Fundamentals

In sports you will sometimes see a coach or a team emphasizing fundamentals. In baseball or basketball or football you will see drills of the same exercise over and over and over. Blocking, fielding ground balls, free throws, and many other exercises constitute the fundamentals of the respective games. With walking I would say that it's walking short distances. You must be able to walk short distances before you can walk long ones.

Today I'm going to start emphasizing the fundamentals (as I see them) again. Please keep in mind that I don't have any problem with walking to the point that you are receiving aerobic benefits. However, if you only count walking distance when you get aerobic benefits, you will miss counting actual work that your body is doing. Every step you take is work that burns calories or fractions of a calorie. You could say that taking one step is a fundamental of walking. For our purposes, I suggest that we keep track of quarter miles (or even eighths of a mile if you prefer) or more.

I know that approximately 500 of my steps is a quarter mile. I'm 6'2" with long legs which are normal for my size. You will probably have between 480 and 680 steps in your quarter mile. You can visit the track at a nearby school to get a close measurement. You can count your steps or get a pedometer. I recommend the Sportline that costs around $10 or so. My last one wore out because I forgot when I was in the Bahamas and went in the water with it. Otherwise I would still be using it. They don't last forever, but so far they are the best deal for the dollar I've found.

How many quarter miles can you do in a day? I just walked my dog a quarter mile and that took 7 minutes. I know you can take 7 minutes and do a quarter mile. How about 5 times a day? 10 times a day? 15? I also know that without the dog I can do a quarter mile in 4 to 5 minutes. Keep watching BigManWalking and...


Keep walking!


I have walked 133.25 miles in 2009.

Recovery.Gov

I want everyone to know about http://www.recovery.gov so as many people as possible view what the United States government is doing with the money we put into it. In fairness, some would say that we are watching what is being done with the money that our children and grandchildren will put into it, but that remains to be seen. President Clinton produced surpluses during his administration and it's possible that President Obama and future presidents will do the same by the END (when all is said and done) of their tenure. Some people assume that when the government spends money, it all goes down a hole. If we are rational (Yes, I understand that that word is my judgement, but let us agree that being rational about politics and finances is a good goal.) about examining what happens to the money that the U.S. government spends, we can follow the trail and see if what we are doing is actually stimulative. That is, now that President Obama and his team have VOLUNTARILY created RECOVERY.GOV we can visit the site and see how our money is spent.

Some are not rational about this. They simply say that government spending is bad or more to the point, they don't want the U.S. government to take money from us in order to spend. They're like young school children who simply repeat what they are taught. (Did you know very young kids can be taught to do Calculus? They won't necessarily understand what they are doing, but they can be taught to do it.) It's fair to say that all human beings are fallible and that with human beings involved in government, mistakes will be made. But that is no different than you and me in nongovernmental activities every day. And, with a government large enough there will almost inevitably be corruption somewhere among those millions of people in government and doing business with the government. However, every day on TV or the net or other media I see and hear about people who are NOT involved in government who are committing crimes and that includes the crime of corruption.

Yet there will be successes. Let's look to praise the successes and correct the mistakes. Let's not expect the government to do nothing except tax cuts. I want better transportation systems and adequate police and fire resources and head start and better public education for kids and advanced education for those who take that path. I want better doctors than the one who squeezed my son's hand and knocked him out from the pain and sent him into an apparent seizure when he had never had one before. People who expect the government to do nothing (or to hardly exist, if at all) are building a (what's the opposite of spectacular?) fantasy world that they apparently want to live in. I think what they're doing is not helpful to their psychological well-being, too, and I guess in the United States of America that is their choice. But I sure don't want them to force me to live in their fantasy world which is really a nightmare for the poor and even lower-middle class. It's a pretty hard slog for the plain old middle class, too.

Hurray for Recovery.gov!

Now back to your regularly scheduled messages...


Keep walking!

A Quick Ten Furlongs Before Breakfast

My wife and I like to go out for coffee sometimes on Saturday morning. (Actually, I have tea a lot of the time.) This morning when we got back from our time spent reading the paper and sharing a hot beverage I decided to walk the dog before I went into the house. This is a good strategy for getting more walking in. Mellow and I did a mile and a quarter (ten furlongs) before breakfast. How many times can you do that in a year? Even three times a week means 52 times 3 times 1.25 miles and that's 195 miles extra a year. That is...do whatever you're doing PLUS walk 1.25 miles three times a week and you will have walked an EXTRA 195 miles a year. You'll feel better and you will weigh more than five and a half pounds less than you do now. Six times a week (it only took me a little over 20 minutes) and you'll weigh 11 pounds less than you do. IF you changed NOTHING else! If you added in a better diet/regimen/life plan/discipline (whatever you call it) you can lose even more. Over 5 years that's 55 pounds of weight loss. Think about it.

Walk always.

Keep walking.

You Can Start Over Anytime

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and we're not avoiding the guacamole and chips and pizza. Tomorrow will be a new day and a new start to the year for me. Marianne and I will go to the gym. When you fall off, you have to get back on and that's what we're doing tomorrow. Do you have goals or a New Year's resolution that's off track? Start again. It's ok. If you need an excuse, then start again on Groundhog Day. If you need permission, tell them Charlie said you could start over. Forgiveness. Grace. Look it up. It's real if you accept it.

I have walked 122.5 miles in 2009. Keep walking!