To those that walk to burn

Redribbon73

Where do you walk? Do you plan a route where you will go? I do alot of cardio at home watching youtube videos but do often like to go for a walk but it is never anywhere far from home just within the area. I wouldn't know where to go if I wanted to walk further. I mean where dead ends are, where the dangerous quiet roads might be etc

EllaIsNotEnchanted

sounds like you need to do some google searching and find some great hiking areas nearby to you.

Also meetup.com can also assist with hiking groups.

DecemberPsalm

I mainly walk at the moment. I actually walk to the stores a lot, since it gives me a purpose and makes it less of an aimless walk - for example, I just discovered that I love the route that takes me to Target is 2 miles away and pretty scenic. I've been walking there, picking up a few things I need that fills up my backpack, and then the walk home has a lot of added weight, giving me a better burn. It works for me

Amwhite1986

I walk around my subdivision type area, guess that's the only word for it. There are walking trails in the woods around the area but there's been a lot of bears this year. Walking the main roads I can get about 3.5 miles before I have to start over lapping my route.

If there's too many bugs or bear sightings, I'll drive downtown and park at our Walmart, and walk the main road through the downtown. It's usually 5-6 miles.

So basically, I stick to the main roads where there's always traffic and people around. lol

Edited to add: The downtown route keeps me motivated as there's a Tim Horton's. I'll walk further if there's an iced capp at the end.

bwogilvie

I live in the country, so I walk (and run, when my knee lets me) up to 3-4 miles from home. When I bike, it's up to 60 miles away and then back.

Why don't you use Google Maps or Bing Maps to look at your neighborhood? You can use a site like RideWithGPS.com (works fine for walking, too) or MapMyWalk.com to plan walks. Use the satellite view to see which roads have a lot of traffic without sidewalks/pavements, and where the dead ends are.

jeneveg

I'm lucky enough to have a country park 2 mins from my house, I have a 6 mile undulating circuit which passes a Tesco so I tend to go do this on Sunday mornings, detour for groceries and then struggle up the hill home with my bags.

jennyblacker

I'm training for a walking half marathon, and I LOVE mapmywalk.com

I'm discovering areas around where I live (mostly by using it to auto create routes for me), and they have phone apps that use your GPS to track you/your timings as well as showing the route

mary659497

Currently I am only walking for exercise. During the week I walk in downtown Chicago where I work. When I am home I walk around my neighborhood. I try to walk an hour a day. Today I walked 8 miles. I have lost 12.4 pounds in 64 days.

pipertargaryen

I don't drive (ridiculous at age 25, I know), so I walk out of necessity. We have two parks with tracks where I live, plus some nice trails - I can get in 10-15km an outing exploring those.

But if you don't have that kind of luxury - walk to work! Walk to the grocery store! I'm 3km from the grocery store, and because I only buy what I can carry home (so say one bag of things), I wind up doing my grocery shopping 6 times a week :P I swear the security guard thinks I'm casing the joint to rob it, I'm there so often! 3km there, 3km uphill home, a solid 400 calories down. I'm also 3km to work, 3km uphill home. I'm 6km from walmart. You get the picture. Walk your errands out, it adds up quickly. I use MapMyWalk to track everything.

Edit: basically, yes, what she said haha

I mainly walk at the moment. I actually walk to the stores a lot, since it gives me a purpose and makes it less of an aimless walk - for example, I just discovered that I love the route that takes me to Target is 2 miles away and pretty scenic. I've been walking there, picking up a few things I need that fills up my backpack, and then the walk home has a lot of added weight, giving me a better burn. It works for me

I should also note my only exercise until I'd lost my first 20lbs was Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds at home, which worked a treat. And then I built up to walking the route I mentioned above, at about 12.5 minutes per km. Now, I walk/run hybrid these routes for either 10.5min/km or 9min/km times, and am doing Couch to 5K. It's amazing what just starting to move a little with an easy walk to bring you to. A lot of people knock walking and say it's not a workout, but I will absolutely disagree with them.

AutumnElf80

You could also google your local running/hiking clubs and see where they suggest. Or most malls have early morning walking clubs.

toadg53

I walk with my dog for an hour & a half every day. We have a wonderful walking trail system that goes very close by my house, so I walk that. I could walk 50 miles away on the walking trail if I wanted to. It's a paved walking trail system, well maintained, winter and summer. We're very lucky. I've met up with all kinds of wildlife, but I just give them a wide berth and it's fine. When it gets too cold and icy in the winter, I then walk in our school.

jltheis7

Goggle www.meetups.com to see if there are walking groups in your area. It's a free site that groups register on and you can join whatever group fits your interests.

xenu01

I have been using a combination of google maps on satellite mode and gmap-pedometer with some success for the better part of 5 years. I do also second the recommendation of google searches to see if anyone is keeping a blog of nice walks in your area, etc.

For example, I just googled "chicago area nice walks" (I don't live there) and this was the second result:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-06-04/travel/chi-brotman-090704-trailsday-story_1_indiana-dunes-state-park-national-trails-day-parking-lot

shortyblueyes

I walk in my immediate neighborhood, which is a subdivision. There are many short streets to walk, nice sidewalks, and streetlights. It's an exercise-friendly neighborhood. I am going to try and go farther, faster, to make it more effective.