Who Are These Women Of Victory?

Speed Golf

Meeting this morning with John and Peter. We meet just about every Thursday and today Peter, who's a Callaway employee pro, told me about a speed golf game he played. I understand that walking isn't for everybody even though just about everybody can do it. And I know that even if you're not walking miles extra every day, you can walk extra steps every hour. That being said, maybe something like speed golf is your thing. I think Peter is unusual in this game because he's a highly skilled golfer and an o.k. athlete and I hear it's usually a not-so-great golfer who's a better-than-average athlete playing speed golf.

Yesterday he played 37 holes with about a dozen guys before work by hitting the ball and jogging after it on a local executive course. Peter says an executive course has shorter holes that range from 80 to 260 yards. I haven't been a golfer in the past, but this sounds like it could be for me after I drop about 25 pounds. If you're busy and you're a beginner at golf and/or just starting an exercise program, you'll have to be the judge on whether you're ready for this. It sounds like fun to me. Tomorrow these local guys are having their Intergalactic Championship or something like that and they'll be running amok for 18 holes, presumably before work again. We all need exercise. Is this for you?

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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Last night at Reality Changers the speaker mentioned FreeRice.com as a great place to expand your vocabulary as you help people in need, so the word is getting around. Click on the title of this post to visit a speed golf site.

Early Start Pays Off

Yesterday I started off with a three and a half mile walk. I kept adding to that base and hit a record 10 miles for the day less than one month into my new year's resolution! That's all I have to say...except...(Use a pedometer...)

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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As always, I recommend that you visit and help out while you exercise your brain cells at FreeRice.com. Tell someone you know about TheBigManWalking.blogspot.com or FreeRice.com or both. Do it now!

And, I ran across an interesting site called EcoGeek.org which is at the intersection of nature and technology and if you like to write, click on the title of this post.

7 Miles Walked Before 1

This morning I got an ambitious start by going down a long hill and by the time I turned around and started up I had gone nearly two miles. The hill has what seems like an increasing grade for .7 miles and that's a pretty good hill! I got to the top and my breathing testified to the work involved. I kept going to cool down and ended up doing 3.5 miles before 8:30. Other tasks up until right now have taken me another three and a half miles and the dog still hasn't done his thing. Soon it will be time for us to leave for soccer and I should get some laps around that field, so this looks like another big day. I am a little tired right now, but body tired, not brain tired. Plus, I checked the scale this morning and I was at 121.2 kilos, which means I lost another .7 kilos (or 1.54 pounds) again this week. Time for lunch!

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

Nine Miles In One Day

Big Man. Walking. Cold Rainy Day. New Daily RECORD. 9.25 miles.

For the most part I waited until the rain subsided. Definitely feels good - a good kind of tired.

Below is a table of the first four weeks of walking in 2008. The numbers are minutes and 20 minutes translates to a mile on Lime.com.


01/01/08 72 53 70 27 40 126 123
01/08/08 100 82 108 101 100 70 142
01/15/08 105 125 111 145 124 67 116
01/22/08 177 73 145 104 108 124 185

The chart starts on Tuesday and ends on Monday. Looks like Wednesday is the most challenging day to get my walking in and that makes sense given my schedule. I volunteer with Reality Changers on Wednesday nights in addition to picking our son up from soccer, so I probably don't walk much after 5 pm. Monday is the most prolific day. Two new records on Mondays and all four Mondays are in triple digits. My weekly totals are 511, 703, 793, and 916, so I have increased my total every week.

Keeping track allows me to see my progress and make comparison as well as gain insights into how or why, just like my realization about Wednesdays. If I choose, I can make sure I get up early Wednesday to get a good start so that I have lots of walking in before I pick up Stuart from soccer. I was able to keep track because I have a pedometer. It's not perfect, but I do think my pedometer is consistent. I have a friend who said he tried using a pedometer once and it was wildly inaccurate and he found that frustrating. My suggestion is to get a different pedometer. You can do it just like I am doing it. Keep reading and tell a friend who can use the encouragement.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

8 Miles Before 5

I am reminded of some song lyrics and I can't quite remember the whole song or the title, but here they are:

Oh yes, I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to
I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am...wait a minute, NOW I remember. OK, so I'm not WOMAN, but I did walk eight miles before five in the evening and it feels great. Still, they're inspirational and motivational lyrics and they were sung decades before (Was it before she was born?) that hot country gal sang that other song they have in that truck commercial. But, I digress...

I laid the foundation for a big day by getting a three mile walk in with the dog before I picked up our son, Stuart, from calculus class. What I have found helpful for me is by getting several miles in early, I can add to that a little at a time. Once I get beyond about three and a half miles total, I just want to keep going a little more even if it means walking while I wait for the Pick Up Stix order. That's what I did a little while ago. Instead of sitting there NOT TALKING to the other person waiting (Thank you, George Carlin...) for their order, I got up and told the kid who waited on me that I would be going for a walk and I would definitely be back. Little "bits" of walking here and there add up.

I want to remind you that I'm walking as a long term strategy to lose weight and feel better. My goals for the year are to lose 50 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle. I will probably move on to bigger stuff later, but for now I'm simply walking to show that you can do it and that it produces results. However, I KNOW that billions and billions (Thank you, Carl Sagan...) of people can walk and so I'm here to encourage you and show you all the ways [strategies] you can walk short and long distances. There's nothing wrong with walking on a treadmill, but if you confine yourself to that, you might be missing out on some good exercise time in places you didn't expect.

I ran (walked?) into a neighbor and while our dogs were playing, I told him about my progress for the year and the Big Man Walking blog. He thought that was great and said that he used to run. And that is the point, really. Lots of people USED TO run. Walking is for just about everybody and as long as you don't try to prove how incredible you are through incredible feats of walking when you're not ready, walking is less likely to injure you, in my opinion. If you're not injured, you can walk and if you CAN walk, you're much less likely to say that you USED TO walk as many former runners say. (I have nothing against running, IF your body is ready for it.) I strongly suggest that you will get more exercise or at least create more long-lasting exercise habits if you do something that won't put you on the injured list. Recovery time? What if you don't have to recover in the first place? Walk. Just put one foot in front of the other. And keep track because it's motivating to see what you were doing and what you're doing now.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

(Oh, and...use a pedometer.)

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Click on the title of this post to help the hungry in an amazingly simple way at FreeRice.com.

I Walked The Whole Thing!

Several years ago we noticed that a grade school friend of my son's lived waaayy down Unicornio street. I held on to that concept of their house being far away and never really measured it. If the distance to their house was a long way, then the distance all the way to the end of Unicornio MUST be a really long walk and the round trip, by extension, must be in the neighborhood of 4-6 miles, or so I thought. Their house is near the bottom of the hill and the walk is pleasant enough, but the walk back is not as fun uphill. When you add the steep uphill grade past their house, you've got a real walk.

When I started out a few weeks ago I drove to the area near their house and walked to the end of the street and back to the area near my car, proud of myself for overshooting and having to circle back to the Buick. I mentally declared my intention that day to walk from our house to the end of Unicornio and back "a couple months from now". I figured that I could come back every Sunday or so and park a little closer to our house and gradually make the walk longer. I thought I would do the whole walk sometime between late February and early April. Since then I have walked up to 4 miles or so in a single "walk" and my perception of what's possible has changed.

First, I realized that the walk down Unicornio might not be as long as I thought because of several walks I took in the area. I wasn't exactly sure how long it was, but I was confident I could do it. Second, I have done some of my walking up and down hills instead of just walking in relatively flat areas. After walking Mellow about half a mile for his daily constitutional, I decided to drop my jacket off at home along with the dog and went right back out alone in the cool air and bright sunshine. The first part was the easiest as I went from flat to downhill and then it changed pretty quickly to the steep uphill grade and that was taxing. I tend to walk at a pretty steady pace, so the uphill walk really made me work and I remember thinking "I'm not even halfway there yet!" My son was at church and my honey was in Florida. I had no cell phone. My car was at home. I knew as I kept walking that I was creating more work for my body as long as I had not yet reached the end of the street. I want to be clear that I was confident I could do this because of my experience walking over the past weeks. I know some people urge you to really go for it and that does work in many contexts, but knowing what you have been achieving recently or previously is a big help in deciding how big a bite you can chew.

My first priority is minimizing the possibility for injuring my body. That doesn't mean I can take all the risk out of the exercise. I am large and living that way is a risk in itself. The reason I want to minimize the possibility of injury is simple:
I want to keep walking and walking and walking. I don't want to put my body out of commission for a couple days or even a week or more. I'm not saying that my way is the only way. I value the ability to keep going and going and going day after day.

So now you know that this walk was a realistic goal on this day and not completely beyond what I had done previously. My biggest victory besides being able to honestly say that I had done it was the mental challenges I overcame. After I made it past the halfway point I knew that every step was literally bringing me closer to home, closer to my goal. Once I was past the steepest portion, the way home was uphill but at a more gradual pace. Along the way I had peeked at my pedometer and realized that the whole trek was not as long as my most conservative estimate. Upon reaching home I saw the this trip down Unicornio and the little streets to get there was only 2.6 miles! This had been a LONG street in my mind for years. Even starting out weeks ago when I realized my intention was to conquer it, I had no idea that I would do it before the end of January! I slayed the dragon. You can slay your dragons, too. Now I need to find bigger dragons to slay.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

Force Strategies Versus Personal Growth

Earlier this morning I was waiting for my son to finish his shower so I could drive him to church. I knew I had about three minutes so I went to FreeRice.com and played their vocabulary game which is sort of like SAT preparation. You pick (or guess) which answer is correct our of four options. I could describe more, but you can click the link and simply go there and see it and play it within seconds. You score points with correct answers and rice is donated to feed the hungry. Each correct answer is worth 20 grains of rice. My top level was 47 and I ended up on level 41. (You automatically level down when you give a wrong answer.) I won/helped donate 840 grains of rice and over 100 MILLION grains were donated yesterday. One day. That's really good. People are having fun. Learning. Maybe humbling themselves. And hungry people are receiving food. A survival need is being met. Check it out!

When I got back just a bit ago, I read Ian Ayres's editorial, You Bet Your Life, in the Sunday L.A. Times Opinion section. He wrote about people making commitment contracts to keep themselves on track toward their goals. He had $500 on the line every week if he failed to reach his goals and he never had to write a check on his way to losing 25 pounds. Ayres teaches law at Yale University and if he had missed a goal, he would have written a check for $500 that week to a charity chosen by his colleague, Dean Karlan, who teaches economics at Yale. They co-founded stickK.com, which you can visit by clicking on the title of this post. Their method is simply one strategy for reaching a goal, meeting a need.

In my opinion, the reasons for you or I not reaching a goal are part of what personal growth or self-development are about. I believe that dealing with the underlying issues in your life and your unhelpful and unhealthful belief systems is the better way to go in the long run. Forcing yourself to pay money can definitely work in forcing yourself to reach your goals. I'm sure you can find ample evidence on their website or in their writings. I'm suggesting that it's not the only strategy that works. The threat of paying money may force you to take certain actions, but it doesn't necessarily tell you WHY that threat is necessary. Self-development can take away the need for using that strategy. We'll see if FreeRice.com's educate and entertain yourself strategy (what I might call elementary personal growth or self-development) works in the long run. But it's working now and I expect that if you visit FreeRice.com and tell others about it, soon they will be donating 1 BILLION grains of rice per day and maybe, soon after than 100 Billion or even 1 TRILLION.

Now I'm going to go for a walk.

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Visit FreeRice.com and then visit Lime.com and register (use a pseudonym if you like - I'm Dr. Network there AND Leftcoastman here) and keep tracking of your steps and your minutes and your miles.

Every Step You Take

Every step you take.

Increases fitness. Increases bone density. Increases quality of life.

This is the slogan of Optimal Health Products. I'm not vouching for their products nor am I taking a stance against their products. I do like their slogan very much. Every Step You Take...

I encourage you to walk. Always. Every waking hour. Before I sat down to this laptop I walked, on purpose, 101 steps inside our home. You might be surprised how many steps you walk in an hour. (Although it's possible you'll be surprised at how few you are walking, too. A friend from Toastmasters said she was sure she was walking 10,000 steps a day, which is what her friend told her to do. She got a pedometer and found out it was 900! She walks more now.) I urge you to walk at least 33 steps an hour extra, which is in the neighborhood of an extra quarter mile a day. My 101 steps repeated every hour is in the neighborhood of three quarters of a mile a day. Slightly more than 1/4 of a mile extra a day is 100 extra miles a year and three quarters of a mile extra a day is three times that or 300 extra miles a year. My 101 extra steps took me about a minute. I keep mentioning extra because we need to do MORE than we are currently doing.

One of our needs is for exercise. Almost anyone can walk, which is a strategy to get exercise (and to increase bone density and quality of life). 101 steps an hour is a strategy to make the exercise/task doable and memorable for you. My hope is that over time, you will do more. Or you can walk a half marathon or full marathon today - IF you're prepared. I'm not prepared for that today. One of these days I will be. A little bit more and then a little bit more and pretty soon I'm there. Or you're there.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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Visit an awesome website - FreeRice.com - to help feed people while teaching you by clicking on the title of this post. Did you notice the Free in front of rice?

Almost 3.5 Miles By 9:30 Almost

My dog wanted to go out so we did a mile before 7:30 this morning and then I went to get the paper. A little while after coming back home I found my son was still sleeping and decided to do a couple more miles. I walked the "Big Block", which in my lingo is all the way around about a quarter of our "greater neighborhood". [Ya hadda be there?] For locals it's Xana Way to Alga, then Melrose north to Carrillo Way and back around to Xana in the simplest way possible.

During the descent towards Carrillo Way I noticed that I felt the lactic acid burn in my left calf more than in my right (a first) and I wondered if that might be because I'm right-handed and therefore probably right-footed, too. I also noticed that I was moving pretty fast and some people might consider this pace speed walking. I just knew it was cold and I was moving fast enough to keep warm. Maybe I finally reached the threshold of making my calves do some extra work. Half a mile later while I was coming up the hill I noticed that the lactic acid in my left calf had lessened and both calves felt the same another quarter mile later as the terrain leveled out. I'll ask Christine Burke at Fitness Together about it. When I got back home my pedometer said almost 3.5 miles and it was a little past 9:30 (on Saturday!).

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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I've mentioned before that one of the reasons I like walking and writing about it is that about 99% of us can do it. I found the site of someone who may prove that MORE than 99% of us can do it. Her name is Stacey James and she's a motivational speaker who was paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident. The motto on her website is "Equipping people to rise above the challenges of life." She's at WalkingVictorious.com.

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Remember FreeRice.com.

A Walk Before Toastmasters

If you've never been to Toastmasters, you should visit one or two clubs near you. We learn how to be more comfortable speaking in a group or in public. I've been a member of Expressions Unlimited, our Carlsbad club, for almost eight years. I found a club that's a good fit for me with some great people. Today at noon I was the Toastmaster of the day, which means that I'm the one running the meeting. Each meeting has a theme and mine was walking. Surprise. The meeting went well and our enthusiastic members really would have made you feel at home if you had been there. If you google expressions unlimited toastmasters, you can easily find the club blog. You can also check out the LINKS section of Big Man Walking over on the right of this page. I hope you visit a club and if you're near Carlsbad, California I hope you'll come see us.

This morning I took dropped my son off for calculus and instead of going home and puttering around for 10 minutes I went straight to Toastmasters. I was just over 45 minutes early and so I decided to take a walk. Our club is near the ocean and I could hear the waves as I walked to the southwest. I found a staircase I hadn't explored before and went down to the beach, stopping on the bottom step. I like finding ways to take a walk in street clothes as I hope to show people that walking more frequently can also be fairly convenient. I spent a few minutes taking in the beautiful view of the ocean on this cold, clear day. I had a smile on my face as I turned to go back up to the street and I walked to Fresco Trattoria on Carlsbad Village Drive. I sometimes see bumper stickers referring to this area that say something like "Locals call it Elm." I guess there was controversy over the name change some years back.

I realized that I didn't need to go to 101, which many people call Pacific Coast Highway or PCH, so I went back toward the beach and walked the path at street level which ends up along 101 as it sidles up against the Pacific. I stopped at the 30 MPH sign across 101 from the Tamarack Beach Resort and turned to go back to my Toastmasters meeting. Along the way I had a quick conversation with a woman reading a book on the bench titled The Best Travel Writing: True Stories from Around the World 2006. She said she liked the book and really liked our beach and places to walk in Carlsbad. I said goodbye and walked back past Fresco Trattoria again on my way back to Heritage Hall at Magee Park where Expressions Unlimited meets. My pedometer said I had walked 1 1/4 miles, some of it briskly and some of it leisurely, and then I was really ready for Toastmasters and my theme of the day: Walking. My walk took me 27 minutes.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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I really think FreeRice.com is a fantastic idea. Click on the title of this post to go there.

I See Bike People

Maybe it's just me, but now that I've been walking purposefully for almost a month, I sense some solidarity with the people riding bikes. I've given the thumbs up a couple times and turned some heads. The same goes for runners, which is kind of like doing what I'm doing, only faster. I notice how many people are out walking, running and biking and there are a lot of us.

Some of the bicycle riders seem to be having fun and some look pretty darn serious. I've observed that runners almost always look serious. These are just some observations from someone who seems to have discovered a view of the world that he had been missing. Are you missing it? Like John Lennon sang, "I hope someday you'll join us..."

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I'm going to stick with this website for a while. Please send your friends to Big Man Walking and tell them to click on the title of the post. Send them to http://TheBigManWalking.blogspot.com.
By clicking on the title of the post you'll be taken to...you'll see. What a genius idea. People are having fun, learning and people are getting fed! I love the internet sometimes.

Walking While People Watching

I dropped my son off for calculus and found a parking space that was further away from the campus than I had hoped. No problem. I'll just walk a little more. He just has 50 minutes of class at the campus today, so there's no reason to go back home. I walked to the northern classrooms and back down to the student union several times and while I did that I watched the people. Mostly young. College students seem amazingly young. I remember Dana Carvey on the Tonight Show with that other host...what was his name? Oh, yeah...Johnny Carson. Johnny commented on how young he looked and he said something like, "You should have seen me when I FIRST started. I looked like a fetus with shoes." I wouldn't quite go that far, but maybe embryonic is close. (And if you don't KNOW who Dana Carvey is, you might be really young. Ever seen the movie Wayne's World? He plays Garth.)

I liked seeing all the different faces and hearing the occasional bits of cell phone conversation. I saw people in earnest conversation in the student union. Some people sitting alone. A group telling each other stories loudly outside the bookstore. Two different guys greeting to different girls with nothing more than a raised eyebrow and tilt of the head. A dozen people about my age.

I only noticed one other person out of hundreds who seemed to be walking for exercise and I remembered a conversation with the dad of one of my son's friends. He is in good, even great shape and I think that's why he thinks of walking as boring. His wife was training for a half-marathon or something and he ran with her just to keep her company. I guess that if you can RUN a half-marathon, walking might seem that way. We all have to start somewhere. Plus, when you actually start walking more, if you pay attention, you'll see and hear things while you walk that are actually interesting. I urge you to walk more, even if you are like the guy I wrote about in the previous post who started out unable to do 40 yards. If you can do nothing else, you can do an extra 100 steps a day. I know that's not true for so many of you. Can you do 30 extra steps an hour? That's in the neighborhood of a quarter mile a day. I'm sure you can do a quarter mile, half mile, mile or two or more from the start. Measure your walking and exercise in general against your past performance. With walking, using a pedometer is an easy way to measure, provided you get one that works. I like my step pedometer and that's what I recommend until I explore other pedometric (I'm pretty sure that's a word.) options. The thing is, whether it's 100 steps or 5000 steps or more, you must take that first step. Take that step today.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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My honey met someone in Florida who told her about a site where we can have a little fun, pass a little time, learn a little and truly be of service to people. It's called FreeRice.com and they gave away a lot of rice yesterday and they will again today. They are feeding people and you can (essentially) play a game to help feed those people. Awesome. What a genius. I think for the foreseeable future I will put that link under the title of each post.

Walking By The Pool

National Weather Service confirms that technically speaking, it's C-O-L-D here. I was walking the dog a little bit ago and saw two guys in the pool area. One was walking in the pool and it's not the first time. The other was in our complex's jacuzzi. I got to talking with guy in the pool who said he's 67 and a couple years ago he couldn't walk 40 yards. Now he walks in the pool for exercise on a regular basis and can walk a mile at a time. I hope you can walk more than 40 yards, but if you can't right now our "pool guy" is a hopeful sign for you. I told him that I've walked around 120 miles since January 1 and he told me to keep it up. That's how he started to tell me his story. Walking can open up conversations with people you haven't met before, if you let it. There's a little bit of a feeling that we're all in this (struggle?) together. Join us.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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Click on the title of this post to read about water or pool walking.

12 Minute Walk

You can walk a few extra minutes when you get the mail or go out to find something in the car or when you knock on a neighbor's door. Stay outside and walk 10 or 12 more minutes or even 5 or 6. I saw that I had a little time before the phone call to my honey in Florida and took the dog out for about 12 minutes. I walked about half a mile. Even a quarter of a mile extra per day adds up over 365 or 366 days. If you walk just a little bit over a quarter of a mile extra per day, during the course of a year, you will have walked an extra 100 miles.

My trainer friend, Christine Burke, tells me that 1 mile burns 100 calories on average and 3500 calories burned is what it takes to lose one pound. So, for a little effort beyond whatever you're currently doing, you can lose approximately three EXTRA pounds per year. Doesn't seem like much, you say? Well, if you think of it the opposite way...that you UNDERexercised that much per year. That would mean you GAINED an extra three pounds per year and that's how you can put on an extra 30 pounds over 10 years. Plus, if you actually lost the extra weight instead of gaining it, the difference between what you could have gained and what you actually lost over 10 years adds up to 60 pounds!

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

I Feel Better

There's a buzz in my body. My guess is that I'm feeling improved circulation. Whatever it is, I definitely feel better. It seems like my mind is clearer. You can benefit, too.

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Click on Health Benefits of Walking or the title of this post to see the About.com article.

Health Benefits of Walking

OK, I'm Up

I have a bunch of stuff to do the first few hours this morning, but I'm up. I just have to let the dog find a defenseless stationary object. I WILL walk in a few hours.

I will walk. I will.

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In the meantime, click on the title of this post to visit Walkable.org, the website of Walkable Communities, a non-profit corporation helping North America develop walkable communities.

Full Moon Record

This is one of the coldest Januaries (does the plural of January look funny or is it just me? It's right. I looked it up at Dictionary.com.) I can remember in North County. I'm sure my friend Gordon near Salem, Massachusetts (Yes. That Salem.) wouldn't really think of this as cold, but for this part of California it is really and truly cold.

Last night and tonight the full moon has been beautiful during my walks with the dog. I was reminded of nearly 30 years ago waiting in line with my brother and my dad in the middle of the night at the Salton Sea. We went hunting there a couple times. My dad and older brothers went a lot more than I did - especially my oldest brother, Mike. He's the one who had pancreatitis recently. I've never really thought of the Grateful Dead and my family before now. But I can honestly say "What a long, strange trip it's been." I'm not going to get maudlin here. I just touched a happy memory when I was taking a walk is all.

I'm happy to say that today is a new high on the long (strange?) walking trip I'm taking - over 8 1/2 miles. Visit my stats at Lime.com.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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I saw this amazing story about a father who found out he had a daughter, Tran Thi Kham, who had been looking for him and didn't realize that she had found him. It might make you believe in miracles. Click on the title of this post to read the BBC story.

Six Miles By 1 (Almost)

First, I want to remind you that each of us, you and I, are competing against ourselves. I'm competing against my past performance (no guarantee of future results?). So, when I get home from completing a 2 1/2 mile walk and today's total so far of six miles, I must remember that I'm not competing against Tommy Daly.

Who's Tommy Daly? I was thinking the same thing when I saw the giant poster on his garage. Apparently, a guy in the neighborhood ran in the H.U.R.T. 100 mile trail race over the weekend and did 100 miles in 35 hours and 18 minutes. I did my 100 miles in 21 days...

H.U.R.T. stands for Hawaii Ultra Running Team. I don't think I even qualify for the Ultra WALKING team yet. You just can't compare yourself to the super athletes if you're not part of that group. And everyone is different, so stick with comparing you to you.

As for me, I was walking at Palomar College while my son, Stuart, was in Calculus class. I got a nice surprise. I walked the track five times and found that my quarter mile is around 498 steps now as opposed to 575 when I measured last summer. If I have improved, that's great. If the shoes make a difference, if I walked the middle of the track this time, if I was overly careful in the steps I took last summer, whatever...I don't really mind the reason. It's good to know that only 498 steps are a quarter mile for me, which means a mile is 1992 steps. I guess I'll keep measuring to stay on top of it in the future.

That brings me to my six miles before 1 pm (almost). My pedometer said 12063 steps when I got inside the door, so the six miles is correct because 11952 (less than 12063!) steps is 6 times 1992. But, it was a couple minutes past 1. Still a great achievement for me, Charlie Hicks-Moore.

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Click on the title of this post to see the H.U.R.T. blog.

100 Miles In 21 Days

From January 1, 2008 through 9:00 pm January 21, 2008 my pedometer has counted over 230,000 steps which for me translates into 100 miles! Yes!

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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Click on the title of this post to see my daily numbers recorded at Lime.com.

Walking As A Value

I arrived at Rubio's in Mira Mesa a little early and while I was waiting I walked up and down the food court. I used to be bugged a little (or more than a little) when I had to wait. I remember when I was in life insurance almost ten years ago I told a coworker that I almost left for an appointment without him when he was eight minutes late. While he did have a tendency to overschedule so as to value his time over the client's, I did not realize then how out of balance I was.

I was meeting a church friend for noon lunch to introduce him to the Fiesta Salad because it's such a good fit for the South Beach diet that he's on to improve his triglycerides. Because I am paying attention to when and where I can walk (almost anywhere) I noticed that I could simply get some walking in while I waited. I value walking. I hope you do, too. Even those of you who get so much other exercise can benefit by walking while you wait. A fair skinned animated beauty once sang "Whistle while you work," but I say "Walk while you wait". My pedometer said I walked 1/2 mile right before lunch at Rubio's. When you value walking, you won't see all the waiting time as wasted and maybe, like me, you'll find yourself in a good enough mood that you'll be more gracious than I was when I was in life insurance.

Now the dog is waiting...

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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I googled Big Man Walking and found that my recent post came up in 13th position. Click on the title of this post to see that search result for Big Man Walking.

Make Hay While The Sun Shines

While the Packers were struggling in the snow Sunday, the sun was shining in North San Diego County. If you read my post from yesterday, you'll see that as far as walking goes, I didn't take advantage of the good weather. This morning it was raining steadily when I woke up and I decided to wait 10 minutes or so to see if the rain eased up. The dog was very happy to see me when I went to get him and we ventured out in the light rain enthusiastically. He was simply happy to get out and find a tree and I was glad it wasn't raining so hard. I wore a cap to keep my glasses from getting rained on and off we went.

Just a little tip for walking in the rain. Remember the joke about the guy who tells his friend he's gonna walk ten miles a day? His friend calls him up ten days later and asks how he's holding up with all the walking. He replies, "Great, but now I'm a hundred miles from home." I like to stay closer to home in the rain just in case it starts to come down hard. I definitely do not want to be a mile away from home and get caught in a serious downpour. I walked what I think of as our inner neighborhood this morning and Mellow and I still got in over two miles while staying close to home. It's just that I would have preferred the weather we had yesterday. Oh...almost forgot. The scale says 121.9 kilos which means I lost .7 kilos this week which converts to 1.54 pounds! This result is due to walking. I haven't started South Beach yet.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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If you read the previous post, you may wonder what they heck I'm talking about. Mistakes happen. I accidentally posted information intended for another blog because I had so many windows open. C'est la vie. (Our son starts French this week.)

Click on the title of this post to visit The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy at Bartleby.com for the meaning of "make hay while the suns shines".

Let's Start With Wiley

I am amazed by companies that have been around 200 years or more - even 100. Wiley publishes For Dummies (as in, Poker For Dummies, Green Living For Dummies, Calculus For Dummies) as well as Cliffs Notes and books like The Work of Writing. Did you know many Cliffs Notes like we used in school are free online now?

Cliff's Notes

Wiley

Green Living For Dummies

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The Work of Writing

Move These Refrigerators

Today we moved a couple refrigerators at my brother's house. (Remember that Dire Straits lyric? "We gotta move these refrigerators. We gotta move these color TVs... I shoulda learned to play the guitar. I shoulda learned to play them drums.") We moved one out and we went and got another and moved it in. That, combined with the Chargers and the Packers both losing and a couple more errands here and there meant I didn't walk as much as I have been averaging recently. However, 67 minutes is considerably more than 27 minutes. My off day is getting better just like my top days - a good sign. When this happens to you, just get back to it the very next day, which is what I plan to do tomorrow. I'm [STILL] walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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Click to visit Dire Straits. That "Move These Refrigerators" song is titled Money For Nothing and it's on the Brothers In Arms album. When I looked this up I remembered a great site where you enter your favorite artist and they play music that's similar. Click on the title of this post to visit that site - Last.FM. I entered Dire Straits there a few minutes ago and Last.FM played The Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Women and Eric Clapton's Crossroads along with another Dire Straits tune - Lion and the Eagles' Peaceful, Easy Feeling.

Are You Keeping Track?

Tomorrow is the start of the third week of the Big Man Walking blog. If you haven't done so yet, start writing down/keeping track of the distance you walk. Don't estimate. Get a pedometer that works and wear it. My pedometer is electronic and counts steps. I know that 2300 of my steps is a mile. I happen to have a Sportline, but I'll bet most electronic step counter pedometers will work. I wear it on my belt or clip it on my shorts or sweatpants above my right leg.

You don't even have to buy a notebook if you would rather type in your information. You don't have to start a blog but you can use Lime.com's Live the Change and Walk Out program for free. Check out my information and sign up here or by clicking on the title of this post. After you join, let a friend know you're walking. Then post a message to my blog and let me know. You might find others who are doing the same and that can be encouraging. My hope is that you're encouraged and that you're taking action to achieve your desired weight and fitness level.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

Don't Overdo It

I took the dog for a walk after a late lunch and we did just under three miles. When you've been walking for a couple weeks, you start to get used to the distances and you can push yourself a little bit more. Now that I've done more than three miles a few times, I decided to push for an extra half mile or so this afternoon. I know I can do it because I've done it recently.

I remember running when I was in my twenties and I definitely wasn't careful. I might do nothing for months and then decide to run on the beach from Encinitas to Del Mar (several miles) and back and that would wipe me out for a few days, even walking the last bit back to Moonlight Beach. The only things I had going for me were my youth and the soft surface I was running on and youth can't always make up for being out of shape.

You know what you've been doing lately so you know if you're pushing yourself to do something you've done in the last week or so or if you're pushing yourself a little beyond what you've done recently or [danger] WAY beyond. Stick with the first two if you want to minimize potential injury that could set you back days or weeks depending on the shape you're in.

A buddy that I haven't spoken with for a while told me he stopped walking as much from the time the fires hit San Diego in late 2007 and he walked even less during the holidays and today he twisted his ankle. Now he's out for a day or so, but we'll get together and walk this week. Sometimes you just twist your ankle, but other times you can avoid problems if you simply don't over do it. Still, use that pedometer and...Please walk today. No matter what. I am walking. You can walk.

Dog Owners Have Extra Incentive

We love our dog, Mellow. I've noticed over the last 20 years or so that more and more people in the U.S. seem to spoil their animals. I'm not going to go into all the stuff that I classify as spoiled behavior right now. I'm just going to say that because we care about our dog, we care FOR our dog, but I wouldn't call what we do "spoiling" our dog. I know Mellow needs exercise and we definitely want him to do his business OUTside, so in a very practical way, we need to walk him. That's why I say that dog owners have extra incentive to get out and walk. Sometimes our dog is ready to go fairly quickly and other times one of us will walk him between half a mile and a mile before he does his dance. Once in a while it takes a couple miles to get him going. Mandatory exercise. My pedometer says I've already had almost a mile of mandatory exercise this morning.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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I've included the link to the Dog Whisperer "underneath" the title of this post (click it!). In a little while my son and I are going to check out a nickel arcade in San Diego and I'll check my pedometer to see how much walking I do when I'm there. Here's that site:

NickelCitySanDiego.com

Seven And A Half Miles In One Day

Seven and a half miles. One day. That's what my pedometer said...and only 18 days into 2008! Yes. I can. You can, too.

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Click on the title of this post to see my minutes/miles logged at Lime.com. I'm a little tired right now, but I want to share Mustard Seed Associates for those of you who have an affinity for the mustard seed metaphor.

Four Mile Walk!

I had walked about a mile through the normal routine of life earlier today and decided to go for a good walk with the dog. I went down Cacatua St. I like the neighborhood and was daydreaming about moving a few blocks to this semi-hidden group of homes. I had a jacket and walked about a mile and started to get hot, so I headed for home and as I did so, I took off my jacket and carried it.

The thought occurred to me that I could simply open the door and put my jacket on the stairs and continue on my way instead of calling it quits. By the time I reached home I had walked about a mile and a half and as I left the doorstep without a jacket in the cool January air for round two, my stamina kicked in. I walked out to the main drag in our neighborhood and then down to the school my son attended through 2nd grade and all the way back around to the main drag again, further west than I had been 20 minutes earlier and then back home for an additional 2 1/2 miles. I walked four miles during a single walk [!] and now have walked over 5 miles on the day with probably a mile or two more between now and 9:30.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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Almost forgot...use a pedometer!

Click on the title of this post for Dr. Positano's advice - Don't Self-Diagnose Colds And Flus.

Gee, You're A Positive Lady

Sometimes people can't believe motivational or inspirational speakers because they seem to be positive 100% of the time and that seems unrealistic to most people. Nothing wrong with being positive. It sure beats the opposite. (Though I know a guy who would argue against that.) I am basically a positive person, but I can see how some people could get annoyed with that at times. Plus, you might want to ask a person's family how they are at home...But, I'm not going to go there right now!

Thinking about this idea I thought of the Bill Murray movie quote in the title of this post. I love that movie. Bill Murray is a weatherman and Andie McDowell plays his producer, who tries to be a glass half-full remedy to the shallow, egotistical, negative weatherman. When she hears about his same day over and over again plight, she tells him that maybe this isn't a curse, but an opportunity and that's when he says with false - thanks for the support - enthusiasm, "Gee, you're a positive lady."

Right now it's 6:30 and it's cold and I'm not going outside to walk. I will later, but right now, on this day, I'm going to get a little more rest in my nice warm bed by myself while my honey's in Florida. Please keep in mind that I will walk later this morning, so if it's too cold where you are when you read this, you have permission to wait a couple hours until it gets warmer.

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Here are more quotes from Groundhog Day, one of my favorite movies. Click on the title of this post to see more.

First D.J.: Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cooooold out there today.
Second D.J.: It's coooold out there every day. What is this, Miami Beach?
First D.J.: Not hardly. And you know, you can expect hazardous travel later today with that, you know, that, uh, that blizzard thing.
Second D.J.: [mockingly] That blizzard - thing. That blizzard - thing. Oh, well, here's the report! The National Weather Service is calling for a "big blizzard thing!"
First D.J.: Yessss, they are. But you know, there's another reason why today is especially exciting.
Second D.J.: Especially cold!
First D.J.: Especially cold, okay, but the big question on everybody's lips...
Second D.J.: - On their chapped lips...
First D.J.: - On their chapped lips, right: Do ya think Phil is gonna come out and see his shadow?
Second D.J.: Punxsutawney Phil!
First D.J.: Thats right, woodchuck-chuckers - it's
[in unison]
First D.J.: GROUNDHOG DAY!
Second D.J.: GROUNDHOG DAY!


Rita: I like to see a man of advancing years throwing caution to the wind. It's inspiring in a way.
Phil: My years are not advancing as fast as you might think.

Ned: Phil? Phil Connors? Phil Connors, I thought that was you!
Phil: Hi, thanks for watching.

Phil: You wanna throw up here, or you wanna throw up in the car?
Ralph: I think... both.

Phil: Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today.

Elderly Lady whose flat tire Phil fixed: He's the fastest jack in Jefferson County!

Mrs. Lancaster: Did you sleep well, Mr. Connors?
Phil: I slept alone, Mrs. Lancaster.

Phil Connors: Excuse me, where is everyone going?
Fan on Street: To Gobbler's Knob. It's Groundhog Day.
Phil Connors: It's still just once a year, right?

[Driving down the railroad tracks toward an approaching train]
Phil: I'm betting he's going to swerve first.

Phil: You want a prediction about the weather, you're asking the wrong Phil. I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life.


Phil: I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster and drank pina coladas. At sunset we made love like sea otters. *That* was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get that day over and over and over...

Phil: It's the same things your whole life. "Clean up your room.", "Stand up straight.", "Pick up your feet.", "Take it like a man.", "Be nice to your sister.", "Don't mix beer and wine, ever.". Oh yeah, "Don't drive on the railroad track."
Gus: Eh, Phil. That's one I happen to agree with.

Rita: [as Phil kisses Rita over and over discovering that he has finally passed Groundhog Day] Phil, why weren't you like this last night? You just fell asleep.
Phil: It was the end of a VERY long day.

Walking Shelter Island

My friend Mary and I had lunch at the Blue Wave Bar and Grill near Humphrey's on Shelter Island in San Diego. The Fish Tacos were Mmm Mmm Great. Mary had a coupon from the Entertainment 2008 coupon book so it was 2 for 1. The regular price would have been worth it, so it was quite a bargain when you include the beautiful, calming view of the marina.

After lunch Mary and I walked Shelter Island as well as a nearby Fish Market for about 2 miles. I rounded the bell at the far end of Shelter Island and could just make out the names of the two ships nearby - the Robert Gordon Sproul and the Thomas G. Thompson. I also took note of the statue of the Pacific Spirit, a representation of a young woman. The sun was shining, the sky was clear and it was cold for San Diego in January. According to Mary, I only feel that way because I'm from here. I can't disagree. I like it in Southern California. Mary is a diabetic in her 60's who has managed her diabetes recently through diet and she hasn't walked a lot lately. She told me that this walk was no problem for her and as an RN I expect that she knows how to accurately assess her health situation. If Mary can walk, you can walk. In fact, we'll probably walk again Saturday.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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Click on the title of this post to see a third party review of the Blue Wave Bar & Grill.

A Good Kind Of Tired

Disney used to have non-animated movies with animals and a narrator. Remember those? At the end of an active day he might say something like "The puppies are tired, but it's a good kind of tired." I'm one tired puppy. Thanks to walking, it's a good kind of tired.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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I saw this guy on a cable news show and I think he's pretty good. He has a political column for the Washington Post. His name is Chris Cillizza and his column is called The Fix. Click on the title of this post to see Chris.

Five Miles Before Three

I took the dog after my last post inspired me (See? I inspired myself. Big Man Walking motivates and inspires!) and we walked about 3 1/2 miles which brought today's total to just over 5 miles. We just kept going a little bit more and a little bit more and walked the neighborhood in all directions and I made sure Mellow had plenty of water when we got back. I found I had some time and took advantage of the situation. I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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I found some books and a CD on walking at BooksaMillion.com. I have ordered from them successfully half a dozen times since the beginning of November. Great prices. Free shipping orders over $25. Follow these links to buy them now!


Walk Away The Pounds by Leslie Sansone - Click on the title of this post. Otherwise click on the title of the book or CD.

The Essential Walker's Journal
Leslie Sansone

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Half-Marathon Training
Heather Hedrick

Walking: The Complete Book
Jeff Galloway

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Walking For Health


Running and Walking for Women Over 40
Kathrine Switzer

The Step Diet:
Count Steps, Not Calories to Lose Weight and Keep It Off Forever
James O. Hill

The Healthy Heart Walking CD:
Walking Workouts for a Lifetime of Fitness
Rita Moreno

I have listed the first author where more than one is listed by the website and did not list the author of "The Idiot's Guide".

65 Miles In First Half Of January

I'll bet you can walk more if you can walk at all. I wear a pedometer and some of my walking is incidental to my life. I walk miles a little at a time. I also go out with purpose and walk one, two, or three miles or sometimes less. Soon I hope to walk more than 3 miles in one walk. I wear my pedometer after I wake up, as soon as I put on my pants, 98% of the time. All my walking, incidental or purposeful, during the 1st half (15 days) of January, 2008 totals over 65 miles, which is an average of 4 1/3 miles per day. You can check my totals each day at Lime.com by clicking on the title of this post. You can also record your walking (or running) miles at Lime. I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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Lime.com's motto is "healthy living with a twist". I think it's a clever motto and I like keeping track of my miles there. It's part of a bigger program to enlist people to walk as a form of eco-friendly transportation, so they're keeping track of all the miles of everyone who joins that program together as one big total. The program is called Live The Change And Walk It Out! and at this posting all of us together have walked over 16,000 miles. John Lennon sang, "I hope someday you'll join us" and I hope you will. I haven't quite gotten far enough in most cases to replace my car, but soon I'll be walking enough miles to walk down to the store or Fitness Together if I choose. John Lennon also sang, "We're all doin" what we can." I also like Lime.com's "Rooms" where you see images and listen to music or sounds. The other day I listened forestroom while I was working on the computer and today I tried out floralroom. I find both helpful and so far I prefer forestroom. Try it out by clicking Lime "Rooms".

One Mile To Start The Day

I woke up slightly early and got myself and Mellow out the door before 6. Socked in. Fog so thick I couldn't see 200 feet. As I write this an hour later it's light, but the fog and surrounding darkness combined with the street lamps reminded me of something that made it seem different than the fog at sunset the other day and I realized what it was while we were out in it - the movie poster from The Exorcist! How's that for a morning wake up call?! After Mellow did his thing we walked back and checked the front door to make sure I locked it[!] and then "once more into the breach" we went to finish our mile. Now I realized that I had another comparison in mind for the foggy night/morning - Mr. Tumnus and the lamppost from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. That was a more pleasant thought to my mind. I love the ethereal quality of fog. I was inspired to think of a possible beginning to a screenplay that's been rolling around in my mind for months. I find sooner or later walking helps me think if I don't have earbuds in. Sometimes it's not thinking or planning per se, but music that comes to mind.

Yesterday I was driving to what I consider historic Carlsbad and an German artist on NPR was talking about her time getting to know the Beatles back when Stu Sutcliffe played with them and they still had the slicked back hair in the "style of Marlon Brando". She was really moved by the way the Beatles all treated her like an intelligent person as they got to know her and not just a pretty girl. I started humming From Me To You as I listened to this interview and drove past the Encina power plant and it stayed with me all during my walk. My dad always called it 101 and that's what I call it most of the time, though I do slip into using Pacific Coast Highway sometimes. It becomes Carlsbad Drive near Fresco Trattoria, where I started my walk. This neighborhood is the general area of my (Friday Noon) Toastmasters Club, Expressions Unlimited, where I have been speaking nearly eight years.

I used Google Maps to see how far Fresco Trattoria is from 101. Google Maps says 128 feet, but I would say 60 feet or less. It's on the North side of Carlsbad Village Drive and they have a parking lot that I found helpful. I went inside and asked the owner(?) for a take out menu and he was friendly (good sign!) while he answered the phone. I asked if it was ok to park in his lot while I took a 15 minute walk and he said sure. If you go here to walk, you may want to park in his lot, but be sure to ask him (and ask for a take out menu!).

I walked toward the Pacific and turned left on the street that runs along the ocean. As I passed the surf shop I veered right, though not down to the beach. I walked along 101 to another set of stairs that go down to the beach and turned around across the highway from 3430 Carlsbad Drive, a residence that I noticed simply as a point of reference for this blog post. Google Maps says this is 1/2 mile and I found walking that even the slightly longer route I took was less than 1/2 mile. For you horse racing fans, the round trip was around 7 furlongs (7/8 of a mile). I shortened my walk because I remembered something I needed to do at home, but I'll be back again soon. The sun was shining and there were lots of people walking in this area. I realized that I will need sunscreen in the future. All during this walk that Beatles tune was in my head. This was really a Southern California afternoon with the sunshine and little breeze, though a little cool, even for January. I was almost run off the sidewalk by two different kids on tricycles with their moms. There was a group of adult surfer buddies talking about high school kids that can't read. One said his wife is a high school teacher and I concurred as my wife is a middle school teacher. The ocean was wavy, but not rough (I'm not a surfer, hence the non-surfer description. Heck, I even used hence.) On the way back I saw a woman with a small enclosure on the grassy area close to the surf shop with a sign that read Australian Shepherd Puppys. I stopped and talked briefly and found out that her name, Marianne, is even spelled the same as my wife's and that that spelling is becoming rarer. She had what appeared to be several Australian Shepherd magazines (who knew?) laid out and I asked how much the puppies were. She said $500 and that she had sold several last weekend. So, if you want an Australian Shepherd, you can give Marianne Bosch a call at 760.433.9880. She had two adorable pups left yesterday. When I got back to Fresco Trattoria my car was still there and there was no sign of a tow truck, so the owner(?) was good to his word.

I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

A Quick Walk For Mellow

When you notice that you don't have a lot of time you can still walk five minutes, eight minutes, fifteen minutes or what have you. A key is to just walk and keep reminding yourself to walk, no matter what. I just got back from a walk with my dog Mellow. My son and I are going on an errand and I fit this in while he's taking a shower. Find ways to find time to walk. Even if it's just a little time. Keep walking.

I am walking.

You can walk.

Please walk today.

No matter what.

Six miles before dinner

After talking with Christine Burke from Fitness Together early today I got inspired and walked with my dog, Mellow, almost 2 1/2 miles this morning. With that and incidental walking and another 2 mile walk a little while ago, I am at six miles before dinner and there's probably more to come!

I got new shoes at Movin Shoes in Encinitas and my feet definitely feel better. I haven't talked about it before now, but my feet do get a little sore with all this walking. I asked Matt at Movin Shoes if that was due to my body size or my shoes and he said that my shoes can make a big difference. They do. This is more walking than I've done for a while [ever?] and I expect some soreness. My new pair of Brooks have lessened the intensity of that soreness. I was impressed with the knowledge of guys at this shoe store. Matt watched me walk and noticed that I was overpronating and then suggested appropriate shoes. I don't recall ever dealing with people who understand shoes, feet, running, and walking like these guys do. In fact, I don't remember any shoe store employees ever mentioning anything like overpronating. I recommend them highly. The guy from Yelp.com was right about their excellent service.

Another new thing I'm doing to feel better is stretching after walking, which Christine mentioned to me today. She taught me to do what I call a bendover and hang down and then the stretch that makes you look like you're pushing/holding up the wall. She said this helps alleviate tightness and I remembered that a chiropractor once told me I was one of tightest people she had ever met. (I assumed she wasn't making a comment about my wallet.)

I told you my weight at Fitness Together was 276 this morning. What I got at home before I left was 122.6 kilos which is around 270 pounds. I have lost .3 kilos in two weeks, but I DO think I gained weight the first week because I didn't pay attention to my increased appetite and as a result, I gained weight the first week. I'll keep reporting both as I assume the discrepancy will remain constant, so it will be no big deal in the end. Also, I definitely had more clothing on at Christine Burke's establishment.

Lastly, other measurements were chest - 48.5, waist - 50, bicep - 16, thigh - 23 (6 inches up from kneecap). My resting heart rate was 79 and blood pressure was 136/88. Incorporating my lose 50 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle goals, my goal weight by December 31, 2008 is 236 with 18% body fat, which puts me right at the upper end of optimum. I am walking! You can walk! Please walk today!

Christine Burke fitness

I Googled Christine Burke and found that there are a number of Christine Burkes, including one who was in a Twilight Zone episode in 1963. MY Christine Burke can be more easily found by Googling "Christine Burke fitness". So, if for some reason you can't Google right now and you have no pen, pencil, stone tablet, etc..., you can keep thinking "Christine Burke fitness, Christine Burke fitness, Christine Burke fitness" over and over until you get somewhere to write it down or key it in. Of course, that's really aimed at those of you who live within whatever distance you consider reasonable from Carlsbad. (Though I'm sure if you want to fly in or take the train, Christine would be ok with that.) I did see the first two entries for FTNorthCounty.com when I Googled, but I was surprised to find my blog entry from last Friday in third place for that search! The heading looked like this:

Big Man Walking: Christine Burke on goals

Sometimes I really love the coolness of the internet.

This morning I visited MY Christine Burke at Fitness Together in La Costa, which is a community in the city of Carlsbad, California. Fitness Together's motto is emblazoned on the Body Fat Analysis form Christine filled out for me and that motto is:
1 Client 1 Trainer 1 Goal

She weighed me and on her scale I weigh 276 pounds.

My body fat percentage is 33.9 and that's pretty high. 33.9% body fat puts me into the obese category, which starts at just over 25% body fat. Average body fat is from 18-25% and Optimal Fitness is 13-18% body fat. My BMI or Body Mass Index is 35.4 and the obesity category of the BMI starts at 30. Overweight BMI is 25-29.9 and Normal Weight is 18.5-24.9. Whether you're looking at body fat or BMI, I'm in the obese category and that is a wake up call. If you are in similar shape, one reason I'm blogging is to encourage you that you can get to a more desirable size and weight. If you're better off than I am right now, that's great. I encourage all of you who can walk to walk and walk more frequently.

I'll go over more in the next post. Right now I'm going down to Movin Shoes, which is one of the stores recommended by Christine Burke. I Googled and found a review of Movin Shoes. Their website is MovinShoes.com.

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Click on the title of this post and automatically be transported to the Google search "Christine Burke fitness".

Walking at Lindbergh Field

Marianne and I got up this morning a little after five and went to the San Diego International Airport/Lindbergh Field. Yes, the blogger from Big Man Walking drove. But I walked over a mile before seven, mostly at the airport. I helped Marianne with her bags and after she checked in with Continental, we got in line together for the security screening. I watched as Marianne reached the point where I could not continue with her and very soon she was through the portal and waved before she walked out of sight. So she's gone for two weeks to Florida. I passed back through the walkway/overpass and down the escalator and into my Buick, which Stuart and I refer to as the "stodgemobile". I made sure to keep my ticket and I was glad to pay the minimum. We didn't dawdle, so being able to be with Marianne as long as I could in getting her to the plane and then finding it fit right into their fee schedule just seemed fair to me.

Earlier, when Marianne and I arrived, we remembered almost 20 years ago when we returned to San Diego from a couple days in Las Vegas and we turned in our ticket and paid A LOT. After we turned it in the clerk said that it would have been cheaper if we had lost out ticket. We asked if we could just do that - say that we lost our ticket. She said we could have if we hadn't already turned it in! Live and learn as my dad used to say. Of course, he also used to say, "Too soon old and too late smart." Hopefully that second saying doesn't have to be true.

On my way back through Del Mar I decided I had a taste for breakfast and stopped in Cardiff-by-the-Sea at Pipes for a burrito, or so I thought. I was still pretty tired and ordered, but maybe I forgot to add "burrito" to what I ordered. So I got a plate full of really yummy food anyway (English muffins instead of tortillas...) and I drove a few miles to Moonlight beach in Encinitas and enjoyed breakfast watching the waves and listening to the Puzzle Guy on NPR. Now, there's another reason to visit San Diego County. Come for the waves, whether you're watching or listening or riding them, and check out Pipes while you're here. I was born and raised here and I love being near the ocean. I feel better knowing it's close. When Marianne gets back, we'll walk on the beach together right next to the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

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Click on the title of this post to see a photo of Pipes. Click here to see a couple short reviews by visitors. Click San.org to see the San Diego International Airport/Lindbergh Field link.

Beautiful sunsets in Carlsbad

Mellow needed another walk so we went west at sunset for a round trip of a little less than 1.5 miles. The fog rolling into a valley below is really beautiful at sunset. Some people see fog as eerie, but to me it looks amazing filling a valley with light up above. The sunset was quite colorful as it nearly always is.

I actually had the thought as I was walking and watching the sunset that you should visit San Diego County if you haven't before. Yes, we have earthquakes and wildfires and mudslides, but it's still worth it. I say that as someone who has experienced some extreme conditions here. I'm used to the earthquakes and have never had a serious problem personally because of one. The last one I remember I woke up and then rolled over and went to sleep after greeting God in passing.

Back in the early 80's my family almost lost part of our house because of flooding in Valley Center and a girl I knew in high school did drown in a flood. Recently, a friend of my wife's had his home burn to the ground. [Matt Lauer took him and his wife out to dinner for their anniversary and bought them some nice clothes, but that's another story.] While we don't have tornados or lava, I guess you can say that nature is not perfectly safe here. But, yes, it's still worth it to live here. On the other hand, if the natural phenomena of this area scare you from living here, that's ok, because we do have a lot of people here. You can still visit and then go home if you like. There are lots of great places to walk. [With a pedometer.]

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If you've seen my entries at Lime.com, you've probably noticed that I mentioned Nonviolent Communication and Marshall Rosenberg. I truly think this method helps us understand in a practical way the underpinnings of our communication better than anything I've encountered before. Click on the title of this post to watch/listen to Marshall Rosenberg on YouTube.

Keep walking even a little

Here it is Saturday, but there has been so much going on that I haven't quite walked a mile and it's almost noon. My honey is going to Florida tomorrow early and we spent a little time in one of our couple rituals this morning and I have assignments still to do to help her on her way. She just took our son to get his ankle checked after last night's soccer game and I'm about to take his two buddies to the movies because this outing was put in motion before he and his mother decided that he should get the ankle checked today rather than Monday.

But the dog really needed a walk, so I did get a little one in. I look forward to Monday when Christine will start "forcing" me to come in a couple times a week. When I was at Toastmasters yesterday I shared about walking and found out that at least a couple more people are walking in earnest in the new year. When you tell other people about what you're doing you can find those who are willing to support you in your goals. Conversely, if you don't share they don't know. So...walk. And tell somebody.

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Click on the title of this post to visit my Toastmasters Club blog - Expressions-Unlimited.blogspot.com.

Oh yeah...walking helps you feel good

I was feeling a little out of it earlier this evening at my sons's soccer game. I had some dental pain and decided to watch the game while walking outside the perimeter fence. In just a little while my mind was off the pain and my son's team was seven and one.

Last year I wrote an article about the negative mood swing possible when you put certain substances in your body.
Click to view my mood article.

Christine Burke on goals

If you've been reading Big Man Walking, you might remember that my two goals are to lose 50 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle by December 31, 2008. My first strategy is walking. An expert promised to help me. At my Toastmasters club today two members covered areas I'm really interested in. One spoke on Nonviolence and I will contact her for a future post. Christine Burke, the other speaker, is owner or part owner of two fitness clubs called Fitness Together. Christine spoke about goals and her example had to do with losing weight. I was definitely paying attention. She has a style of goal setting called S.M.A.R.T. goals and I promise to share more about it after talking with her further. I Googled S.M.A.R.T. goals and what I found sounds very close to what Christine shared earlier today. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Do you have goals? Are they S.M.A.R.T.?

Whether or not you have goals, you can still walk starting right now.

Whether or not you have a pedometer, you can still walk starting right now.

Whether or not you have the perfect gear, you can still walk starting right now.

If you're already walking, congratulations! If you're not walking yet, what are you waiting for?


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Click on the title of this post to see Christine and her Program Director, Mike Deibler, in one of her Fitness Together locations. You can also click here - FTNorthCounty.com to visit the site of the Fitness Together where I will see Christine on a regular basis starting Monday. I copied the following information about Christine Burke, Fitness Together owner, from one of her websites.

Christine hates exercise, and feels if she can keep up her fitness program, so can you. Christine weighed around 170 pounds at her heaviest, and her cholesterol level was at 240. Unlike her co-workers, Christine prefers to sit still while reading books, watching movies, and playing with digital photos. Despite this, she now maintains her weight under 135, her blood pressure is 110/70, and her last cholesterol reading was 160. Her athletic achievements include being the Slowest Kid on the Swim Team and accumulating many bruises while competing for the UCLA Fencing Team. Christine has a BSEE and MBA from UCLA, and she actually does enjoy roller blading and boogie boarding. She motivates herself to work out by hanging out with the best personal trainers in San Diego.

40 miles in ten days

Forty miles is a good start to the year. Here is just a little bit of trivia because I have played a fair amount of poker in my four and a half decades on this earth. Forty miles is short for the phrase "forty miles of railroad track" which means you have four tens. You hear the phrase "thirty miles" much more often because you make three tens much more often than four tens, which is a very nice hand. So when it's time to show your hand, you turn it over and say, "Forty miles," and the vast majority of the time you hear "very nice hand" in return. Once in a while when you have "forty miles of railroad track" you might hear, "Nice hand, but it's not a winner," because someone has a hand so "big" that it beats four tens.

When you have walked 40 miles in your first ten days of a resolution or on track to a goal, you have a "very nice hand". Now I'm in the middle of my forties and I have 40 miles, a very nice hand, and I would like 40 more and then maybe, 40 more again. Do you have a very nice hand? Would you like 40 more miles? Get a pedometer from wherever you like and get started. Whether it costs $20 delivered or $200 is up to you. Or you can go down to Target or your favorite sports oriented store and get one there. Just do it or something like that. Now. Today. Join me. Join us. OK?

You might have missed it

Sometimes I'm walking and I'm really intent on the exercise. I'm not a speed walker exactly, but my honey sometimes falls behind. You can miss the scenery if you're just walking/exercising, so sometimes I walk slower. If you do "serious" walking part of the time and at other times walk at a more leisurely pace, you can see things you might otherwise miss AND get some serious exercise.

This morning I might have missed the intent of the group walking in my neighborhood. We exchanged hellos and a couple of them laughed at my comment. When I saw my honey and told her of the exchange, she let me know they weren't real estate people, but home owners association inspectors and I made sure to not let Mellow off his leash!

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In the midst of all those running for president and the ever-increasing pace, we might have missed something great. I know I missed his amusing "bored interviewer" commercials. I just found out about these funny Bill Richardson commercials today. You may or may not agree that we've missed something politically, but I believe you'll agree that we missed out on a couple smiles. Click on this post's title to watch Bill Richardson humor on YouTube.

I hope he's walking now

He's stopped running. He's a good guy and he's got a lot of experience, probably like all of you. Now that Bill Richardson is no longer running for president, I hope he's walking. He needs it as much as me. Click here or on the title of this post to read Politico.com about Bill Richardson. I hope whoever wins uses him in our government. Does New Mexico have term limits?

Walking the neighborhood

Another great reason for walking is to slow down a little and notice the world around you. Mellow and I walked a mile or so before breakfast and we noticed a part of the neighborhood we hadn't walked before.

Those of you who walk your dog probably have a lot of the same experiences that we do. We got about half a mile from our home and in the process walked down a hill that was not as easy coming back. Fortunately I remembered to bring our doggie "baggie" because what Mellow was not ready to do when we were 50 feet or so from the nearest convenient receptacle, he was more than happy to do at the bottom of that hill.

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Click on the title of this post to see my new favorite dentist at Azmodent.com in North San Diego County. Michael Tarighati went to Tufts, which I find pretty impressive and my experience so far is that he really, really knows what he's doing. He's even corrected problems from work by previous dentists who will remain nameless and his office is a warm, family friendly place.

The scale and the hospital

This morning I stepped on the scale and it read 123.9. Not pounds - kilos.

One challenge that you might face in being more active is eating more if you're not paying attention. I think that's what I did this week, because last week I weighed 123.2, so i gained .7 kilos. To convert to pounds, multiply by 2.2, so my .7 gain converts to 1.54 pounds. Is it possible that I have built one and a half pounds of extra muscle that I didn't have last week? That's probably not it, though I did walk over 25 miles. So be forewarned, don't eat extra food when you add more exercise.

My health goals/resolutions are to lose 50 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle by December 31, 2008. I still have 51 weeks, but now I need to lose 51.54 pounds. Still, that's just a smidgen over 1 pound a week and totally doable.

I'm grateful I can get out and walk. I urge you to reflect on your ability to walk and get out and walk now. Today I found out that my brother went back to the hospital Saturday for 11 hours and then was sent home. He saw a doctor this week who told him to get back in the hospital and Marianne and I visited him there this afternoon. They are not 100% sure what's going on, though they suspect his pancreas is infected in addition to the pancreatitis. He seems in better spirits, but the pain is still there. I have the sense that if the CIA harnessed pancreatitis, they could use it as an "enhanced interrogation" technique. This is not fun stuff and we all make choices that could help us avoid this outcome. You can do what it takes to get healthier. We can do it together. We must.

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Click on the title of this post to see a device we started using at home to stop paying phone bills. We use OOMA to get phone service that actually sounds like a normal phone through the internet. We paid for the main hub, which looks like an answering machine, and a scout device which allows us to have two lines with one phone number. In my opinion, that's a lot better than just having call waiting. We got our last phone bill for December and now we call in the U.S. for free. What a great deal if you still use a non-mobile phone.

Pushing four miles before dinner

This is day seven of my walking new year. Nearly four miles walked and the sun hasn't gone down yet. Tomorrow I look at the scale and no matter the result, I still have 51 more weeks to go in 2008. How did I get started down this path?

I just decided that I really need to make health more of a priority and walking is something 99% of us can do. So, if I can do it, you can do it, too. I sit a lot and I can feel a huge difference because I'm getting up and walking at least a few times a day. Maybe that's my metabolism getting in gear...

I also know that I'm about 90 lbs. heavier than I was when I met my honey, Marianne, in the 80's. I thought of myself as "husky" from a fairly young age. I don't think you could call me slender after about second grade, but that husky label was a disservice. Even wrestling my freshman year in high school I thought of myself that way, but really, that wasn't close to where I'm at now and many people probably thought I was in fine shape. I kept thinking of myself as heavy until I made it really come true.

Our son, Stuart, will be in college in August or September of 2009 and it will be great to be in much better shape by the time he graduates from high school. We've talked about him being an old man and me being an old, old man in our rocking chairs someday and I would like to be there when that happens.

While I was thinking about New Year's resolutions, my brother was going to the hospital late New Year's Eve with pancreatitis and he was there for days. He's only 51, but he was in incredible pain. I know he can do better, but he'll have to restrict his diet and at least walk on a regular basis. No beer for a long time, if ever, if he wants to make sure that pain doesn't come back. I'm almost 45 and I want to be in a lot better shape when I get to 46, let alone 51.

My honey wants me to be around for a long time, too. And, as someone who enjoys public speaking, this journey will give me more to talk about. Last but not least, I do care about people having better lives, so if I can write about this and some of you find it encouraging enough to make positive changes in your lives, I'm doing more of what I'm supposed to do while I'm here.

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Starting with this post, I'll include a link that I find important or interesting "underneath" the title of the post. Take a peek or ignore it - your choice. Click today to find one of the most important designers in the world. William McDonough is helping us design a more living, livable and lasting world. He's also involved with the Make It Right Foundation, which is helping New Orleans build houses the right way for a healthier planet.

Walking with Mellow, talking with Denny

I was out with my dog, Mellow, a few minutes ago and my neighbor, Denny, and I started talking. I urged him as I urge all of you to walk more in 2008 and beyond. He related that he had just committed to a gym and it occurred to him that we all need to walk more. I agree.

I encourage you to walk 40 minutes more each day than you are currently walking. If you believe you can't walk that much, what about 30 minutes? Stretch yourself. I absolutely do not believe that you can't find 20 or 30 or 40 minutes to walk. If you have to, you can do it 10 minutes three or four times a day until you figure out how to schedule in the time to walk. Do it now. Get up and walk outside, or if you must, walk inside. Walk!

You can record how much you walk by visiting Lime.com and registering with them. Visit my walking log by clicking on the title of this post. You'll probably want a pedometer. I bought one last summer and I'm sure you can find one between five and 20 dollars. Mine records my steps and I went out to Palomar college to find out how big my steps are. Actually, I found out that 575 of my steps equals one quarter mile so 2300 is one mile. You can do it. Go!

Feeling good

If you're like me, you may not realize that you aren't feeling as good as you could because you have gotten used to living life with less exercise and that feels normal. I am feeling better than I've felt in a while and I didn't feel bad before. I think I can actually feel circulation improving. I expect I'll sleep better, too. Today is my biggest day of the 2008 and I'm pushing 5 miles.

Some of you may be thinking that 5 miles is a lot, but if you are wearing a pedometer you will probably walk somewhere between one and a half and three miles simply as you move through your day WITHOUT any special time dedicated solely to walking. By the way, if you are walking less than three quarters of a mile a day, you REALLY need to get more exercise.

Now I don't feel bad for sitting through the Charger playoff game in the recliner. I did walk during halftime. Thank you, Tivo, and similar devices! Again, you can click on the title of this post and visit my Lime.com walking update page.

I can walk & You can walk

I feel better already. I decided to get moving in 2008 and from January 1-5 I've done over 12 miles total. I've been wearing a pedometer since last summer. If you've never worn a pedometer, you can get used to it. It's second nature to me now. I remember to put it on my belt 90% of the time or more.

I'm using Lime.com to record my progress on my Lime profile. I recommend recording your progress every day, which I started doing in 2008. If you look at previous entries, you'll see that I devolved into recording my progress for several days at a time. I find daily records help inspire me. You can click on the title of today's post to see my progress. Incidentally, Lime is adding all our miles together to show how much we can accomplish by pooling our efforts. I hope you'll join us today.