Summer's Here!

I went for a long walk today during lunch. Headed down to College Road then up Farmers Loop to Ballaine Lake for a short rest. Then followed the Skarland Trail to West Ridge, one loop of the T Field, then headed back to my office. According to the Nike+ gadget, I went 7.18 miles. Some have asked how I have time to walk as much as I do. I usually get in to my office about 7:15 and I normally don't leave until almost 5:30. I choose to take time during the day to go for walks. This does wonders for me to not only clear my head but really helps get over the nausea I get from my lunchtime medication. On some days, it is a single long walk but usually it is two shorter walks. many times it is simply a couple of walks per day to lower campus. During the winter, I regularly take the bus so that guarantees a minimum of 4½ miles per day. As you can see from the thermometer, it was pretty warm today and I should plan on bringing in a change of clothes for my walks. In reality, it was only in the mid-70's and not 80 like the thermometer claimed as this one was sitting in the sun. The mosquitoes weren't as bad today as they were yesterday probably because it wasn't as humid. Pretty nice day for a walk. In email today, an announcement came out from the WIN for Alaska group about their upcoming afternoon walks. They start next Wednesday at noon from the Wood Center bus stop and, if you attend 10 walks, you will receive a water bottle. Is that enough of an incentive? For me, probably. I still have the gift card I received as an incentive last summer sitting on my desk. In other words, it doesn't take much to get me out walking these days.

I also met another one of the goals I set for myself on the Nike+ site. I walked enough to burn 25,000 Calories in under 4 weeks. In reality, it took about 3 weeks. Less time than I thought it would. For me, this gadget and the associated web site, seem to provide much of the incentive I need to keep walking. When the original University of Alaska Start Walking programs ended, I thought that there wouldn't be anything to keep me going with the exercising but this gadget has been wonderful. There is enough competition to keep me interested. Now I need to set a new goal. Should these goals I set for myself be readily achievable or should they be a real stretch? In just about all of the Nike+ challenges I've entered, I've managed to get into the top 5 of just about all of them and actually winning roughly ¼ of them. In one, it is a competition by time zone and I'm the only one representing Alaska Time. Not in first place but not in last place either (ahead of Mountain and Hawaii). Fun competitions.