Another Stroll

This time for an hour and 40 minutes, and I used it to test my new white shorts for my marathon as Johnny Hayes next week. They worked fine except the pockets, designed to easily accomodate tennis balls, tend to sit open a bit most of the time, as a result, my arm swing tends to make my thumbs catch occasionally on the pockets. I'll need to pin them shut to avoid this problem.
The other uniform item that I'm unhappy with is my Mizuno Itaden shoes. They're a great shoe for walking, but their bright orange color will be a poor match with the rest of the outfit. I'm thinking about picking up a pair of Adidas Sambas, a fairly inexpensive black soccer flat, to complete the look.

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday, my son and I went to one of the local parks to wish "Happy Birthday" to Dixie, who turned 91 yesterday. Dixie has cut back his mileage, now walking just 4-6 miles, six days a week, and he says that it's more often closer to the four, still, that's 24 miles a week from a 91 year-old. I think he got a kick out of seeing my son, who is about to turn ten, thus now more than a tenth of Dixie's age.
Also, today, I turned 49.

Walk To School?

An article in today's New York Times advocates walking to school. It looks at the changing balance of walking vs. car transport vs. bus. I advocate it, but point out that school design criteria play a role in driving down rates of walking by encouraging large schools rather than smaller neighborhood schools.

Does Yesterday Count?

I did some upper body work yesterday, but I had no soreness afterwards. I did not do either walking or running. I left the gym figuring to count my workout towards the 45 in 50, but now I'm having doubts. Without soreness, I'm not sure I went hard enough.

My legs and feet felt better today. I did a half-hour walk on the mill. It listed as 2.4 miles. Slow for the condition I was in a year ago, but it seems to be just about my limit for a hard, sustainable effort.

This morning, I was at the gym at the time I used to usually be in. I got the "WHERE have you been?" from Josh and Dan. I had to confess my badness. I joked to Josh, "I've been working out outside," giving the wink that told him that I was doing my best Jon Lovitz playing Tommy Flinagin (How do you spell that?). I know that showing up there again with a large time gap will get me ridden hard. Those guys will keep me honest.

I'll likely be out of touch for a few days. I should be able to keep up the 45 in 50 though.

Takin' A Stroll

A friend of mine was an Olympian back in 1956, in the racewalk. He refers to a long, slow aerobic workout as taking a stroll. That was my gameplan for today. I walked for an hour and forty minutes. I did make two brief stops, one near the beginning, as I passed my next door neighbor, who was out walking her dog; the other near the end, when I passed the house of a running friend who I hadn't seen since the four mile race on July 4. He was out in his yard, having completed his 30 mile bike ride.

For whatever reason, this walk seemed to be a collection of little vignettes, so I figured I'd share a few:

Favorite car - E-type Jaguar (aka the XKE), seen being driven early on my walk, it was a pale yellow colored coupe (for those of you who don't know the car, it's the closed version of Austin Power's Shagmobile).

Friends/acquaintances seen: 4 - the two mentioned previously, a neighbor from behind my house, who'd run in Wednesday's race (she was biking), and a kid whose class I've substitutede for, who was in a car with his Dad and someone else.

I can say that this was my longest workout this year. Strolling is good!