dealership for my next oil change and tire rotation.

 

[tango]

How many new tires did you need?

My admin hassle went away all by itself. I had hoped that one person could sort things out but had a Plan B in case they couldn't, and it turned out that they could. So all my contingency planning turned out to be unnecessary. Still, better to be prepared than caught short.

 

[Forgiven1]

Started going through those boxes to get my sewing/office room organized. It feels good to get those boxes sorted. Also had a followup appointment with my cardiologist for test results. All is good, just annoying arrhythmias. It is cooler today and my allergies are flaring.

We recently purchased tires for one of the cars.

 

[Naiwen]

Happy Friday all! How are you? Today, just playing some games on my Switch before heading to bed tonight.

 

[tango]

My wife is out with a friend so I got my long walk in. Now I need to take a shower and clear a few things ready for our weekend visitor.

 

[Lamb]

How many new tires did you need?

My admin hassle went away all by itself. I had hoped that one person could sort things out but had a Plan B in case they couldn't, and it turned out that they could. So all my contingency planning turned out to be unnecessary. Still, better to be prepared than caught short.

I ended up getting all 4 replaced because I had a coupon that worked out to be almost the same amount as buying 2 of the ones already on my SUV. Since I have AWD I couldn't replace just one without having issues later on down the line so they recommend 2 or 4. At least now I don't have to do it again for many years.