#walkmeter

Operation Slimdown

This is the route Deucie and I take every day at noon. 2.2 km, takes about 35 minutes more or less, depending on her 'evacuation' requirements. Oh, and sniffing. Hers, that is. We also take three other shorter walks per day for a total of about an hour.

She's pretty happy about it, but there are times she just digs her paws into the sidewalk and calls a halt, looking up at me with an injured air as if to say how could I pass this up without investigating?

I use an iPhone app called Walkmeter Pro, which for $4.99/yr gives me a whole bunch of info/options. It even talks to me.

So i woke up this morning in my bed back at home (San Diego) and...NOPE.  Back hurts too much, stay in bed, don't go running.  After slowly and painfully crawling out of bed I unrolled a yoga mat and started stretching, hoping to ease some of the pain away.  My mom told me there was no way I had a herniated disk, so of course - in my great wisdom - took that as my excuse - or rather lack of an excuse - not to go running.  

So there I was with my strained back, as stiff as my... I can't sit or lay comfortably, and can strand straight up, but hell, who the hell does that running, right?  So I drive over to the last place I was most in shape in my life: The Lake Murray Reservoir:

Around it, a 5.5 mile, well-maintained asphalt road.  The beauty of it was not the nice view of the lake, mountains, or foliage; it was the fact that it does not make a complete loop.  You get to the end of the 3.2 mile loop one way (1/2 a lap) and have to turn around.  Many people think this sucks.  I think its perfect.  Because you get to the end of the road and say, "Well, I'm not getting back to my car any faster, so now I have to turn around and run to get home." In a sense, it forces you to run longer.  Evil, but clever.

So at the end of my first lap (~5.5 mi) I'm feeling pretty good.  So I do something I normally don't do, which is get to the end of the road and turn around a keep on running.  About halfway through my second lap (~6-6.5 mi) my left knee is beginning to hurt.  I adjust, and then my left ankle starts to hurt.  "Fuck it," I say, and kept on running.  Eventually the pain went away, and fortunately my shins didn't hurt at all - strange, considering I have really bad shin splints on my left leg.  This is all while my back is straining to stay in a comfortable posture, so I can't bend too far back, nor twist my torso at all.  So at around 11 mi I'm closing the second lap, and I feel like absolute shit.  My groin muscles, having never been stretched before a run, were beginning to become uncomfortably sore.  But 11 miles in and you're so close to 13.1 that the pain is tolerable.  I just wanted to be able to say I ran a half-marathon on a whim made the night before, as part of a training run for a half marathon coming up in December.  Well here it is, the fruit of my labor.  Proof

  There it is.  Everything I worked for.  Recorded.  Two and a half-laps around this beautiful lake, and where does it all end? Where does my half-marathon finish? On the fucking side of the lake opposite my car.  Like I said, evil, but clever.  

Its 87 degrees here in KY.  Just finished my walk for today.  It's not a great time but at least it's something.  I seriously felt faint the last mile due to the heat.  My hats off to those of you run in this heat.  I don't know how you do it. 

    Spring is right around the corner! Time to get in shape? Here are our top 3 favorite fitness apps to get you motivated:


      Strava Run is a clean and simple app that packs a lot of motivation! Just set up an account, push the play button and start running! For each new run, the app tracks your time, distance and pace. When you’re done, your results are saved to your feed... and added to your profile stats. The app’s “segments” feature helps motivate you by checking out running routes created by other app users. Check out how well they did, and then challenge yourself to do better. Strava also has a version of this app for cyclists. For a free app, you surely can’t go wrong with Strava Run.

     Runmeter, Cyclemeter and Walkmeter are by the same developer and do the same thing. So pick your poison! When you’re ready for a workout, create a route and choose an activity. What’s great is that you can totally customize the stopwatch feature. By default, it tracks the basics like your time, distance and pace... but you can swap these out to track something else while you’re on the move, like elevation, fastest pace, heart-rate and more! We should mention to track heart rate, you’ll need to purchase the ‘Wahoo Fitness A.N.T. Plus System”. The app also maps you’re routes and logs your workouts on the built-in calendar. Tap an entry to view all your stats, maps and graphs. for 3 bucks RunMeter, CycleMeter and WalkMeter have alot to offer someone determined to get in shape.