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| Sweating and freezing on a crisp clear day |
I have settled into the routine of walking everyday and have become used to my hiker hobble and use it as a gauge to measure my day's walk. More hobble, good walk.
For the month of January I was able to walk 196.9 miles. Now that is something I would hope to do every two, two and a half weeks out on the Trail, but for around here, that was pretty good. It averages out to 6.3 miles each day of the month.
I started out pretty easy, but still accomplished my 30 miles a week goal at the beginning. I also started with a light pack of probably 5 pounds or so. After a few days, I added a another water bottle and a few other items to bring it up to 10 lbs. After another week, I added a 5 lb dumbell to bring it up to 15 lbs. That last 5 lb addition was felt quickly. Especially in my knees and feet. But it felt good to have the weight on my back and now, I don't even notice it. It is time to add a little more.
Each week, I would add a few more miles to the total until I was doing about 7 miles a day. After a few weeks, LoGear started coming out with me. She came along most days unless the temp was sub freezing. During the Polar Vortex, I walked alone.
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| Exploring a new bike trail we discovered |
We have fun out there. It isn't the woods, so we have created a few games to pass the time as we walk the blocks. One thing that was jarring was the amount of litter that is everywhere out there. I shudder to think of the mindlessness that causes a person to litter. It can be disgusting at times. I learned at a young age that throwing your trash willy-nilly isn't a good thing for the earth.
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| Ginger enjoying a new snowfall |
After awhile though, you start to become numb to it. One thing we noticed was how common mini alcohol bottles were. We point them out as we go along, saying "mini" when we see them. Extra points for a hotshot bottle.
Another game I created on the fly was cop baiting. I suggested it as a joke to LoGear as we walked along. The gist is, when you see a cop car along the way, you act suspicious. Pull up your hood and hide you face with your hands as you go by. If the cop notices and responds, you win. Of course, LoGear doesn't see it as a joke and takes on that challenge. Later in the walk, we were walking along and saw a cop car waiting to pull out onto the main road. I egged LoGear on an of course, she took on the challenge. I immediately chickened out. We got closer and LoGear kept playing the game.
As we approached the car, the cop rolled down his window. I knew he was going to say something and I was practicing my explanation of our game, but we lucked out at that point. The cop saw an opening in the traffic and pulled out. I'm pretty sure he was going to say something to us. So, two points for LoGeardor. She had more balls than I did.
Each morning, I bring up the map and try to alter our course a little, but still try to cover about five miles. We have several favorite routes now and hope to keep doing it, pointing out our minis as we do our miles.
Its good to get outside and move around the neighborhood and our favorite woods. I will continue to do around five miles or so each day and try to keep ramping it up as much as time permits.
Peace,
EarthTone
