Father's Day - 2016

I had a really good Father's Day this year.  I started off early getting together with friends where the memories and stories quickly centered around the general topic of father's. I'd be lying if I didn't say it felt pretty good to have a day dedicated to stories about the antics of dads.

My family and I ate some breakfast, and my daughter even chose to go to the bagel store with me. That's an unusual event, and I think we had a pretty good time. We all headed out to the garage (father space if there ever was one), and instead of getting some ties or sweaters or something else I don't really need, we spent the better part of the afternoon downsizing our material possessions. We didn't quite go far enough, but five bikes, two bookshelves, and a whole host of smaller items later, I'd say we made a good start.

Fifteen Pairs of N2N-TCP Training Shoes off for recycling

I got rid of fifteen pairs of worn out N2N-TCP training shoes that had used up their useful service lives. There are over 5,000 miles of walking represented by these shoes, and although we've come a long...long way together, the time was right to let the go.

Today was a great day, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the universe will help me along the way to my destiny tomorrow.

Five "Must Have" Items for Long Distance Walkers

Grind it out.  That's what today felt like, I captured no photos, and I find myself short on inspiring tales, so I'm reaching back to my 10 List of things to write about and pulling out something I know because it's easy to execute without a great deal of thought.

Five "Must Have" Items for Long Distance Walking

1.  Good Socks. I experimented with quite a variety of socks before I finally settled on a medium weight wool blend running sock for long distance walking. I even marched a little over six miles without socks, and that was the worst of my errors.  I've tried thick socks, thin socks, double socks, triple socks, toe socks, tube socks, socks for a particular foot, etc.  Some things I've learned. 

No socks is bad. Really bad.  By the time I realized I had a hot spot the blister was there. 

Avoid cotton. Soaking up moisture, this is the second worst sock error I made.

I recommend wool and synthetic blends in the 35% wool range. Also, I recommend a sized sock. When I finally got the material right, I chose medium socks to start with and this led to blisters between the toes. I thought the larges would bunch up, but a roomy toe box worked best for me.

2.  Technical running shirts.  The slick fabric of the technical running shirts allows your skin to breath, protect you from sun, keep you warm in the cold, and aid in evaporation in the heat.  Again, avoid cotton like the plague.

3.  Shoes. After some experimentation, I went to a competent running store and told them what I intended to do (walk long distances), and they fitted me for running shoes.  The lightweight materials and good cushioning make this a solid choice for my walking which is mostly on asphalt and concrete.  They even work well on prepared trails through the woods.  For serious hiking, more support might be required, but the running shoes are the right choice for distance walking in a suburban and urban environment.  It turns out that all those lawyers in athletic kicks and business suits/skirts were right after all.

4.  A good watch cap.  I prefer technical fabrics.  A good watch cap will be useful for about 8 months out of the year in the mid-Atlantic region. It will keep your head warm and dry and allow you to wear less clothing overall as the weather gets chillier.  I also like to sleep in mine from time to time.

5.  Lycra, form fitting, boxer underwear.  The longer legs and slick fabric keep the inner thigh chafing to a minimum, and if you wear them to the pool they can pass for an olympic style swim suit. I don't recommend that last part, but they might help you escape with a shred of dignity if you give it a try.

Till tomorrow reveals her true nature, adieu.

And So Concludes One Orbit Around the Sun

One year.  Three hundred and sixty five days.  When I started walking regularly (i.e. every day) back on 04 October 2014, I really did not set out to walk or jog every day for a year.  I actually started daily walking to remove the idea of walking across the country from my thoughts.  I should probably tell the whole build-up to where we are today, but it's late, and I have some additional miles to put under my feet pretty early in the morning.

The short version of the story is that about four years ago, I came up with an escape fantasy that revolved around pulling a Johnny Paycheck and heading out across the country on foot.

I talked to Rory Conlan because I knew he was a level headed chap and would convince me that my wild scheme was actually quite crazy.  His initial reaction was promising, but about a week later he seemed to be coming around to the idea that the adventure of a transcontinental pilgrimage might actually be a reasonably good idea.

There was nothing really left to do but start walking and let the physical challenge and monotony of it all solve the problem for me and drive the idea out of my head.  That led me to 04 October 2014 when I walked 11.17 miles from the South Severn Pool in Annapolis, MD to just past College Parkway on the Baltimore and Annapolis Trail and back.

The intent was to walk every day for a month to see if I had the discipline to keep it up day after day.  I set a monthly average target of 10 miles per day to keep things challenging. When I started, I really had no idea if I could even keep things going for a month.  I had shin splints and blisters.  I was at times bored and cold and uncomfortable.  At the end of October of 2014, I had done what I set out to do.  Rory recommended that I rest for a day or two.  I'd been pushing pretty hard, and the physical adjustment was taking a toll.  I was still experiencing shin splints, but they were on the verge of disappearing.  At the time, I had no way of knowing this was the case.

On 01 November 2014, I decided that a month was good enough to keep on going and not upset the streak.  I have not missed a day for a year, and I intend to keep trudging along.  The shortest daily distance that I covered for exercise last year was a 1.5 mile run in mid-November associated with a physical test for work.

Tecumseh decorated for the Navy vs. Air Force football game

Now I find myself at the end of a year with 4050.73 miles and no desire to truncate this adventure at all.  I've seen and experienced things that I never imagined even existed.  I did slow down my life and force myself to experience the moment and the area around me out to about a meter of radius.  The boredom subsided.  I learned quite a bit about walking kit through experimentation.

Submarine Service Memorial Sculpture, USNA, Annapolis, MD

I've worn out nine pairs of shoes during this adventure so far, and I've walked in at least five states and the District of Columbia.  I started out with a pretty short term goal in mind, and now walking has become part and parcel to my daily practice.  I've had a great run of it, and as long as the universe conspires to help me, I plan on keeping this up for quite some time.

We shall see, of course, what the future holds as it unfolds before us, but as for tomorrow, I have no intention of stopping the meditative plodding that I've come to appreciate as a pace of seeing the world that I can comprehend and really do love to experience.

I Won't Do That...or a Commitment to the Unlikely

I was looking down at my feet this morning after sitting down from my walk, and I noticed that I had done something that I suspect was a social faux pas that I promised all powers in the universe that I would never commit myself.  What was this heinous offense, you may ask.  As I glanced down at the source of my bipedal locomotion, I realized that I had become the slightly doughy 40'ish man that wore black 3/4 calf socks with athletic shoes and shorts.  This development was shocking enough that if begged to be captured for all posterity.  Here is what I saw.

White athletic kicks, 3/4 calf black socks, and by the hair of my legs you can easily see I am wearing this horrid combination with shorts.  It's either that, or I don't have any pants on which is a situation to terrifying to imagine, but since I mentioned it, you'll find it mostly impossible to keep the thought from crossing your mind...I hope.

About the only redeeming feature of this sad state of affairs is the fact that the socks are pushed down a bit and not hiked up in the fashion that has become associated with this terrible habit by males of my particular vintage.

This situation is something I promised myself that, "I won't do that."  Clearly that was a commitment to the unlikely.  Thinking about the sox, shoes and shorts resulted in thoughts of other things that I had decided as a youth not to do.  There were very good reasons this morning for becoming the cliche that I'd vowed to avoid, and the practicality of the decision outweighed any embarrassment I might have felt on this issue 25 or 30 years ago.  I'd like to think that I'd "grown up" a little since I first made the unlikely pledge.

Sadly, embarrassment and anxiety caused me to not do a number of other things in my youth that I probably have grown out of as well.  If I had things to do all over again, I would probably do things just a bit differently.  Here's a short list for those youths that might come across these musings for your consideration.

1.  I would have asked more girls to dance.  It would not matter to me if they said no because they were popular and I was not.  I'll never know the opportunities that I may have let slip through my fingers for fear (yes, fear) of being told, "No."

2.  I would have been friendlier with my peers who participated in the Future Farmers of America.  There are number of reasons for both my unwarranted rudeness as well as a number of reasons why it was an utterly undefendable stance.  This topic is probably worth a whole post on its own, so remind me about down the road and I'll share my insights.

3.  I would have been more daring in my choice of clothing, and I'm not just talking about wearing black socks with shorts and sneakers.  Nothing says confident like a bright pink tie and a royal blue shirt, and I allowed myself to discover this eye catching combination a bit earlier in my outfitting "career."

4.  Did I mention that I would have asked more girls to dance, and by more I mean all of them.  I would have asked them all to hold my hand and walk in the rain as well.  I had nothing to lose and so much to gain.

It's not too late for me yet (as evidenced by my nod to practicality exhibited in the picture above), but the runway is likely considerably shorter than it was 30 years ago.  Don't do what I did.  Live boldly, and don't take yourself too seriously.  That said, tomorrow I think I'll make a little extra effort to remember to bring the long pants.

New Shoes. SG5 Generation VI

Today, I began the break-in leading to break-down process for a new pair of shoes.  I have not had a new pair of shoes since the late part of June when I started the process of walking the soles of my SG7 Generation V.  Those shoes were labeled SG7 SYV and SG7 CGV.  Those labels stand for Saucony Guide 7, Silver Yellow, Generation V and Saucony Guide 7, Citron Gray, Generation V.  Since October of 2014, I have gone through a total of five generations of Saucony Guide 7 shoes.  The first generation was a single pair, but subsequent generations comprised two pairs which I traded between during the course of wearing them both out.  As of today, I have retired eight pair of this model of shoes and covered a little over 3500 miles.

All that's very interesting, and there is a long and overly complicated explanation for how I arrived at this system of shoe numbering and wear and a perfectly acceptable reason that I have something on the order of 10 or 12 additional pairs of this make and model shoe in my basement.  The reason is (I believe) that I'm exhibiting some tendencies of OCD behavior.  Again, interesting, but the real point of this brief post is to share in the glory that is a new pair of shoes.  After putting about 400 miles (average life cycle so far), there are very few things as satisfying to the toes to slide them into an unadulterated set of sneakers.  The padding hugs the ankles and the pliable foam makes the balls and heels of the feet feel like their walking on pillowy clouds.  Both my outlook  and my pace were much improved after this morning's constitutional.

Without further ado, I introduce SG7, BLRVI  (Saucony Guide 7, Black Red, Generation VI.

SG7 BLRVI, sunrise, and some fuzzy legs after a six mile walk

I'll probably introduce you to the second set of Generation VI SG7's, but I vow to spare yo some of the more tedious and unnecessary OCD-like detail.