Walk it off boss, just walk it off.
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PlunderingSteelGorilla
Posts: 207 Member
Like it or not I need to make some significant life changes. Not for health reasons, but it will benefit my health, physical and mental, I am sure. Environmental benefit too, but it ain't about that.
Monday February 15, 2016 I will give up both my vehicles almost entirely. Instead of hopping in my van and driving like a drone to and from work each day I will park the van and walk my fat *kitten* the 4.5km each way. A number that sounds so tiny that it is humorous. But it is anything but easy. Yet. So I am going to need to walk a minimum of 9km a day 7 days a week.
Could be 40 below 0 and I will still walk. Warm, wet, dirty and sludgy. Yep, still walking. I look like a Sasquatch when I get in, but that's all right. I am good with cold weather. Good with warm weather. Wet weather will probably make me want to change mind. But that is a long way away.
Good exercise and a great way to collect my thoughts and listen to lots of great new music (or some new business podcasts). Come warmer weather the walking will be replaced with cycling.
Will try and drive once a month or less for as long as I can. Less money. More music. Better health. Seems like a winning situation. Not a "New Years Resolution", just a means to an end.
In January I walked 103km. All GPS tracked outside. Pretty decent number for winter walking. 21 Hours, 10 minutes of walking in 31 days. Burned 13,255 calories (roughly) and lost 10 pounds.
In a couple weeks I will go from walking weekends to walking daily. The distance will get greater. The wallet will get fatter. The weight will get lower.
Above all, the music man! 90 minutes a day of uninterrupted music. That is my biggest benefit.
Monday February 15, 2016 I will give up both my vehicles almost entirely. Instead of hopping in my van and driving like a drone to and from work each day I will park the van and walk my fat *kitten* the 4.5km each way. A number that sounds so tiny that it is humorous. But it is anything but easy. Yet. So I am going to need to walk a minimum of 9km a day 7 days a week.
Could be 40 below 0 and I will still walk. Warm, wet, dirty and sludgy. Yep, still walking. I look like a Sasquatch when I get in, but that's all right. I am good with cold weather. Good with warm weather. Wet weather will probably make me want to change mind. But that is a long way away.
Good exercise and a great way to collect my thoughts and listen to lots of great new music (or some new business podcasts). Come warmer weather the walking will be replaced with cycling.
Will try and drive once a month or less for as long as I can. Less money. More music. Better health. Seems like a winning situation. Not a "New Years Resolution", just a means to an end.
In January I walked 103km. All GPS tracked outside. Pretty decent number for winter walking. 21 Hours, 10 minutes of walking in 31 days. Burned 13,255 calories (roughly) and lost 10 pounds.
In a couple weeks I will go from walking weekends to walking daily. The distance will get greater. The wallet will get fatter. The weight will get lower.
Above all, the music man! 90 minutes a day of uninterrupted music. That is my biggest benefit.
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Nice! I wish I lived close enough to work to walk or even bike it.
I do a lot of walking on the job as a commercial mower, but its seasonal. And now its the slow season. Currently I'm rebuilding two of our mower engines down in my basement and will start a third by end of this week so, while I'm saving gas money, the only walking I'm getting (outside of my treadmill) is up and down a flight of steps. I bought a FitBit Charge HR as a late x-mas present to myself and I'm curious to see what my activity gears up to when grass starts growing again in about six to eight weeks.
You mentioned tracking your walks by GPS. What device are you using?0 -
I use my phone and Endomondo to track where I walk/ride. Anything more than a couple blocks I will fire up the app and track it.0
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I'm not so set on tracking where I walk, as the GPS use to eat up my iphone's battery. Not tried it with my new 6s but, again, I'm more concerned with how far rather than mapping where.0
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I started using it a few years back for the specific reason of mapping. My oldest son and I go on very long, very random bike rides. I find it interesting to check the map afterwards and see just where we went, the distance travelled etc. Statistical junkie.
The calories burned etc. were/are all just extra fluff data. Data I have come to enjoy. When I walk, I turn on the voice coach for it and it mutes my music ever KM to tell me how fast I am going per KM. Kind of interesting to "inspire" me to move faster and beat previous KM times.
The battery on my Galaxy S3 was absolute crap. Had to charge the phone 2-3 times a day. I always made sure to charge it before using the app. I had looked at Fitbits as a replacement to the phone to feed my data junkie habit, but it is just another thing I need to buy/wear/use/take care of.
Got a new Moto X Play the other week and it has an epic battery. Last weekend I did 90 minutes of GPS tracking, 90 minutes of streaming music, 45 minutes of streaming video, couple hours of Kindle reading and couple hours of various phone use and it barely made it down to 50%.
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I'll admit to also being a data junkie, as my updates on the "Making Exercise a Habit" thread will attest.
I finally pulled the trigger on buying my FitBit Charge HR four weeks ago and, while I really like it, I'm now wishing I had know more about a water-proofed version of the Charge HR. $100 more than the original and you lose the barometer so it can't monitor stairs (no big lose IMO as any weather front goes by and I get credit for 75+ floors I didn't climbed), but it is good to down to 210 foot. Fresh water, chlorinated water, salt water, sweat... its all good.
[sigh] And I purchased a two year extended warranty on mine.
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Good luck on your upcoming change of lifestyle walking. If the 9k per day is too daunting an alternative would be to drive one way. Drive in on Monday and walk home, walk in on Tuesday and drive home, drive in on Wednesday and walk home, etc.0
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I look forward to the walking actually. Driving is WAY more convenient though. Trick is to convince myself that that perceived convenience is not worth it.
And to convince the family too, since I am the only driver, we all lose the vehicle. So walking/bussing to get groceries will be a big change for everyone.0 -
And I just realized I cannot give it up 100%. Wife needs to be at work for 7am on Sundays. No buses run early enough to be on time, too far for her to walk and too much snow to cycle.
And I have a couple important meetings I cannot walk to.
So, for a couple months I need to keep it and drive once or twice a week.
Not my ideal plan, but as close as I can get.
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No worries @PlunderingSteelGorilla. Flexibility is important to any battle plan.
The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.
Samuel Smiles0 -
Well said.0
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Day 1 of walking to work 7 days a week (up from 2 days a week).
This mornings walk was too warm. Weather said -17 with a "real feel" of -27. *kitten*. I over dressed and regretted it. Was sweating when I strolled into work and that is not what I want.
Tomorrow I will leave the sweater at home. I would rather be a little colder than get to work drenched in sweat. Though, in hindsight, I am a dumbass for not stopping halfway and just taking off the damn sweater.0 -
@PlunderingSteelGorilla, How did Day 2 go?0
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Need to make an effort to walk slower in the morning, but that is just not me. I don't stroll I walk with a smile on my face and a demon inside. Good for exercise, but not so much as a commuting style.
New pains arise each day since last Saturday, different locations. No idea why, but not concerned. They fade as I go, or the music makes me forget.
On the "plus" side, much of the money I will save has already been spent on motorcycle parts. So no going back now or the will kill me. Motivation.0 -
You never mentioned what the reasons were tho. you said not health reasons or environmental reasons, tho both are a benefit. im guessing it is for financial reasons.0
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Several reasons/benefits, in no specific order.
Money (Yup). Bad business decisions last year, coupled with a couple of unexpected debts. Means cash is tight. Money I will save by walking, will make life easier.
Stress. I find I get stressed out even on my short commutes. Too many pathetic drivers and too many close calls. The shear number of drivers who have no clue what lane they are in is staggering. Signal lights, turn signals and the basic knowledge that driving into oncoming traffic is not ideal, is lost on many here. Less driving, I hope leads to less stress.
Music. Seems odd to list this as a benefit, but it is. I love music and spent much of my younger years listening to it constantly. Always looking to hear something new. Last few years I rarely have much time to listen to anything other than radio (I dislike radio). I have had a subscription to eMusic for 9 years and have not had time to listen to even 1/3 of all the music I download (40 tracks a month). Now, I get 90 minutes a day of music all to myself. A very good thing! And eMusic finally has a decent (not great) Android app, so I can skip the computer and get it right on my phone.
Health. Can't deny that there should be some very good health benefits to walking 65 km a week.
Change. I needed a change, and this feels like a big positive one in my life. I think...0 -
Shin splints make walking less than enjoyable for the last 2.5 days. Worse in the evening than in the morning, but sore regardless.
Not walking tomorrow as I booked the day off for my daughters bday party. A day of "rest" will do me good.0 -
Too much, too soon. Been there, done that.
Maybe try walking to work no more than every other day for a week or two.0 -
If the pain gets bad enough, I will switch it up. Has not hurt enough to do much more than slow me slightly.
When I sit down for 10 minutes or so after my commute, pain is 100% gone until the next day. Even if I walk around casually in the evening, no pain.0 -
Last couple walks were rough.
Saturday afternoon it was freezing rain, so made everything slippery.
Early this morning it snowed, covering all ice from weekend rains, make it VERY slippery and tough to walk since you cannot see the ice patches to avoid.
Leg was a little sore this morning, but nothing to terrible.0 -
By end of day Monday I will have walked 148 km in February, burning around 18,000 calories.
Leg pain persists but not a major issue. Shows up after about 15 minutes, but very minor. Getting better each day.
Not 100% certain I will walk all of March as the weather is so unpredictable. We may have a very early Spring, so cycling may take over. However, I enjoy the walk, and it is better exercise (at least at this distance). We shall see.0
