I figure with one hike left to go in 2010 this is a good a time as any to review where I was when I started this adventure and where I will be when 2010 is finished.
When I started walking on Sept 11 I hate to admit I was at 296lbs and a whopping 52 inch waist (or should that be waste). Today 263 and a 42 inch waist. I am hoping to get to 195 and a 32 inch waist in 2011.
The first seriously long walk I did was 7.5 miles and the thought scared me with the thought can I even walk that far (I could) and now I am looking at walks of 18 miles in May and a full 26.2 mile Walk A Thon in June. These don't scare me as we have walked 20K (a little less than 1/2 marathon) in a day on back to back days. So with some training I know I can do it.
Have signed up for something that does scare me a little a running event (sort of) called the Warrior Dash in September. It a 5K run with some insane obstacles to do en route. Two things about this that scare me are can I even run 5K (at least I got 9 months to train) and with my impaired balance how much harder will the obstacles be for me. Regardless I will get by them.
I have discovered how uncomfortable foot injuries can be, but have learned to keep pushing.
Went on a vacation to do some serious caching, weather ruined that plan so we hiked. 110K in 7 days.
I have discovered my wife is a much stronger person than I thought and give her a ton of credit for all her resolve to continue on her journey and keep inspiring me to do better.
Since that first walk-482,391 steps taken, 263.7 miles walked 39,021 calories burned. Total time walked in that period is over three days.
I know some people will go but you have wasted three days of your life, and those people will never get it (I know I was one of them). Yes I may have spent three days but how much time did I add to my life by doing this? My knees that always bothered me, seldom hurt. The reduced stress on the heart and other organs all help. Even if I stop here I have added to my life, only thing is I am not stopping.
I am not sure what size I was when my wife and I married almost 17 years ago, but I know it had to be at least 230, I want to get to a point I am smaller and healthier than she has ever known me.
Finally a sincere and honest thank you to those who inspire me. Some realize it, some don't..but to name a few Robin, Roxy, Anne, Gwyn (you got Warrior Dash in my wife's head), the folks at Dairyland Walkers and many more.
A equally important group that deserves the same thanks are those who spur me on with kind words to my post, some of who have been named above, but Donna, Steve, Mary, Deb, Val and Co Workers who have offered kind words. And of course family
THANK YOU ALL!! I can't do this alone, no man is an island. And I hope that if anybody reading this is inspired to take there first steps towards this type of life style change if you need help or somebody to offer support, even if you decide to try walking a 10K and you need somebody to carry your water, let me know. I intend to pay it forward
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Vibrams, Chicago AVA Walk and Dairyland Walkers Holiday Party
After taking a few days off from walking after our trip we went back to the gym on Thursday, hop on the tread mill for an hour and have it timed right that I can watch Jeopardy while walking. However this time I am trying something new on my feet, they are called Vibram's Five Fingers.
Vibrams are to your feet what a glove is to your hand, in one sense. They are a light weight shoe made of mesh material and in this case a 4 mm sole. And if you haven't guessed what makes them unique, they have separate pockets for each of your toes that can move separately and individually. And yes they are intended to be an athletic shoe.
Now I have worn them here and there and love the feel, its almost being barefoot, which I prefer. But this was the first test using them as they are intended. The first thing I noticed is I walk softer or lighter in them, it took me several minutes to quit slamming my feet down as I walked, which ultimately reduced knee stress. Additionally I suffer from turf toe, or hyper extending your toe upwards in both big toes. I always have my big toes hurt when I walk and have figured this was the price of getting fit, after an hour my big toes felt great. I did notice some increased stress to the outside edges of my feet and in the joints of my little toes and hope that is just because I need to become more accustomed to them. One other note, I have very high arches my wife is nearer to being flat footed, she has a pair also and loves the feel, however she has not yet put them to the test in the gym.
On Saturday my company has a yearly bus trip to Chicago for Holiday shopping. If you know me that really doesn't get me excited, last year my wife and I geocached. This year we checked to see if there were any AVA Walks in that area. We found two that started about 5 blocks away from where we were dropped off. The first walk basically went up Michigan Ave and back south and Dearborne with some walking around the LOOP and the neighborhoods north of Michigan Ave. The other went south towards the lake shore, the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. Both walks were 11K so there was no difference there, we went North simply because remember the weather, snowing cold and blustery, I didn't want to see how bad it would be along the lake shore.
Seems going North wasn't much better as the wind howled along Michigan but we were rewarded for our efforts when we got into a neighborhood full of old Brownstones that just felt very comfortable and homey. Did see one for sale sign but I was afraid to look at the price. Once we headed back south we stopped at the only store we did any holiday shopping, found a tea store and perused (and got warm) for a while, they sold some different types of teas that I had not seen before and I will have to check them out on the web. In the end I hate saying we did not enjoy this walk, but I think it was the conditions that made this difficult, cold, snowy and my wife had shoe related problems, it just seemed to take forever. Normally we complete a 10K in about 2 hours, this took us nearly three.
On Sunday we headed out to Madison for the Dairyland Walkers (the local AVA Club we belong to) Holiday party. So first off what do you suppose we do, a quick 5K. Nothing special about the walk or it was just we had more cold windy weather, but it felt good to get out again and walk in successive days. One very positive thing was warm cider when we got back, it helped.
One thing I have found with this club is that they are very supportive and very friendly, they want to share in your adventures and share there adventures with you. My biggest issue I had was forgetting how much I rely on my wife for my hearing in crowded room situations. Being hearing impaired can have its benefits but at times it sucks as it was hard for me to communicate properly
Since we have started walking we have now lost over 70 lbs, I worry over winter if I can keep it up. I had at one point wanted to get below 250 before a walk marathon I want to do in Stevens Point, I need to rethink that amount, I am now aiming for 235.
Congrats to one of our caching friends for completing a 5K run in under 40 minutes. If I can get my tired old knees to work maybe I will have to see if I can do it.
To date 468,679 steps for 255 miles walked since September. 37,590 calories burned
158 days to Syttende Mai, a 17 walk event in the Madison area and 179 days to the Steven's Point 26.2 mile walkathon. I intend to do both.
Links you might be interested in:
www.vibramfivefingers.com
www.ava.org/index.htm
www.dairylandwalkers.com
Wanna go for a walk?
Vibrams are to your feet what a glove is to your hand, in one sense. They are a light weight shoe made of mesh material and in this case a 4 mm sole. And if you haven't guessed what makes them unique, they have separate pockets for each of your toes that can move separately and individually. And yes they are intended to be an athletic shoe.
Now I have worn them here and there and love the feel, its almost being barefoot, which I prefer. But this was the first test using them as they are intended. The first thing I noticed is I walk softer or lighter in them, it took me several minutes to quit slamming my feet down as I walked, which ultimately reduced knee stress. Additionally I suffer from turf toe, or hyper extending your toe upwards in both big toes. I always have my big toes hurt when I walk and have figured this was the price of getting fit, after an hour my big toes felt great. I did notice some increased stress to the outside edges of my feet and in the joints of my little toes and hope that is just because I need to become more accustomed to them. One other note, I have very high arches my wife is nearer to being flat footed, she has a pair also and loves the feel, however she has not yet put them to the test in the gym.
On Saturday my company has a yearly bus trip to Chicago for Holiday shopping. If you know me that really doesn't get me excited, last year my wife and I geocached. This year we checked to see if there were any AVA Walks in that area. We found two that started about 5 blocks away from where we were dropped off. The first walk basically went up Michigan Ave and back south and Dearborne with some walking around the LOOP and the neighborhoods north of Michigan Ave. The other went south towards the lake shore, the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. Both walks were 11K so there was no difference there, we went North simply because remember the weather, snowing cold and blustery, I didn't want to see how bad it would be along the lake shore.
Seems going North wasn't much better as the wind howled along Michigan but we were rewarded for our efforts when we got into a neighborhood full of old Brownstones that just felt very comfortable and homey. Did see one for sale sign but I was afraid to look at the price. Once we headed back south we stopped at the only store we did any holiday shopping, found a tea store and perused (and got warm) for a while, they sold some different types of teas that I had not seen before and I will have to check them out on the web. In the end I hate saying we did not enjoy this walk, but I think it was the conditions that made this difficult, cold, snowy and my wife had shoe related problems, it just seemed to take forever. Normally we complete a 10K in about 2 hours, this took us nearly three.
On Sunday we headed out to Madison for the Dairyland Walkers (the local AVA Club we belong to) Holiday party. So first off what do you suppose we do, a quick 5K. Nothing special about the walk or it was just we had more cold windy weather, but it felt good to get out again and walk in successive days. One very positive thing was warm cider when we got back, it helped.
One thing I have found with this club is that they are very supportive and very friendly, they want to share in your adventures and share there adventures with you. My biggest issue I had was forgetting how much I rely on my wife for my hearing in crowded room situations. Being hearing impaired can have its benefits but at times it sucks as it was hard for me to communicate properly
Since we have started walking we have now lost over 70 lbs, I worry over winter if I can keep it up. I had at one point wanted to get below 250 before a walk marathon I want to do in Stevens Point, I need to rethink that amount, I am now aiming for 235.
Congrats to one of our caching friends for completing a 5K run in under 40 minutes. If I can get my tired old knees to work maybe I will have to see if I can do it.
To date 468,679 steps for 255 miles walked since September. 37,590 calories burned
158 days to Syttende Mai, a 17 walk event in the Madison area and 179 days to the Steven's Point 26.2 mile walkathon. I intend to do both.
Links you might be interested in:
www.vibramfivefingers.com
www.ava.org/index.htm
www.dairylandwalkers.com
Wanna go for a walk?
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Nevada, California, & Utah
Funny how life changes plans, this was supposed to be a trip to go out and attack a 1000 geocache power trail and dinner with a friend in LA. Plans will change, but since we made the original plan before even step one in this journey it would be fair to say we have changed.
We arrived in Las Vegas late Friday and had seen there was an organized walk in Henderson . 10K so what would 2 hours out of our day be. This was an organized club walk but we were slightly disappointed in the turn out. See it was us, the head of the Hawaiian AVA club and her husband plus the head of the Las Vegas Club (he had to leave after 5K). What was cool about this walk was how it took you thru the lobby, pool and casino of the Green Valley Ranch Casino. The other really cool thing was how the Hawaiian couple tried to provide us more knowledge about the AVA and its different walks and events, we hope to get a chance to walk with them again this summer as they will be in our area.
From there we set out geocaching and got the first 100 caches in the series before night fell, so we made the decision to head to Toponah for the night. The 100 mile drive should have bee no problem, but as we mad higher elevations we started getting snow. After a bit it started sticking and there was black ice. Our speeds went from 70 to 40 to finally 25. Along the way we saw a flipped SUV and even did 500 feet going sideways our self. Once in Toponah we found that they do not use salt or sand even very much and the some nearby areas were being closed. The snow finally tapered off about 10 Sunday morning, we stayed stuck there until 4 am the next morning.
We made it into Onatario CA and grabbed lunch and got to our hotel by noon and my wife suggested doing 2 nearby walks in Claremont, both 10K. Until this point we had never done more than 10K in one day. The first walk is a 4 terrain (5 being the highest) and it is called The Hills. The walk instructions indicate the 4 terrain is for a steep hill at the beginning, how bad can this be. The hill was over 2 miles long and rose 1200 feet, before leveling off and allowing 2 more miles on basically flat terrain until a 2 mile downhill descent to the parking lot. Along the way we saw several deer and a tarantula and the walk has some amazing views of the valleys below. In the past there is no way we would have made it up 1 mile of this hill, and yes we were huffing and puffing some, but not like we had done on some smaller hills we climbed while geocaching. We climbed Mount Baldy. The challenge and views make this an immediate favorite.
The second in Claremont came with a bit of bad news, our friend that we had planned to have dinner with contacted us to inform us he had to cancel due to a family emergency. The second walk in Claremont was in the college grounds and the general downtown of Claremont itself. This walk was a treat as the college area is really 4 or 5 schools that share parts of the same campus and each has its own flavor and it has a very nice downtown area of small shops that make you want to peak your head in for a look.
Tuesday bought us first to San Gabriel and then South Pasadena, both 10Ks . The San Gabriel walk lead us thru some of there neighborhoods, much with a mission style of architecture. The highlight of this walk was the San Gabriel Mission itself, a historic old church that has been used in Hollywood for several films including Father of the Bride, and a curious item we saw was a plant that is on the historic register of places. Grapevine Park features a grapevine that was planted in 1861 and is still growing today, the twisted trunk of the vine is bigger around than me.
The Pasedena walk took us thru part of the area that Route 66 is part of and along Arroyo Street. Last year when we went on vacation in LA we cached the park that is below this street, we had 20 finds over a 5 mile hike then and this time we stayed on the street above. This walk started up small blisters for both of us. The start point was a shoe store that sells Vibram Shoes. They are a unique pair of shoes as they have individual areas for each of your toes and have a thin but durable sole to them. Supposedly they make you feel bare foot and supposed to improve balance and posture. We both purchased a pair at home and will be finding our if the claims are true.
Wednesday left us heading for Redlands and Riverside. Redlands was a very nice walk as there are varied architecture from Mission to Victorian right next to another. Many homes had rose bushes growing or fruit trees, we saw grapefruits, limes, oranges and peaches. One part of the walk featured a city park that includes a orange orchard. But by the end we were hurting, our blisters had refilled and gotten bigger. Not wanting to stop after we completed we found a Walmart and stopped to do some blister maintenance.
Stubborn as we are we decided to try Riverside, but we opted out of the 10K and only did 5K. This walk featured a very large hotel called Mission Inn, it was at least two blocks in size and I think we arrived a few days to soon as they were hanging the holiday lights, I think this place would have looked even more amazing all lit up. If I can remember it this would be on my list of a place I would like to stay during a future visit.
Thursday bought us back to Vegas and two 11 K walks, basically Strip East and Strip West, From the Mandalay Bay area to Stratosphere and back going thru a variety of the hotels, liked the fact it went thru new places like Aria. Since we have had been to Vegas before we have done this walk previously, however this time cost us less as we didn't sit down at any location.
Friday we headed for Boulder City to do the Tunnels walk to Hoover Dam, this walk can be as long as 5, 11 or 13K, due to time issues we opted for the 5K. The entire hike we could see Lake Mead as we passed thru two tunnels that were created during the building of Hoover Dam. The 13K takes you thru 5 tunnels, over the Damn and into Arizona. There is a walk for the Grand Canyon that is on my to do list, I am adding this to that list, but I want to do the 13K next time.
Finally we drove to Ivins Utah to do a 10 K there, Ivins is North East of Saint George and this walk takes you into Snow Canyon State Park. This is a fabulously pretty park, lots of red rock all around you, many great views. My only complaint is the first half of this walk is downhill, making the second half a real pain. We really like the Saint George area and have considered moving to this area of the country, this hike may have caused my wife to fall deeper in love with the area.
In all 3 states, 113K and roughly 65 miles inn 7 days. I know I have a friend or two that could do this, but to those who look at this and say I'm nuts (thanks), remember it was a little more than 60 days ago I was on the couch and if I can do it anybody can.
We arrived in Las Vegas late Friday and had seen there was an organized walk in Henderson . 10K so what would 2 hours out of our day be. This was an organized club walk but we were slightly disappointed in the turn out. See it was us, the head of the Hawaiian AVA club and her husband plus the head of the Las Vegas Club (he had to leave after 5K). What was cool about this walk was how it took you thru the lobby, pool and casino of the Green Valley Ranch Casino. The other really cool thing was how the Hawaiian couple tried to provide us more knowledge about the AVA and its different walks and events, we hope to get a chance to walk with them again this summer as they will be in our area.
From there we set out geocaching and got the first 100 caches in the series before night fell, so we made the decision to head to Toponah for the night. The 100 mile drive should have bee no problem, but as we mad higher elevations we started getting snow. After a bit it started sticking and there was black ice. Our speeds went from 70 to 40 to finally 25. Along the way we saw a flipped SUV and even did 500 feet going sideways our self. Once in Toponah we found that they do not use salt or sand even very much and the some nearby areas were being closed. The snow finally tapered off about 10 Sunday morning, we stayed stuck there until 4 am the next morning.
We made it into Onatario CA and grabbed lunch and got to our hotel by noon and my wife suggested doing 2 nearby walks in Claremont, both 10K. Until this point we had never done more than 10K in one day. The first walk is a 4 terrain (5 being the highest) and it is called The Hills. The walk instructions indicate the 4 terrain is for a steep hill at the beginning, how bad can this be. The hill was over 2 miles long and rose 1200 feet, before leveling off and allowing 2 more miles on basically flat terrain until a 2 mile downhill descent to the parking lot. Along the way we saw several deer and a tarantula and the walk has some amazing views of the valleys below. In the past there is no way we would have made it up 1 mile of this hill, and yes we were huffing and puffing some, but not like we had done on some smaller hills we climbed while geocaching. We climbed Mount Baldy. The challenge and views make this an immediate favorite.
The second in Claremont came with a bit of bad news, our friend that we had planned to have dinner with contacted us to inform us he had to cancel due to a family emergency. The second walk in Claremont was in the college grounds and the general downtown of Claremont itself. This walk was a treat as the college area is really 4 or 5 schools that share parts of the same campus and each has its own flavor and it has a very nice downtown area of small shops that make you want to peak your head in for a look.
Tuesday bought us first to San Gabriel and then South Pasadena, both 10Ks . The San Gabriel walk lead us thru some of there neighborhoods, much with a mission style of architecture. The highlight of this walk was the San Gabriel Mission itself, a historic old church that has been used in Hollywood for several films including Father of the Bride, and a curious item we saw was a plant that is on the historic register of places. Grapevine Park features a grapevine that was planted in 1861 and is still growing today, the twisted trunk of the vine is bigger around than me.
The Pasedena walk took us thru part of the area that Route 66 is part of and along Arroyo Street. Last year when we went on vacation in LA we cached the park that is below this street, we had 20 finds over a 5 mile hike then and this time we stayed on the street above. This walk started up small blisters for both of us. The start point was a shoe store that sells Vibram Shoes. They are a unique pair of shoes as they have individual areas for each of your toes and have a thin but durable sole to them. Supposedly they make you feel bare foot and supposed to improve balance and posture. We both purchased a pair at home and will be finding our if the claims are true.
Wednesday left us heading for Redlands and Riverside. Redlands was a very nice walk as there are varied architecture from Mission to Victorian right next to another. Many homes had rose bushes growing or fruit trees, we saw grapefruits, limes, oranges and peaches. One part of the walk featured a city park that includes a orange orchard. But by the end we were hurting, our blisters had refilled and gotten bigger. Not wanting to stop after we completed we found a Walmart and stopped to do some blister maintenance.
Stubborn as we are we decided to try Riverside, but we opted out of the 10K and only did 5K. This walk featured a very large hotel called Mission Inn, it was at least two blocks in size and I think we arrived a few days to soon as they were hanging the holiday lights, I think this place would have looked even more amazing all lit up. If I can remember it this would be on my list of a place I would like to stay during a future visit.
Thursday bought us back to Vegas and two 11 K walks, basically Strip East and Strip West, From the Mandalay Bay area to Stratosphere and back going thru a variety of the hotels, liked the fact it went thru new places like Aria. Since we have had been to Vegas before we have done this walk previously, however this time cost us less as we didn't sit down at any location.
Friday we headed for Boulder City to do the Tunnels walk to Hoover Dam, this walk can be as long as 5, 11 or 13K, due to time issues we opted for the 5K. The entire hike we could see Lake Mead as we passed thru two tunnels that were created during the building of Hoover Dam. The 13K takes you thru 5 tunnels, over the Damn and into Arizona. There is a walk for the Grand Canyon that is on my to do list, I am adding this to that list, but I want to do the 13K next time.
Finally we drove to Ivins Utah to do a 10 K there, Ivins is North East of Saint George and this walk takes you into Snow Canyon State Park. This is a fabulously pretty park, lots of red rock all around you, many great views. My only complaint is the first half of this walk is downhill, making the second half a real pain. We really like the Saint George area and have considered moving to this area of the country, this hike may have caused my wife to fall deeper in love with the area.
In all 3 states, 113K and roughly 65 miles inn 7 days. I know I have a friend or two that could do this, but to those who look at this and say I'm nuts (thanks), remember it was a little more than 60 days ago I was on the couch and if I can do it anybody can.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Gearing up for my biggest walking attempt yet
We haven't been able to get out as much as we would like because things like life and weather have kept us busy. This last weekend we had hoped to do our first AVA walk outside of Wisconsin. We were up at my Father in Laws and were going to leave a little early to do a 10K in St Paul on Sunday.
If you missed it they had a major snowstorm on Saturday, so toss that plan. We drive right by Eau Claire and there is a AVA walk there, that goes on some non paved trails. As we near the city we can see everything is soaked. Strike two. Ok there's Madison and many AVA walks there, and pouring rain. Ok the Snap 24/7 will have to be the option for today.
One of the things we have done is started going thru our closets. Since my waist is down nearly 4 inches I don't want to have a wardrobe malfunction. I was amazed at the number of shirts and pants I grew out of that are now big on me. The nice thing is I saved enough that I can replace my now fat dress clothes with slimmer version that I can hopefully make a temporary stay in. I was at one point nearly a 52 inch waist, now at 44.5 and hoping to get to 34 or so. My wonderful wife of 16 years has never sen me under a 40 inch waist, I graduated some 27 years ago (yikes how did that happen) from high school and that was where I was at then. It would be nice to return to that size.
Over Thanksgiving we have some time off from work and plan on doing some geocaching. Presently we are at 3221 in finds and in the next 10 days we would like to be over 4000 finds and between Saturday the 20th and Saturday the 27th we are hoping to walk 50 miles. Yes I said 50,and before you ask is he nuts, be aware you should not need to ask you should know this answer already. So who thinks we can make both goals? Any bets
If you missed it they had a major snowstorm on Saturday, so toss that plan. We drive right by Eau Claire and there is a AVA walk there, that goes on some non paved trails. As we near the city we can see everything is soaked. Strike two. Ok there's Madison and many AVA walks there, and pouring rain. Ok the Snap 24/7 will have to be the option for today.
One of the things we have done is started going thru our closets. Since my waist is down nearly 4 inches I don't want to have a wardrobe malfunction. I was amazed at the number of shirts and pants I grew out of that are now big on me. The nice thing is I saved enough that I can replace my now fat dress clothes with slimmer version that I can hopefully make a temporary stay in. I was at one point nearly a 52 inch waist, now at 44.5 and hoping to get to 34 or so. My wonderful wife of 16 years has never sen me under a 40 inch waist, I graduated some 27 years ago (yikes how did that happen) from high school and that was where I was at then. It would be nice to return to that size.
Over Thanksgiving we have some time off from work and plan on doing some geocaching. Presently we are at 3221 in finds and in the next 10 days we would like to be over 4000 finds and between Saturday the 20th and Saturday the 27th we are hoping to walk 50 miles. Yes I said 50,and before you ask is he nuts, be aware you should not need to ask you should know this answer already. So who thinks we can make both goals? Any bets
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Back from Injury
Last Sunday I blew up a blister on the back of my heal and I knew that would slow me down. How much I didn't know but at least some.
Monday came and it was apparent that wearing my wingtip shoes to work, simply to tight on the raw skin of my heel, even with a bandage. So I switched to more of a Dockers style of shoe. It only hurt 50% of the time, whenever I took a step with my good foot it didn't hurt. And of course several people are telling me I should go to the doctor, including my wife who has become my home health care practitioner, pouring hydrogen peroxide here and applying liquid bandage there. Needless to say no walking.
Tuesday I wake up to a developing cankle, ok I have had this before and I know this isn't good and of course being male I convince myself that I am invincible and there is nothing wrong with it. But that night my wife makes comments about the lovely colors its turning and she finally gets thru to me and I make a doctor appointment on Wednesday.
Now my doctor is a really good guy who has tried over the years to get me to change bad habits, but I don't make it easy on him. When I quit smoking he suggested a cholesterol test, now I didn't fast like your supposed to and a few weeks later he is calling me with the results, cursing. I am lower than him and he is a avid runner. My blood sugar level is very low and I have an above average resting heart rate. In fact he has declared me one of the healthiest big guys he has met.
So he sees me and first looks at the chart and comments about my weight and blood pressure looking much better, and then asks me if the reason I was there was to see him for an injury due to me trying to get healthy. When I said yes the poor doc nearly fell out of the chair.
The good news was he didn't think it was infected , but could not rule it out. So I get to go on antibiotics. Better news is he gives me a few tips to help prevent the blistering in the future, and tells me I can start walking again once it scabs over well.
Friday morning I new it was scabbed over, so I was good to go. Saturday my wife helps me put a piece of gauze to the injury and applies duct tape to it. It hurts a little but nothing I can't take and nothing causing reblistering. We head to Janesville to take a city streets walk there, with the exception of about 1 mile when we are on a paved portion of the Ice Age Trail, they even have a sign on the trail showing 776 miles to Interstate Park (the drive seems less than that). This is a nice easy walk with just one hill and it felt great to be out walking again, and a 10K none the less.
Sunday we were back at it, this time for the Jingle Bell run/walk and the Milwaukee County Zoo. This was only a 5K but it was with a group that my wife's employee sponsored, so I knew one or two others on the trail. The best part of this walk was when we passed the Brown Bear exhibit two bears were playing. Or at least I hope it was playing, if not they were having a fight. But it was fun to stop a moment and watch.
It felt good to be back out walking, and after a week off I was worried about my weight but when we weighed in on Saturday and did measurements I was happy, nice losses in both areas.
This weekend over 20K steps for a total of 287712 steps since starting and 158 miles walked. I have reached a point where I can see a change in myself, not mentally either, the body is starting to change in a positive way. Exercise and better eating is starting to pay off.
Monday came and it was apparent that wearing my wingtip shoes to work, simply to tight on the raw skin of my heel, even with a bandage. So I switched to more of a Dockers style of shoe. It only hurt 50% of the time, whenever I took a step with my good foot it didn't hurt. And of course several people are telling me I should go to the doctor, including my wife who has become my home health care practitioner, pouring hydrogen peroxide here and applying liquid bandage there. Needless to say no walking.
Tuesday I wake up to a developing cankle, ok I have had this before and I know this isn't good and of course being male I convince myself that I am invincible and there is nothing wrong with it. But that night my wife makes comments about the lovely colors its turning and she finally gets thru to me and I make a doctor appointment on Wednesday.
Now my doctor is a really good guy who has tried over the years to get me to change bad habits, but I don't make it easy on him. When I quit smoking he suggested a cholesterol test, now I didn't fast like your supposed to and a few weeks later he is calling me with the results, cursing. I am lower than him and he is a avid runner. My blood sugar level is very low and I have an above average resting heart rate. In fact he has declared me one of the healthiest big guys he has met.
So he sees me and first looks at the chart and comments about my weight and blood pressure looking much better, and then asks me if the reason I was there was to see him for an injury due to me trying to get healthy. When I said yes the poor doc nearly fell out of the chair.
The good news was he didn't think it was infected , but could not rule it out. So I get to go on antibiotics. Better news is he gives me a few tips to help prevent the blistering in the future, and tells me I can start walking again once it scabs over well.
Friday morning I new it was scabbed over, so I was good to go. Saturday my wife helps me put a piece of gauze to the injury and applies duct tape to it. It hurts a little but nothing I can't take and nothing causing reblistering. We head to Janesville to take a city streets walk there, with the exception of about 1 mile when we are on a paved portion of the Ice Age Trail, they even have a sign on the trail showing 776 miles to Interstate Park (the drive seems less than that). This is a nice easy walk with just one hill and it felt great to be out walking again, and a 10K none the less.
Sunday we were back at it, this time for the Jingle Bell run/walk and the Milwaukee County Zoo. This was only a 5K but it was with a group that my wife's employee sponsored, so I knew one or two others on the trail. The best part of this walk was when we passed the Brown Bear exhibit two bears were playing. Or at least I hope it was playing, if not they were having a fight. But it was fun to stop a moment and watch.
It felt good to be back out walking, and after a week off I was worried about my weight but when we weighed in on Saturday and did measurements I was happy, nice losses in both areas.
This weekend over 20K steps for a total of 287712 steps since starting and 158 miles walked. I have reached a point where I can see a change in myself, not mentally either, the body is starting to change in a positive way. Exercise and better eating is starting to pay off.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
La Crosse, Madison, Caching, Team B& B, oh and a milestone
Busy weekend. On Friday about 2:30 my wife made a off handed comment about going up to a B&B in LaValle , WI a day early. We were planning in getting together with several other caching friends, a partially dangerous group since I am the only male and they can be rather spirited, on Saturday but I had a crummy day at work and I suggested she call. They had a room so we went up a day early.
So on Friday night we stayed up much later than what we normally do as we had some wine and chatted with friends, some new one and some we have known for quite a while longer. They were good for some attitude adjustment and had made my day much better.
Saturday we were up early and headed for La Crosse to do the AVA 11K walk. Get to the start location and ask the young lady working there for the AVA box and she has no clue, great, but her co worker did. We have been in La Crosse a bit in the past both caching and for family stuff (my father in law grew up in La Crosse), but I had never been thru this part of the city before. At about the 3K mark we went off the streets and onto a path that headed us towards the bluff, I started getting a familiar twinge in my heel, a blister starting. One of the coolest things on this walk was on the trail they had young adults (Students at UW LaCrosse I think) passing out candy to Trick or Treaters. Saw plenty of little kids enjoying the candy. The walk would eventually take us thru the UWL campus and past some of the historical homes in La Crosse. Ended our trip by getting our first awards fro caching, a beer stein shaped pin.
From there we headed back to Mauston to do 29 caches with our caching friends. It took us about 3 hours to do them all. Six sets of eyes made this a pretty easier and fun trip. We then headed back to the B&B for more wine, chat, laughs (being the only man I was getting a fair share of teasing) and some really good food, Chicken Enchilada Casserole and Chili, both very good.
Sunday morning took us to Madison to do a second AVA walk, this time around the state capital and the UW Madison Campus. This one a 10K and I had thought I prepared from the blister I got in La Crosse and covered the blister well with duct tape, but before we even get 1K in I know something in wrong. Find a bench pull the shoe and sock off and readjust the tape and it seems to fell better, not. This walk drove us a little nuts for awhile as it was go one block and turn right and then go one block and turn left as we covered the entire area around the capital and got a view of Lake Monona also. Finally we start going several blocks at a time and head toward Lake Mendota. We weave all thru the UW Madison Campus (and feeling slightly old with a bunch of 20 somethings everywhere) even watched somebody driving on the pedestrian walk ways near Bascom Hall (for those who don't know there is no vehicle traffic in this area). We found Madison to be a very walking friendly city and as we headed back at the capital we were getting very hungry as we past many restaurants of many different ethnicities. One good smell after another.
Get back to the car and I want to put my Crocs on, get the shoes and socks off and get to time to pull the tape off. I dont look at the foot but I can tell by the look on the wife's fact that this wasnt going to be a good conclusion. I ripped about a quarter sized piece of skin off the blister, which is larger than a 50 cent piece. Since it is the dentist tomorrow I dont have to worry about it but I would like to get to the gym on Tuesday and right now I am thinking that wont happen.
Cant complain 21K done over the weekend, some caching and some good friends. Hope to have more weekends like that.
Now over 250K step walked for almost 150 miles, oh and that milestone. I have not been under 275 in at least 5 years and maybe as much as 15 years. I will not be there again, Friday the scale rewarded my efforts with 274.8. It maybe only two tenths of a pound under but it is under, now onward to getting under 250. And working on blister maintence
So on Friday night we stayed up much later than what we normally do as we had some wine and chatted with friends, some new one and some we have known for quite a while longer. They were good for some attitude adjustment and had made my day much better.
Saturday we were up early and headed for La Crosse to do the AVA 11K walk. Get to the start location and ask the young lady working there for the AVA box and she has no clue, great, but her co worker did. We have been in La Crosse a bit in the past both caching and for family stuff (my father in law grew up in La Crosse), but I had never been thru this part of the city before. At about the 3K mark we went off the streets and onto a path that headed us towards the bluff, I started getting a familiar twinge in my heel, a blister starting. One of the coolest things on this walk was on the trail they had young adults (Students at UW LaCrosse I think) passing out candy to Trick or Treaters. Saw plenty of little kids enjoying the candy. The walk would eventually take us thru the UWL campus and past some of the historical homes in La Crosse. Ended our trip by getting our first awards fro caching, a beer stein shaped pin.
From there we headed back to Mauston to do 29 caches with our caching friends. It took us about 3 hours to do them all. Six sets of eyes made this a pretty easier and fun trip. We then headed back to the B&B for more wine, chat, laughs (being the only man I was getting a fair share of teasing) and some really good food, Chicken Enchilada Casserole and Chili, both very good.
Sunday morning took us to Madison to do a second AVA walk, this time around the state capital and the UW Madison Campus. This one a 10K and I had thought I prepared from the blister I got in La Crosse and covered the blister well with duct tape, but before we even get 1K in I know something in wrong. Find a bench pull the shoe and sock off and readjust the tape and it seems to fell better, not. This walk drove us a little nuts for awhile as it was go one block and turn right and then go one block and turn left as we covered the entire area around the capital and got a view of Lake Monona also. Finally we start going several blocks at a time and head toward Lake Mendota. We weave all thru the UW Madison Campus (and feeling slightly old with a bunch of 20 somethings everywhere) even watched somebody driving on the pedestrian walk ways near Bascom Hall (for those who don't know there is no vehicle traffic in this area). We found Madison to be a very walking friendly city and as we headed back at the capital we were getting very hungry as we past many restaurants of many different ethnicities. One good smell after another.
Get back to the car and I want to put my Crocs on, get the shoes and socks off and get to time to pull the tape off. I dont look at the foot but I can tell by the look on the wife's fact that this wasnt going to be a good conclusion. I ripped about a quarter sized piece of skin off the blister, which is larger than a 50 cent piece. Since it is the dentist tomorrow I dont have to worry about it but I would like to get to the gym on Tuesday and right now I am thinking that wont happen.
Cant complain 21K done over the weekend, some caching and some good friends. Hope to have more weekends like that.
Now over 250K step walked for almost 150 miles, oh and that milestone. I have not been under 275 in at least 5 years and maybe as much as 15 years. I will not be there again, Friday the scale rewarded my efforts with 274.8. It maybe only two tenths of a pound under but it is under, now onward to getting under 250. And working on blister maintence
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Little Victories
I had hoped to see a milestone weight drop bye but it has not proven to be a good time to have this occur. On Saturday my one sister in law who lives 5 plus hours away had been in town for a job interview and staying with her boyfriend, my other sister in law lives somewhat local, but we didn't have any plans. When my wife sees a posting on Face Book that her cousin from Virginia is in town, next thing you know we are going out for lunch with family. It was a nice visit. But suddenly plans for walking were shot and neither of us felt like going to the gym.
Sunday was more crappy weather so we ran some errands. With all my jeans in the laundry I grabbed a pair from the I used to fit in these stack. I'm hoping that I can just button them and if nothing else I can change later, not quite they way it worked, needed a belt.
Stop at Wally World for some fitness gear and my wife grabs two pair of compression shorts to go try on, one her present size and one of one size smaller. By the smile on her face I can tell it is one pair that she fits into on one pair of her now to big for her size. A pair of nice small victories for us.
Hit the gym and did an hour on the treadmill for both of us and went home to catch up on the DVR. Some how we are watching less TV but there is more stuff on it, we never seem caught up.
Monday the wife went on a trip to buy wine for our get together with Geocaching Team B & B and after being on a 500 calorie per day diet for awhile her little samples of wine had her feeling good.
Tuesday bought the wind and rain, so it was back to the gym for another hour for both of us on the treadmill. The wife was humored by the guy next to her who appeared to be in better shape than either of us, but struggling to keep it at a pace we consider slow. Have we started to change?
Want to get to the gym on Wednesday because I won't on Thursday since I have an appointment with Drs. Drill & Phil
Hoepfully this weekend we can get two 10K walks in and also try one of the WhereIgo caches in Madison
230629 steps and counting
Sunday was more crappy weather so we ran some errands. With all my jeans in the laundry I grabbed a pair from the I used to fit in these stack. I'm hoping that I can just button them and if nothing else I can change later, not quite they way it worked, needed a belt.
Stop at Wally World for some fitness gear and my wife grabs two pair of compression shorts to go try on, one her present size and one of one size smaller. By the smile on her face I can tell it is one pair that she fits into on one pair of her now to big for her size. A pair of nice small victories for us.
Hit the gym and did an hour on the treadmill for both of us and went home to catch up on the DVR. Some how we are watching less TV but there is more stuff on it, we never seem caught up.
Monday the wife went on a trip to buy wine for our get together with Geocaching Team B & B and after being on a 500 calorie per day diet for awhile her little samples of wine had her feeling good.
Tuesday bought the wind and rain, so it was back to the gym for another hour for both of us on the treadmill. The wife was humored by the guy next to her who appeared to be in better shape than either of us, but struggling to keep it at a pace we consider slow. Have we started to change?
Want to get to the gym on Wednesday because I won't on Thursday since I have an appointment with Drs. Drill & Phil
Hoepfully this weekend we can get two 10K walks in and also try one of the WhereIgo caches in Madison
230629 steps and counting
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