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