walk – Page 2 – miriland

12/22: AustinFit training walk

Posted by miri On 22 December, 2012

I almost didn’t walk today. First, I’d stayed up way too late last night (and eaten far too many cookies, but that’s another story). Second, it was cold out! But, after hitting my snooze one time too many, I managed to get myself up, out and hurrying to make it to the start in time. It was so worth it. I feel better now than before the walk started – refreshed and full of energy. Yes, it was cold, but not windy or wet – crisp. Plus, I walked with and talked a the very nice Mary Nell. She’s walked 3 half-marathons this year. Talk about inspiring.

Route:

Info as reported by Endomondo:
Distance 8.44 mi (it was just 8)
Duration 2h:08m:35s
Avg. Speed 3.9 mph
Max. Speed 8.2 mph (*snort*)
Calories 945 kcal
Hydration 0.27L
Min. Altitude 406 ft
Max. Altitude 733 ft
Total Ascent 1190 ft
Total Descent 1158 ft

HRM info:

Effect: Maximal performance improving
Calories: 991
Fat Calories: 16%
Average heart rate: 143
Maximum heart rate: 196 (!!)

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

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!

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.

12/1: AustinFit training walk

Posted by miri On 1 December, 2012

Remember how miserable I was after mile 8 of my last AustinFit group walk? Today was worse. I was almost crying. The pain got bad, once again, around 8 miles in. Is that my limit? Is it a hard limit or just something I need to work through? I don’t know. I guess only time will tell.

Route

Info as reported by Endomondo

Distance 11.43 mi (really 10.5)
Duration 2h:46m:57s
Avg. Speed 4.1 mph
Min. Altitude 418 ft
Max. Altitude 764 ft
Total Ascent 1833 ft
Total Descent 1858 ft

11/27: Hill walk

Posted by miri On 27 November, 2012

The route with the mondo hills. Every time I walk this, I feel like I’m going to die while going up Mountain Climb Dr. I swear I’ll never walk this route again. Then, I get past the hill and…everything feels so easy and smooth. I feel like I’m flying (well, a limpy old lady version of flying). By the end of the walk, I’m happy and glad I did it. That’s pretty amazing considering how screwed up this walk started: I dropped my phone 3 times before even starting and my fingers were purple because I’d forgotten my gloves. Plus, my feet were getting numb. It wasn’t that cold out. Darn Raynaud’s Syndrome!

Route

Info

Distance 3.46 mi
Duration 57m:24s
Avg. Speed 3.6 mph
Min. Altitude 584 ft
Max. Altitude 890 ft
Total Ascent 491 ft
Total Descent 482 ft

Playlist

Jimmy Cliff: The Harder They Come
The Replacements: Unsatisfied
Pete Townshend: Empty Glass
Mumford & Sons: Dust Bowl Dance
The Replacements: Darlin’ One
Gun Club: She’s Like Heroin To Me
The Weepies: Be My Honeypie
Young The Giant: My Body
Talking Heads: And She Was
Janis Joplin: Mercedes Benz
Paul Simon: Gumboots
Kings of Leon: Mary
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Run Through The Jungle
U2: Numb
The Feelies: What Goes On
The Beatles: Paperback Writer

11/27: Tuesday morning walk

Posted by miri On 27 November, 2012

I got started a little late and ended up late to work – don’t tell anyone, okay? At least my hip wasn’t hurting like it was on Saturday.

Route

Info

Distance 4.69 mi
Duration 1h:14m:52s
Avg. Speed 3.8 mph
Min. Altitude 656 ft
Max. Altitude 748 ft
Total Ascent 146 ft
Total Descent 115 ft

Playlist

Peter Gabriel: More Than This
The Temper Trap: Fools
My Morning Jacket: First Light
Buddy Holly & The Crickets: Oh, Boy!
Soul Coughing: $300
U2: Pride (In The Name Of Love)
The Who: Shaking All Over LIVE SAN FRANCISCO 1969
John Doe: Lucky Penny
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Teach Your Children
Tanita Tikaram: I Love You
The Raveonettes: Break Up Girls!
David Gilmour: Near the End
Phoenix: Rome
The Decemberists: Down By The Water
Green Day: Last Night On Earth
Alabama Shakes: Hang Loose
Cracker: Satisfy You