Walk it off boss, just walk it off.
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 -
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Phone and Endomondo?
Nice summary. I can get weekly summaries from my FitBit but haven't seen a monthly option.0 -
Yep. Can get daily, weekly, month or even year I think.0
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Gone are the big heavy, clunky winter boots. Just simple runners now.
That's a good thing.0 -
I was going to say, you could always add some ankle weights with your runners... but since its a good thing...
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I have ankle weights, and considered using them many times. Maybe.
The boots were big and clunky, making walking more cumbersome. I have always been more comfortable in boots than runners, but motorcycle boots. Not great for long distance walking. Runnings, though better than winter boots, are not super comfortable for me. But, I am sure that will pass soon enough.
Trying real hard to avoid the slippery slope of old ways.
I have been waking up 5-10 minutes before my alarm for the last couple weeks and just laid there until it went off. Last few days I have hit snooze and laid back in bed. Not tired, just not wanting to get up. Not good.
Had to drive today, could not avoid it. I gear up and open my door to pouring rain. 45 minute walk in heavy rain? No thanks. Just need to make sure today is the exception to the rule.0 -
I'm an ex-runner (injuries) and love walking. I miss the speed of running but walking allows me to notice my environment more which I like.0
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I agree on noticing the environment more. Sometimes too much. Urban environment, walking through what is typically known as a less than ideal area. Wish I did not see some of the *kitten* I see. Especially with warmer weather. Fresh smells of months old trash erupting from it's melting snow mounds where it had remained hidden.
Would prefer if my commute was through a less than urban jungle
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Seems pain likes me.
Shin splint has mostly vanished, but new pain arises.
On Wednesday I developed a hole in my sock at some point. On my walk home it created a ridge between my foot and shoe and gave me a large blister. Hurts like hell. Ignoring and walking anyway.
Last year I walked a lot for a couple of months and developed an ingrown toenail. Discovered it was due to my footwear being too tight. Hurt like hell. This winter I wore large boots with ample room, so no issues. Winter is over and I got new shoes that were a 1/2 size larger giving my feet more room. All good.
However, my office shoes have been feeling very tight the last month or so. Had these shoes for a couple of years. Never had an issue with them before I started walking to work everyday, now I do. I do not do a whole lot of walking around the office, so I would think it would not be an issue. And yet, it is. The last few days they felt even tighter and now I got the damn swollen toe! Hurts like hell. Ignoring and walking anyway.
Are my feet swelling or something?
May seem like I am an idiot for continuing to walk daly, despite the issues but I know from experience that if I take just a few days off it will rapidly slide into several days, then week, months...trust me I know.
In other news, I added a step counter app to my phone. Curious to see how many steps I take. 5,300 steps on my morning commute.0 -
Wish I knew the answers to your question. I've never had to wear "office" shoes.
Back in the day, I only wore cowboy boots. Had to give them up due to bone spurs on great toe (old injury during misspent youth). Went to hiking shoes. They were fine in the laboratory, but didn't have the muscle to last on this mowing job. Lot of the guys just buy cheap tennis shoes every month. I went with high-top steel-toe Red Wings. Took a couple of months to break them in (or for them to break in my feet), but now they are all I wear. With new soles every year, I figure they're good for three years.0
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