Over Two Miles Before 6 AM

Last night I did my Wednesday night tutoring at Reality Changers and I was inspired by the efforts of some of the kids I know. One guy picked up "The Dialogues of Plato" for pleasure reading! Another student has decided to take a trip with People to People's Student Ambassadors and it's exciting to see them expand their horizons. I guess my inspiration carried over to my sleep time and my brain woke up a little after 4:30 thinking about the same stuff. If you are in San Diego or the North Coast portion of San Diego County and you would like that to tutor/mentor senior high students, give me a shout.

After laying in bed for 15 minutes or so I decided to take Mellow for a walk and he was one enthusiastic retriever. We live in a pretty safe neighborhood but it's nice to have a dog with you walking that early. We walked just over two miles while I counted in my head to double check the landmarks every quarter mile. I know from walking the track at Palomar College that just under 500 of my steps is approximately a quarter mile. I got back before 5:45 and surprised my wife with mushrooms and scrambled eggs with Trader Joe's green salsa.

Last time I mentioned "that's another post" and late in the day my wife and I walked two miles at Solana Beach again. This was the same day that I had done the four miles plus earlier in the day and I was a little tired near the end. I didn't quite lift my foot high enough as we were exiting the beach and I ran into the hardest lump of seaweed I ever remember encountering. Almost broke my fourth toe on my left foot and it's a nice rainbow of purple now. That incident on what should have been the easiest walk of the day has me sort of resting my foot. I walked over a mile yesterday and it's not quite as bad today, but it's much more painful when I walk barefooted as I was on the beach. Wear shoes or watch out!

Walking the Dog Four Miles (Twice)

Yesterday I started out for a walk with our dog, Mellow, and decided to keep going. Recently I've only taken individual walks in the one to two mile range, but I decided to be more adventurous. If you know Carlsbad - San Marcos - Vista, I walked down Alga to Melrose and down past Poinsettia to whatever the next street is and back with side trips in my neighborhood. My dog was grateful and my body knew I had gotten some exercise after four miles.

This morning I decided to be a bit more adventurous and walked the same route almost to Palomar Airport Road where I cut through the business park and went back via El Fuerte to Unicornio and then Xana. On the way down El Fuerte I discovered a walking trail that I didn't know existed. The trail is asphalt and it mostly parallels the road but dips into a canyon and that allowed me freedom to let my dog roam a little. I wasn't sure if this was an old dead end that would have me backtracking and I knew I was already past the three mile mark. Would this be an even longer walk than I anticipated? Mellow and I met another guy and his dog along the way and eventually the trail led back up to the road, but not before we noticed the 15 degree (at least) temperature difference at the canyon bottom. This round trip was 4.25 miles. I walked more through the rest of the day, but that's another post.

Solana Beach vs. Encinitas

When I was young I lived with my family in Encinitas and Leucadia. We moved from Melrose in Encinitas to Patty Lane in Leucadia when I was five. We were there until my dad, the country boy from Illinois, thought it was too crowded on the coast. (That was 1976! He "escaped" us to the wilds of Valley Center. Talk about bad timing in the real estate market...long story short...the house he bought for 37,500 in 1968 he sold for 62,500 and within 18 months it had been resold three times. In early 1978 it sold for $198,000!) I remember not making that much of a distinction between Encinitas and Leucadia back then as both had the same zip code. Even today I'm amused and sometimes annoyed at the smaller and smaller areas around here giving themselves a name. (Part of the branding revolution, I guess.) I was a number-oriented kid and still am. I follow politics and I really like FiveThirtyEight.com, which focuses on the numbers involved in politics and polling.

Lately I've been really noticing that my walking numbers have been down. I need to get a new pedometer. You may have experienced this, too. I find that the accurate measurement - that counter you can check whenever you want - really keeps me motivated. Some may say that it's just one strategy, but it is definitely a strategy that works for me. Find the strategies that work for you. The other day I was counting steps in my head again while walking on the beach with my honey.

We had decided to go to Solana Beach because there was no parking anywhere remotely close to Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. It was a hot day, but I don't remember that lack of parking happening very often. (Maybe my dad was right.) Was it the combination of the heat and my quietness (I was counting in my head - mouth closed.) during the first half of the walk that made me see Solana Beach in a new way? Because Moonlight Beach was my default beach when I was a kid, it was the beach I tended to visit even after I moved and still what I think of when I picture the beach in my mind.

Solana Beach at low tide was unbelievably beautiful to my eyes. The flat beach between the cliffs and the ocean reminded me of Lawrence of Arabia, one of my favorite movies. We saw a few sandpipers and other birds. They were doing a dance up and down and my wife wondered if it was a mating dance. It was about 5:30 and the light at that time of day just seemed perfect. I would say that it was the best 2 mile walk I've ever had except for the one on Catalina where I met her years ago, but that's another story. Marianne and I will pay more attention to low tide and we'll be visiting Solana Beach again soon.

Watering Roses And Reading Lauren Winner

Our son got his second "behind the wheel" today and I watered the roses and everything else at the Bay Park house, front and back. He said that driving isn't as much fun for two hours when you don't really have a goal. Wait until he commutes. I did manage to get some walking in with all that back and forth, but tomorrow is really the day.

Watering gives you time to think. Some of the time I was reading Lauren Winner's "girl meets GOD". She is really good. Maybe I'll write as well one day. I was really moved as she talked about faith and feeling and Christianity and Judaism. She tells her story extremely well. I can see in my mind's eye everything she describes quite easily. You feel for her every step of the way. She motivates and inspires.

I'll be thinking about her story on my walk tomorrow.

Not Quite Awake But Blogging

I was awakened minutes ago by a dream in which I received an email telling me I was going to be killed by a professional killer. Is God giving me ideas for a screenplay? I know I'm not quite awake because I couldn't remember what keys did what on my laptop for a couple seconds.

During the last 10 days I have been exploring Twitter and I am finding that more visitors have found my blog today than just about any day in the last couple months.

I read my blog entry and realized it's been a couple weeks, which is probably not as interesting to the Twitter people who mostly send messages at least once or twice a day. I haven't been able to shut up since I started Twittering (Tweeting?). Visit my Twitter profile by clicking on the title of this post.

I do believe that having this many people read my stuff will give me more incentive to get back on pace. I intended to go again to the climbing wall with my son, but he was worn down by soccer and karate. I've only done 2 miles at a time walking recently, so I've got to get that back in shape. Any Twitterers (Tweeters?) and others who want to leave encouraging comments are welcome to do so.

I also started a blog called How I Twitter. If you're interested in social networking, you'll want to visit: HowITwitter.blogspot.com and "follow" me on Twitter. I can't quite remember what else I had to say so I guess I'll be getting back to bed soon.

Tell Someone Publicly

I volunteer with Reality Changers most Wednesday nights. We have a sharing time that includes the tutors and I let them know that I have been going backwards and/or standing still in my weight loss goal. When I started in January, I assumed that by publicly letting people know through the internet, I would have enough incentive to reach my goal.

Now I am in a position to show you that even though you get off track, you can get right back on the horse. It's helpful to tell at least one other person about your goal and in my case, I told about a dozen. Later this morning I will weigh myself and see where I'm at.

I did do something I haven't done before last Friday. My son and I went to Solid Rock Gym in San Marcos for an hour and a half and we definitely worked up a sweat on the climbing walls. He asked me if we could go and I thought about it and decided I would do it. I didn't realize that he was only asking if I would take him and be the belayer. So I stepped out of my comfort zone and worked some muscles that needed working and Stuart and I had a great time. We are on schedule for this Friday, too.

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Check out my new blog at BurritoMultiplierEffect.blogspot.com

Walked And Walked At Comic-Con

Comic-Con is huge. Over 120,000 visitors over four days padded the San Diego Convention Center. Last year I was really hurting afterwards. My feet still felt the impact this year, but all the walking I've done has gotten me used to it so it was no big deal. I was really tired one day and decided to take a nap at 6:45. I got up the next morning at 6:15. I haven't gotten that much sleep in years. Come to Comic-Con next year, but register by March [!] if you want a 4-day pass. Be prepared to walk and walk and walk and then walk some more. Why not train for it starting today?

Click on the title of this post to see some images from a very talented artist I met. His name is Francis Vallejo and he is a student at the Ringling [Yes - THAT Ringling. Who knew?] College of Art + Design in Sarasota, Florida.

The Maker's Diet (Cleanse)

Just got done with the cleanse part of The Maker's Diet. I lost over 13 pounds in 10 days. Today was day two of the actual diet. Tomorrow is the first day of Comic-Con, so I will definitely be walking and walking (and walking!). I hereby promise to blog more often. Right now I am soooo ready for bed.

You can amuse yourself with some political writing by clicking on the title of this post. I'll be sharing political links of different stripes between now and the general election in November. Did I mention that I am tired? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Music Gets You Going

If you click on the title of this post, the music of The Submarines will start right up. Some are calling them folk, but I'm not exactly sure what that means with modern instrumentation. I know they probably sound great in an Ipod while you're walking. I may have to get one of those one of these days.

Here I go on my walk...

(Yes, I am still walking. Never give up.)

Never Give Up

Never give up.

'Nuff said.

Walking Before 6 AM

Today I got a good start. I got a good night's sleep after visiting Dr. Tarighati yesterday who filled three cavities. I was really impressed with how smoothly it went and I was surprised when he told me it was all done. I was expecting the same amount of time for each tooth. I told him that he's impressive. One Motrin was all I took after the anesthetic wore off and I slept right throught from a little after 10 until a little after 5. Today that area seems normal except there's no pain like before. No wonder I was in a good mood so early!

My dog, Mellow, and I got 1.5 miles in and I came back and made breakfast. Mama was happy.

Walking And Nonviolent Communication

I got a good mile or so in just before I spoke with a nice woman who's interested in learning more about compassionate communication. I find that you can generally fit a mile in your schedule if you just pay attention. I knew that I would be on the phone and that after I would need to pick up my son. Now I've got time to call one more person before I leave and the dog is happy, too.

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

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Click on the title of this post to check out/but Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life.