Pushing it to the Limit

Pushing it to the limit for me, a middle-aged brisk walker, does not lead to Gatorade ads. But here's what I did. Went down to Town Lake in Austin, the iconic Hike and Bike Trail just at the edge of downtown. It's a great spot to jog and walk. A few days ago, I walked the loop from Mopac pedestrian bridge to the Lamar pedestrian bridge and realized it's a 3 mile course.

My goal for today was to walk 3 miles at a brisk rate, above 3 mph or about 16-17 minutes a mile for the entire 6 miles. I did it!

I got a bit of a shock, but in a good way after completing the first circle. Map My Run said I did the first 2.8 mile loop at an average of 9.57 minutes a mile! I did that lap in just about 28 minutes total. That's almost running, or at least jogging. On the second time around I jumped up to 49 minutes for the loop. I slowed all the way down to 16:42 per mile.  I must have gotten weary on the home stretch.

The whole walk, twice around, took me 76 minutes-- an average of about 13 minutes per mile. That exceeded my goal by a decent amount. Break out the champagne-- and the Gatorade!

Austin Hike & Bike Trail (Lady Bird Lake)

What is it about the Hike & Bike Trail, so close to Austin's downtown, that gives it so much power and benefit? You can exercise. You can people watch. The dirt path means its easy on your joints. The three pedestrian bridges (MoPac, Lamar and Congress Avenue) enable you to make a circle when you walk without encountering any traffic. You see the Austin skyline to the north side of the river. The water, Colorado River, called Town Lake brings a sense of peace. The river is wide enough to give it some substance, a real body of water.

On the south side of Town Lake you have Barton Springs and Zilker Park, the iconic place, maybe the soul of Austin. You can swim there in the 68 degree water, year around. And the people watching is maybe the best thing. All size and shapes of people, walking, jogging, biking, talking in couples, escorting their dogs, wearing every conceivable kind of clothing. Also on the south side....you pass the Zach Theatre, named after Zachary Scott, an Austin boy made good on stage and screen many years ago. And closer to South Congress, and near the fields where you get the ACL Festival,  is the famous statue of Stevie Ray Vaughn, 'cause how many cities erect statues to rock stars, especially guitar virtuosos with a rocky past that includes drug use.

Take walk down there-- and clear your head of all the stress and mental debris!

The Skele-toes Shoes

Been working out the formula of walking for fitness for over a year now. I've tried walking up and down hills, walking city streets and scooting around suburban neighborhoods with tree-lined yards.

Here's the new twist. I walked today in my toe shoes-- those funny looking things that look like feet. I walked on soft ground, around soccer fields. Lucky for me I have a large area that covers about 1 1/3 miles for a single lap around the soccer fields. I tried it with the Fila shoes.

Fila calls them EZ Slide. You kinda feel like a cartoon character because you slide your five toes into a space with only four places. Cartoon characters always have four finger 'cause it looks better. So now you have four toes. But you feel the ground under your feet. The lack of a tennis shoe changes your gait slightly. Maybe closer to a barefoot walker-- a primitive man.

I'm not endorsing any particular shoe-- just that you walk briskly and try to increase your brisk walking time as you get in better shape. Have fun!

Get Healthy Carefully

Day 37
11,229 steps

Did this walk in two stages and in two places. The first stage was with Suzi, our dog, a little black and  white terrier. We went through the neighborhood for 36 minutes. This area is not the greatest for walking but the dog adds an element of fun, wagging her tail and checking out the surroundings. Decided I needed another walk around 2:30 PM-- and went 62 more minutes, for a total of 98 minutes and 5.31 miles.

You cross a threshold when you get to the 5 mile mark in a single day of walking. You get close to 600 calories of exercise. Something happens. The expenditure of energy and movement brings a certain peace, a kind of cleansing over your body. I've heard about endorphins and that may be it. But exercising over time-- a duration of more than 1 1/2 hours-- may be a benefit in itself. You burn the calories slowly and move your body without putting your joints through extreme stress.

Jim Cramer, the stock guy from CNBC, has a book out called Get Rich Carefully. I would call this kind of exercise program, the 10,000 steps program, a case of Get Healthy Carefully.

Valentine's Day Walk

Day 34
10,579 steps

Went for a walk today, Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, and this is my 34th day to keep track of my walking stats in 1014. Nice day in Austin, Texas. We actually have had some chilly temps but today was perfect for walking. Went to my favorite walking place, a hilly area close to where I live. Got sidetracked immediately by an Estate Sale. They actually had things I like, baseball memorabilia, some coins, beautiful seashells, and things collected from world travels. Everything was pretty expensive. I bought nothing as a result and so I continued on my walk.

You meet people when you walk and you encounter interesting things-- like Estate Sales. I've become addicted to the exercise and I had to keep moving. I felt a little winded going uphill. I'm a bit out of shape. My walks have been less vigorous of late. Time to make a comeback!

Passed a mother and daughter hanging out on their front lawn. The mom wished me a "Happy Valentine's Day!" That's a nice vibe. I needed the encouragement-- feeling a bit tired towards the end of my walk. A little bit of love from a stranger! Feels good to be outside-- and that's another big benefit of walking-- you are usually outdoors if you want a brisk, vigorous walk.

I've been telling lots of friends about the benefits of walking-- and some have even purchased pedometers!

Hardwired for Fitness*

Day 18        

10,272 steps

I walked 2 1/2 miles (about 5,000 steps) to a Starbucks coffee shop today. I read Hardwired for Fitness a book by scientists Robert Portman and John Ivy. After reading for 30 minutes, I returned the  2 1/2 miles back home. Here is what I learned:

Why does walking work? Our DNA is hardwired for low-levels of sustained activity. Our DNA has evolved since the days of our caveman ancestors to stay on the move. Paleolithic man moved constantly as part of his survival. A wounded animal hunted by our ancestors may have traveled for hours before relenting and falling to the ground. The term "hunters and gatherers" describes mankind's existence prior to the development of farming techniques.

Today we serve our bodies best by pursuing less intensity activity over longer periods of time. The activity most easily sustained over an hour or more per day is-- walking. If you incorporate brisk walking into your lifestyle your health and strength will improve dramatically. The regular walker striving for 10,000 steps (about 5 miles per day) will enjoy greater benefits than a gym enthusiast following a rigorous 30 minute workout for 3-4 times a week.

Improving your health and strength just by walking defies logic-- until you try it. Get a pedometer and give it a try.

Arms in the Air... now, Bureau of Funny Walks

Day 17
12,121 steps

Walking today and I noticed a young woman on her afternoon hike. She was walking for exercise. She was moving her arms vigorously, pulling them up over her head. It looked kind of funny. Maybe she had a good idea. A great benefit of walking is that you move your arms more than you do when running.

I decided to try it and... guess what? It works. Move your arms like a silly soldier. Make believe you are on Monty Python. Loosey-goosey... Do an audition for the Bureau of Funny Walks.  Get some silliness in your step. Feel your feet making contact on the ground. Turn your feet in different directions like a ballet dancer. Walk on the outside of your foot so your ankles get stretched. You might be surprised at how much better your arms, feet, and kneest feel by the end of the walk. 'Cause you've worked it!

Check out all those steps today-- 12,121-- that's close to six miles. Anytime you walk over 10,000 steps you will feel great. The endorphins kick in. Your body relaxes and you get the athlete's sense of accomplishment.

Frappuccino and Fit-bit

Day 10
10, 397 steps

My Omron HJ-112 clip-on pedometer said I burned off 525 calories after taking 10,397 steps. I decided to reward myself with a Starbuck's coffee drink. Went to Starbucks and ordered a large-sized, 20 ounce, Java Frappuccino. One of those c's in frappuccino must stand for calories. The drink had 580 calories! So my walk of 5 miles burned off about the same number of calories I put back on with the frappuccino.

Okay, it was worth it. I have been walking consistently and this extra special coffee drink with whipped cream was my reward.

Today I read an article in the local Austin paper about the Fit-bit Force, an electronic fitness tracker synced from your wristband to your smartphone. The article said these trackers are the must-have gadget of the year. It even tracks your sleep patterns. This is too much information. I am happy with a clip-on pedometer. I like my pedometer. It gives me:

1) total steps
2) distance
3) aerobic steps
4) aerobic minutes
5) calories

So fitness is in!  Everybody will soon have a pedometer strapped to their wrist. Maybe everybody will be shooting for 10,000 steps a day.

McDonalds+Walking = weight loss

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/health/2014/01/04/dnt-teacher-eats-only-mcdonalds-for-90-days.kcci&hpt=hp_c3&from_homepage=yes&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

Watched a 2 minute video (see link above) at the CNN website about a guy named John Cisna, a high school teacher from Iowa who ate only McDonald's food for 90 days.

John Cisna managed to lose 37 pounds. He ate only 2,000 calories of McDonald's a day. Cisna also walked 45 minutes per day. If you focus on Cisna's daily stats chart, you can see that he put in about 2.5 miles per day. The chart only appears for about a split second in the video, so I paused it.

Cisna proves the value of walking. He said, "it's the choices we make" that influence our health.  Cisna chose to walk for 45 minutes a day and averaged around 5,000 steps.