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!