Motivation

It's kind of strange what motivates some people. Yesterday, I didn't feel like doing much of anything but today, I "discovered" my new Nike+ sensor. The last one finally bit the dust last week and I had forgotten that I had ordered a replacement a couple of months back. So naturally, after finding it, I had to make sure it worked. I walked one of my normal routes from last summer and the distance came out almost identical to the old sensor. I guess it works. The seven mile loop brought my daily total to about 26k. I also fought the temptation to go for a bike ride at lunch time and walked the 5k loop around the campus from the run last month. I have hardly run at all since that event and I think that I would run out of breath pretty quickly. Especially on the hills.

When I came home this evening, I didn't feel like walking at all but once I got started, I had to keep going. I walked up to the top of Ballaine Road and if it wasn't so late, I would have gone down the other side into Goldstream Valley. Maybe some other day when I have more time. Tomorrow evening, the Scout troop is doing their bit for cleanup day along Ballaine Road. They have their work cut out for them as it is a real mess. It really makes me wonder what type of person just throws their trash out the window of their car. I guess some of it could have blown out but a lot of it was bottles and fast food containers.

Slacked off today

A relatively low step day today. Right around 10k. I walked to church this morning then did our weekly grocery shopping at Sam's and Fred Meyer. Unlike other shopping trips, I didn't make a point of walking down every single aisle in the stores. I went to a cell group meeting this evening and instead of walking like I've done in the past, I went ahead and got a ride. I guess I just felt lazy today. That seems to be happening way too often. I felt naseous today after my lunch medicine and just didn't feel like doing much walking. Actually, I didn't feel like doing much of anything today. Last year at this time, I was spending many hours per day walking everywhere. Some days piling up in excess of 50k steps. Especially on a weekend. What's happening? Maybe I got burned out on walking or maybe I just have less time this year than last year. One difference is that I've been spending more time with the Barrow NSF project. I have a hobby competing for my time now. If I had any free time today, I probably would have been out on the road on my bike instead of walking. I think that maybe I was somewhat obsessed with walking in past years with near marathon distances just about every Saturday last summer. But even with all the walking it was still a long slow process to lose weight. I still have about 20 lbs to go but at least I'm off the obese end in the BMI graph. My goal for the summer is to get into the "normal" part of the graph. Given how difficult it is to get rid of the weight, you can be sure that I'm not going to let it build up again.

Moving

A fair amount of steps today much of it from helping my son and his wife move. Lots of trips up and down the stairs and ended up pretty exhausted for the day. It's turning out to be pretty easy to get the 7-8 hours of sleep that the university wellness program established as a goal. The day started out raining but it turned out to be a pretty nice day. Temperatures most if the day were in the mid 50's. I was originally planning on going for a long walk today but the moving took a good part of the middle of the day. All in all, a great day. I didn't reach the 10 mile goal today. I really need to watch my eating a little more carefully. I have been doing pretty good with the whole grains, nuts and plenty of veggies but I had been relying on some medication I've been on (to help manage my blood sugar) for appetite supression. My prescription was changed recently and I think I have been eating more. Need to watch that more carefully.

Getting Back into Walking

I've been able to get in a fair amount of walking in the last couple of days. I walked just about everywhere I needed to go. The weather turned out fairly nice so I added in a few detours. Enough to get in over 10 miles per day. This is a huge improvement from the last couple of weeks while travelling. The battery ran down in the Nike+ sensor so it lasted about 8 months. During this time, I logged about 750 miles using it. Since the iPod needs to be on to log, it pretty much only gets used for actual exercise sessions and not for all the other walking. For example, I didn't use it at all yesterday since all of my "walks" were only about a mile or two and no "exercise session" or other long walks. I haven't tried running yet unless you want to count running to the bus stop this morning. I wasn't running too late but I'm the type that always prefers to arrive early or right on time. With the bus, early is better than on time since they don't follow the schedule rigorously.

I really wish I was out riding the Beemer right now. The weather report said rain turning to snow this afternoon so I didn't ride in . I want to find a parking lot and practice slow turns. I'm still not used to the weight of the bike and could use a lot of practice. The full fuel tank also adds a lot of weight up high.

Friday afternoon - 10k steps in and it's just a bit after noon. Went to lower campus for a free barbecue but it was pretty crowded. Made an appointment for a haircut later today so another walk down the hill. Did I mention that I still really enjoy walking? It fits me well. It burns calories at a reasonable rate (100 Cal/mile) and it doesn't require my full concentration. I used to tour on my bicycle and if I was away from towns and heavy traffic, it was about as relaxing as walking. A little more work going uphill but much faster going down. (But requires MUCH more concentration) I still want to start running again but I'm still at the point where I need to talk myself into it every time. I don't feel the joy let alone the euphoria that some runners talk about.

Friday Evening - Walked on the treadmill this evening to finish off the day strong. 29k steps so far today. Now it's time to lie down and relax. I guess one advantage of short legs is more steps per mile since this is only about 12 miles. Then again, it's not raining. Maybe it's time for a ride. If this were last summer, I would be out walking trying to get over 40k steps but I'm feeling lazy today.

Later - Just got back from a ride out to Fox. Absolutely wonderful. My right hand still gets sore from holding the throttle. I still need more slow speed practice.