Snoopy
Posted by miri On 16 December, 2012
Snoopy makes an appearance on a mail box near Fredericksburg
12/16: Speed building walk
Posted by miri On 16 December, 2012
I went with irony for today’s walking shirt.
Today I actually did the speed building walk I was supposed to do. I don’t like doing it – you are supposed to walk as fast as you can for 1 minute and then at your regular pace for the next minute, repeat until done. Why don’t I like it? I’m a wuss. I’m still not good at pushing myself physically. I might not ever be. When things get tough, my first reaction isn’t to try and ramp things up to push through, my first thought it: forget this! It’s why walking has been working for me as my main form of fitness. It’s not super challenging – I feel like I can do it with no problem. It’s also why, unless I change, I’ll never be an athlete or a super-fit person.
Route
Info
Distance 3.83 mi
Duration 1h:01m:18s
Avg. Speed 3.8 mph
Max. Speed 4.7 mph
Calories 413 kcal
Min. Altitude 668 ft
Max. Altitude 782 ft
Total Ascent 231 ft
Total Descent 220 ft
HRM readings
Calories: 431
Fat Calories: 27%
Average heart rate: 126
Maximum heart rate: 150
Playlist
Billy Bragg: God’s Footballer
R.E.M.: Blue
Aretha Franklin: Respect
Silversun Pickups: Future Foe Scenarios
The Replacements: Happy Town
The Decemberists: Dear Avery
Lou Reed: Busload Of Faith
X: Year 1
The Waterboys: Red Army Blues
X: Because I Do
Buddy Holly & The Crickets: That’ll Be The Day
Sugar: Changes
John Doe: Moonbeam
Kate Bush: Love And Anger
Dinner with a friend
Posted by miri On 16 December, 2012
On our table at Corazon, Austin, TX
Trail of Lights 5k
Posted by miri On 15 December, 2012
Spinning under the Zilker park Christmas tree is an Austin tradition.
As if the first walk today wasn’t enough, tonight Darra and I participated in the Trail of Lights 5k. In theory, it was a race. In practice, it was a fun stroll through the trail of lights near Zilker park. Plus? We got to do the Christmas tree spin and munch on roasted corn on the cob. Perfection.
Route
Info (as recorded by Endomondo)
Distance 3.25 mi
Duration 1h:05m:59s
Avg. Speed 3.0 mph
Max. Speed 4.8 mph
Min. Altitude 419 ft
Max. Altitude 508 ft
Total Ascent 105 ft
Total Descent 116 ft
12/15: AustinFit training walk
Posted by miri On 15 December, 2012
I almost didn’t walk today. I hadn’t had a decent walk since last Thursday. First, I went out of town for the weekend – getting back late Monday night. Tuesday, I came down with a horrid cold and spend most of Wednesday and Thursday laying in bed coughing and sneezing. I woke up Friday, did a Walk-at-Home DVD (my head still felt too weird to walk alone in the great outdoors) and ventured in to work. I wanted to walk today, but should I? Would I make my cold worse? Should I conserve my energy?
The route today was just 7 miles, so I decided to go. If it had been a 10+M day, I can’t say the decision would have been the same. My goal was just get the walk in without worrying about time. Turns out that’s a good thing because I found out that when walking while not feeling well, your heart really gets going. It was beating, on average, 20 more beats per minute than usual. And doing this while I wasn’t going as fast as usual. I was a little light-headed a few times, but overall, I’m glad I went. I always worry about trips/illnesses undoing months of habit building. I wasn’t going to let that happen this time.
Route
Info (as recorded by Endomondo)
Distance 7.63 mi
Duration 2h:01m:46s
Avg. Speed 3.8 mph
Max. Speed 10.6 mph
Min. Altitude 395 ft
Max. Altitude 671 ft
Total Ascent 1188 ft
Total Descent 1226 ft
Since I figured I’d be going much slower than everyone else, I brought my headphones and listened to some music. (Wearing headphones is usually discouraged for group walks.) So, here’s the playlist:
John Lennon: Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
Buckwheat Zydeco: Ninth Place
Midnight Oil: Stars Of Warburton
Crowded House: Better Be Home Soon
Tracy Chapman: A Hundred Years
Violent Femmes: Promise
The Reivers: Dragon Flies
Peter Gabriel: The Family And The Fishing Net
Wilson Pickett: In The Midnight Hour
The Weepies: Not A Lullaby
Silversun Pickups: Broken Bottles
The Waterboys: A Boy In Black Leather
4 Non Blondes: Drifting
The Pogues: Gridlock
Patti Smith: Seneca
The Monkees: Pleasant Valley Sunday
The Turtles: So Happy Together
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Hey Tonight
Icicle Works: Reaping The Rich Harvest
The Weepies: How Do You Get High?
Talking Heads: (Nothing But) Flowers
The Beatles: Sun King
Comando Tiburon Ft. Mach And Daddy: Pasado Pisado
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: Mondo Bongo
R.E.M.: Zither
The Decemberists: When the War Came
Janis Joplin: Me And Bobby McGee
Concrete Blonde: Joey
Matchbox Twenty: Shame
I admit I was feeling pretty tired and ready to quit when “Pasado Pisado” came on. Not the best song ever, but one that always cheers me up because it reminds of watching the Spanish Davis Cup team’s drunken, table-dancing celebration after winning the Davis Cup. The best b-day I’ve ever had!
Fault!
Posted by miri On 15 December, 2012
Stray tennis ball at Whitaker Tennis Center in Austin, TX
New Labbits
Posted by miri On 7 December, 2012
12/6: Non-hill walk
Posted by miri On 6 December, 2012
Instead of doing the usual Thursday post-work hill walk, I decided to do a morning walk closer to home. A slightly late start and a wrong turn in the fog and, well, I was really late for work today. I need to get my ass in gear earlier…
Route
Info
Distance 4.01 mi
Duration 1h:03m:44s
Avg. Speed 3.8 mph
Max. Speed 4.7 mph
Calories 434 kcal
Hydration 0.13L
Min. Altitude 644 ft
Max. Altitude 755 ft
Total Ascent 254 ft
Total Descent 244 ft
Playlist
Television: Torn Curtain
The Waterboys: This Is The Sea
The Pogues: Down All The Days
Pete Townshend: Jools And Jim
Hothouse Flowers: Give It Up
U2: Heartland
The Killers: Somebody Told Me
Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros: Techno D-Day
Crowded House: It’s Only Natural
Mumford & Sons: Winter Winds
The Waterboys: Fisherman’s Blues
Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros: Diggin’ The New
The Clash: Something About England
The Police: Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Tommy Keene: Places That Are Gone
Kings of Leon: Pyro
12/4: Tuesday morning walk
Posted by miri On 4 December, 2012
Today, I took the bridge over MoPac. I like the view from there, but waiting at the traffic lights takes forever.
Route
Info
Distance 5.39 mi
Duration 1h:28m:42s
Avg. Speed 3.6 mph
Min. Altitude 652 ft
Max. Altitude 783 ft
Total Ascent 186 ft
Total Descent 207 ft
12/2: Fairview Park Volkssport Walk
Posted by miri On 2 December, 2012
Fun mailbox in south Austin
A slightly overcast day wasn’t going to stop me from walking. I decided to do the Colorado River Walker‘s annual Fairview Park walk. It starts from the same hotel as the Lady Bird Lake one and winds around some lovely neighborhoods in South Austin – complete with some fantastic looking homes – and ends up going down the SoCo shopping strip. Yes, I went shopping! And stopped at the trailer food park. I can haz Smorkin’ Labbits from Monkey See? And a pumpkin cupcake from Hey, Cupcake! And a slice of Margherita pizza from Home Slice? Oh, what a wonderful day.
Route:
Info as reported by Endomodo:
Distance 7.58 mi (I think it was just 6.2 miles)
Duration 3h:59m:18s
Avg. Speed 1.9 mph
Max. Speed 5.4 mph
Calories 815 kcal
Hydration 1.72L
Min. Altitude 406 ft
Max. Altitude 589 ft
Total Ascent 1191 ft
Total Descent 1130 ft
Photos:
Can be found here.