From Garden Party To Retreat

Mellow and I were out walking again this morning. I wanted hopefully to get a couple miles in before 8. I'm getting ready to go on retreat with the men of Solana Beach Presbyterian Church. Last night I was in rehearsal with a handful of them because "I'm with the band." I'm singing backup, which I guess makes me like a Pip with fewer dance moves. We practiced about a dozen songs that are pretty familiar from worship services and this morning I had one of them in my head as the dog and I got a few hundred yards into our walk.

So, I checked with Last.FM and lo and behold, they have a version of Blessed Be Your Name by Robin Mark that's very good.

Not long into the walk my attention shifted to a song that might be more familiar to fans of pop music from the 1970's - Garden Party by Rick Nelson. The other day it was Mr. Bojangles from 1971 and today it's Garden Party from 1972. Will I remain mostly stuck in the 70's on my walks? Check back after I return from the retreat to find out.

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

---

Inspirational, Motivational And Interesting Quotes are back starting today


“I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist.”

Tammy Faye Bakker


Find this and other Tammy Faye Bakker [most recognize this last name rather than Messner) quotes at ThinkExist.com.

TammyFaye.com

His Dog And Him

"His dog and him" were the lyrics I heard in my head the other day while walking with my dog (see previous post). I sometimes hum or sing while I'm walking. Mr. Bojangles was the song in my head a couple days ago, but my long walk down Alga today really gave me the feeling of "my dog and me". Lots of cars and not enough sidewalk and NOBODY else walking, though we did see the occasional cyclist. I haven't gotten to the point where I need an IPod or Zune when I walk. Today is the second time I've walked over 10 miles in 8 hours, so that's saying something. I am looking forward to April when a truly sweat-resistant earpiece is scheduled to debut from Plantronics. I can see myself on the phone sometimes when I walk. I can also see myself passing the 400 mile mark sometime this weekend or early next week.

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

---

Click to listen to Mr. Bojangles by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at Last.FM or here to read the lyrics.

My Dog And Me In The Morning

After getting a good night's sleep and having a good meeting with Peter and John, I was ready for a couple miles with Mellow, my dog. Mellow was plenty ready himself. He prefers to "express himself" in the prickly bushes or the clover and I've trained him to stop what he's doing when I utter "AAAH-AAAH". So he left the tall clover at my urging and did his little circle dance on the short grass before he did his thing and then we got on our way.

Mellow follows well with or without a lease and that makes it a lot easier. We see lots of people with their dogs and some of them are pretty poorly behaved. I understand why some people want to take in dogs who have been abused or who are doomed or both, like non-winning greyhounds. I don't understand why people choose dogs that are difficult on other people. One lady has a dog who clearly wants to tear Mellow apart. Others have dogs that get aggressive towards me. It seems like some dogs would be better off away from densely populated areas. I've even seen one woman with a stroller and two ill-mannered (to say the least) dogs. Her situation seems like an accident waiting to happen.

Perhaps I'm old-fashioned about this, but I think people should come first in this equation and if your dog isn't going to behave well around people, you need to keep your pet away from people. Should people have to keep getting out of the way because you made what amounts to a bad choice in dogs? Still, Mellow and I do our best to cross the street when the hostiles come near.

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

Walk Anyway

Sometimes you don't feel like it. That's ok. You can use it as a learning experience. Or maybe something akin to muscle memory for attitude. I don't feel like walking right now. I'm going to walk anyway. When I get back, I expect that my candidate for president will be in the same position as when I left. My son will still be mere months away from college decision time and weeks away from the SAT and I still need to call the car people. But my pedometer will look different.

Next time I don't feel like it I will go for a walk again. And it will be that much easier because I did it this time.

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

Don't Sit Down!

Back in 1993 I made an amazing discovery. When I come in the house, if I simply don't sit down I will get the next task done much sooner. Seems simple enough. The key for me is remembering to stay standing up.

This morning I took the dog for a little drive and got the paper. After giving the dog a little food, I set down my drink on the kitchen table and stood reading the paper for just a minute or so. I went back downstairs and got the dog and we went right out and started walking.

A few weeks ago I started breaking my day into three mini-days. I learned this over ten years ago from a life insurance organization started by a man named Hubert Humphrey - no relation to the politician. My understanding is that Humphrey started this practice and taught it to us. At one time I felt it was a little silly, but I have found that now that I am choosing this, I like it and it helps me focus on getting things done.

My dog, Mellow, and I walked about three miles and I got back to the house just before 8 am, the end of my first mini-day. Because I didn't sit down I had time to do the best I have done for three weeks before 8 am. I know this for sure because after I got back I sat down and I have been at the computer a little under an hour.

Incidentally, I was also motivated after I stepped on the scale and got a pleasant surprise. I had expected to "break even" for the week, but my new number is 117.7 kilos which is just under 259 pounds. This is the first time I've been under 259 pounds in 11 or 12 years.

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

(Don't sit down!)

Tomorrow Is Another Day

Yum! Pure Protein has a S'mores flavored snack bar with only 8 net carbs. The problem is...Trader Joe's doesn't carry it. I got a Chocolate Peanut Butter bar tonight and there are actually two problems. The bar is bigger and it has 21 net carbs. I knew that giving in at my son's birthday wall climbing extravaganza would put me off course for a day, but I didn't count on being derailed by snack bars. I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

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

---

Started another Big Man Walking blog to highlight more articles and the see how Wordpress is these days. Click to visit.

Show Your Friends

This isn't technically related to walking. But you've got to show your friends. Send them the link to this Big Man Walking post and see if they smile knowingly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbek46GB-zU

Big Man Walking On Flickr

Last night I heard about the growth of Flickr and the impact of Flickr photos. I just started my own Flickr page. If it's good enough to get photos out of totalitarian countries, it's good enough for me. Join me! Here's my Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigmanwalking

Sometimes I Get Really Busy

This week has been so much busier than normal. I got home last night after 11 and someone else was using my computer! My hope is that I can give more detail later today. Just got done baking a cake for my son's party and now the last minute preparations and then picking up some pies and then it's the climbing wall (for the kids at least). Through all the busyness I have been walking and encourage you to do so, too. Feels like a lot more than just a few days since I set my record of 14 miles in a single day. And I am STILL walking, just no new record. Keep it up. Send this the URL for Big Man Walking to a friend who might need it more than you.

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

45 And Lowest Weight In Years

Today is my 45th birthday. My weight has not been this low for a couple years and if the trend continues, tomorrow or the next day I will be at a weight I haven't seen for a dozen years! Rest assured I am still walking. I will get up after this post and see if I can get my 8 am to 4 pm mini-day to 10,000 steps. If you view the right column on this page and click on "Walk Out!" under Walking Links, you'll see that I post my minutes/miles 3 times a day.

Yesterday I was swamped preparing for a 40 minute presentation last night to a group of college bound high schoolers at Reality Changers. I was so adrenalized after I got home that I couldn't get to sleep until around 3! So, I'm a little tired right now. I'm going to walk and get back to you after my birthday and the Toastmasters speech contest tomorrow.

Please keep in mind that you walk a little EVERY day and some days you get inspired to do more and some of those inspired days you do A LOT more. That's the way it's working for me. I believe it's because I'm simply not stopping. If you don't see a post, which happens about 10% of the time, you can know I'm still walking. Remember to check my "Walk Out!" for my current numbers.

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

14 Miles Walking Yesterday

Sometimes you get on a roll. 14 miles in one day is a record for me and to top it off, this morning I weighed in at 119.2 kilos. That's the lowest I've been in two years. We thought the son had broken a toe earlier and spent almost three and a half hours with that. He's in pain, but he's ok. His toe is not broken. More details about walking and weight tomorrow.

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

Over 10 Miles In Eight Hours

Earlier I was closing in on 300 miles since 01/01/08 and I blasted through and am now nearing 310 miles. Some days you can get inspired. Keep doing what you're doing every day and then all of a sudden you get a burst of energy or inspiration or encouragement - you get the idea. You don't need to break personal records every day, but keep going and some days you will. My body's buzzing. I'm feeling good and my feet are only a touch sore thanks to my shoes. You can do it. 50 or 100 yards or five or ten miles. Remember, you are competing with YOU.

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

---

Click on the title of this post to see Ooma.com's blog about me and the other winners. We haven't had a phone bill at our house since December because of Ooma. No, I don't work for them, but they did send me a nice T-shirt and blanket(!) today.

Help the hungry and increase your vocabulary for free at FreeRice.com.