Steady Eddie: A Walking and Running Habit (Part 4)

If It Ain't Easy a Lot of People Won't Do It

Start Walkn. Start Walkn. Start Walkn.

Mar. 28, 2022. Except for flurries in the face, the walk was perfect

Introduction:

If you want to develop a steady habit of running 2 - 6 miles (approx. 3 - 10 km.) per day at least 3 - 6 days per week I recommend you start by developing a steady habit of walking 1 - 3 miles (approx. 1.6 - 5.0 km.) per day at least 3 - 6 days per week.

Because walking is easier. 

Walking is easier on the body. It is easier to prepare for, e.g., "come (go) as you are." Walking adequately prepares you for running slowly, the first step to running at a slow - medium speed, so it's not a waste of time.

Walking gets you out the door in a less demanding way than running. And, therefore, when it comes to developing the all-important habit of getting out the door on a regular basis - and learning how to make time for a fitness routine/exercise that will bring physical and psychological benefits and more, and last for 50 years or at least the foreseeable future - become a regular walker.

The months of February and March have been weird-weather-months in London, ONT. My personal reactions to the last several weeks have been 'happy, sad, silly, mad.' We've gone back and forth from T-shirt/shorts weather (e.g., St. Patrick's Day, March 17) to a few inches of snow this morning, 11 days later. And though my running schedule had to be adjusted (weather, slight injury), my walking schedule keeps me in the 40 - 45 miles per week range and ready to get back to 'Steady Eddie' running (likely next week).

A solid walking habit is not only easier to develop and maintain than a running habit, but it provides the foundation for me to get back to running steadily and consistently within a 3 - 4 week period.

More snow is coming. As long as the pathway is clear, walking is easy

March 17, St. Paddy's Day, shorts/t-shirt weather. Awesome.

Yesterday and today: Snowy but very manageable. Good WALKN

Scenery in London, the Forest City, March 27 - 28 2022

Harris Park: Yesterday, I headed toward home with flurries in the face - 

Approaching Harris Park: Today a bit more sun hit the ground and Thames River - 

Tuesday, March 29, 2022:

Perfect day for a walk/run of 7 miles. Zero degrees with lots of sun. And while covering the distance - w two slight injuries gradually disappearing into the void - I thought more about signing up for a race in the fall. More details to follow. 

Points: March 29, 7-miler + 1/2 point for stretching/weights routine

LCM (lower calf muscle) AOK after it cramped up 2 weeks ago.

R.A. (right ankle) still not 100% but it's not debilitating.

I also thought about ideas others might employ to keep the effort to develop a walking habit as easy as possible, besides the 1 or 2 ideas already mentioned above. 

Walk a mile, walk a mile, walk a mile for a few weeks. Even trying to get out the door for twenty minutes, three times per week, for a few weeks, will reveal where the battles will take place for your time. When you succeed, increase the frequency, intensity and distance gradually, e.g., to 4 times, moderate speed, 1.5 - 2 miles. Increase gradually from there in each of the three departments, i.e., Frequency, Intensity, Time/distance (F.I.T.). If possible, get out the door at the same time every day.

Have a clothing drawer full of light, loose, comfortable clothing for walking, so it's easy to "grab something and walk." Keep two pairs of running shoes by the front door, in case one gets wet. Keep several coats (various degrees of density, warmth; light to heavy) near the front door so you can exit the house quickly, e.g., grab a couple of light layers and go!

An easy routine is now a habit. Now I can modify components as I wish.

Weights: 6 exercises x 10-pounds x 15 reps x 6 days = 5,400 pounds

Why, surely, sveltness is just around the corner!

My 'stretching and weights' routine is now a pretty steady habit, 5 - 6 days per week on average. It has a 'grab and go' character to it. A workout mat is under a futon and weights are sitting on the futon. Takes me no more than 2 - 3 minutes to get set up after returning from my walk (e.g., peel off a damp t-shirt or out of jeans and into shorts), including 5 seconds to pull the mat out from under the futon. I do the exercises same time every day, right after I get home from the walk. They're easy to do, i.e, 15 reps of one type of stretch (touching my toes) followed by 15 reps of one type of easy weight exercise (arm curls). 6 different stretches every day, each followed by a different weight exercise. 7- and 10-pound weights at this time. 12-pound weights to follow, once the 10-pounders feel easy.

More to follow as I prepare for September 18, 2022 Springbank Half - Marathon

Please link to Steady Eddie: A Walking and Running Habit (Part 3)

Questions and comments can be added below or addressed to GH at gordh7700@gmail.com

Unattributed Photos GH

Steady Eddie: A Walking and Running Habit (Part 3)

It Isn't Always Easy to Form a New, Long-Term Habit

World War III Might Happen as You Carve Out Time!!

March 23, 2022; London ONT; cold, wet, windy, crappy, yucky

I walked a shorter route, four miles. My jeans - still dripping

Introduction:

I know! I like writing 6 or 6.5 or 7 or 7.5-points into my journal six days per week. But today was a bust. My jeans, shoes and the elbows of my jacket were soaked within 10 minutes, my hands and feet were cold and the umbrella almost took a trip by itself to the other end of the street I live on in Old South London. I had a 6-miler in mind when I stepped out the door this morning but by the time I reached one mile I was already thinking about cutting things short.

If I end the week with 40 - 45 miles/points, I'm a happy camper

The wind blew me home faster than expected. "More time for lunch," I said to myself.

I knew the weather was not my favourite while putting on my kit and I still chose poorly. But it didn't appear to be too wet - "only a few sprinkles" - or windy as I was tying up my runners and selecting a particular jacket. And a heavier wind and rain started after 10 minutes. Yeh, that's it. It's not my fault for getting soaked! 

That being said, what I didn't have trouble with was "getting out the door." At this time of year my 'walking/running time' is generally before lunch. And, yes, I'm retired, so I not only have the best of both worlds, I have the best of many.... wherever they may be. 

Retired or not, just about everyone who wants to start a new habit and stick to it will encounter enemy hostility. Real bullets will not likely fly but it may still feel like a strong battle is going on - or several fights on many war fronts - as one tries to carve out (e.g., 30 minutes per day, 3 - 5 days per week) the time needed to develop a walking/running habit.

Call 'enemy hostilities' what you will but one's 'established routines, daily responsibilities, common expectations (your own, a partner's, boss's or business's, a parent's or a family's), promises, household projects, etc. (we all got a lot of these important connections in our lives), are attached to one's timetable like barnacles to a yellow submarine.

Routines, responsibilities, expectations and projects are attached

to one's timetable "like barnacles to a yellow submarine" GH

Possible Plans vs Blinking Barnacles

"I'm heading out for a 30-minute walk now, Mom." "What about your homework?!"

"I'm heading out for a 30-minute walk now, Dear." "Wait. You said you'd cut the grass today."

"I'm heading out for an easy run after dishes are done." "You said you'd bike with Charlie."

"I'm heading out after I cut the grass." "You're folks are serving us supper in 30 minutes."

"You've already played hockey twice this week." "You already spent some money on woodworking tools!" "You've got a partner, three children and a job. Training for a half-marathon is like having another part-time job. 'Nuff said." 

Of course, personal new goals, daily routines, distinct distractions and established responsibilities, etc. will vary per person or household. So will the solutions to carving out more time to walk and run on a regular basis.

Put 100 walkers and runners in a room and ask them how they made time for their fitness habit. There will likely be 100 different answers about doing less of this to do more of that, especially about how to deal with barnacles, including thoughts about how to make sacrifices, or how partners shared sacrifices ("I'll help you walk/run if you help me with the kids, shopping, etc."), how people looked at priorities closely, then reconfigured their top ten (e.g., "I dropped golf and picked up running and saved money and several hours per week") or even blended two priorities into one (e.g., "I wanted to save money and improve my fitness so I started walking to work, 30 minutes one way. That's 300 minutes a week! Lookit my calves. Lookit!!") 

Life ain't easy and if one wants to make a good habit of walking and running, up to 30min. - 2hr. per day, other habits or interests have to give or go. Oh, what else can one possibly do?

Over the last few years I've sold my motorcycle, stopped making 100s of woodworking projects (per year), and stopped playing hockey. I still keep busy by going to London Knights' games and maintaining a few websites and completing various art projects. But two hours per day, six days a week, for walking/running is a very high priority. 

And it shows. I'm so close to svelte you wouldn't believe it... and that's the best thing to do... don't quite believe it : )

More posts related to The GREAT Canadian Comeback will soon follow.

Please click here to read Steady Eddie: A Walking and Running Habit (Part 2)

Unattributed Photos GH

Steady Eddie: A Walking and Running Habit (Part 2)

  The Determined Walker and Runner Continued  

One can go a mighty long way on two legs

Q: What do the following have in common? The ability to peel potatoes; walk and run regularly for a long time; make a savoury slow-cooker stew; run a half-marathon; write a good story (that could, say, pay for a trip to Edinburgh); look svelte; and, stand on one's head for an hour on a sidewalk near a heavily-trafficked intersection?

A: They are all activities an average person can do after a suitable amount of regular practice. (A pressing goal - e.g., you lost a New Year's bet and must run a marathon by November - or a point-system are helpful but not essential).

Most readers will know that the answer is correct because you have, or know someone who has, completed one or more of the above tasks. Admittedly, I do not know if anyone has stood on their head at Richmond and Dundas in London, ONT., but has it happened? Surely.

Go ahead. Stand on your head at Richmond and Dundas. Then have a smoke?

Photo credit - London Police Archives

The key to forming any habit is to practice on a regular basis. Peel a potato everyday for 3 - 4 weeks and you'll likely get asked to peel a lot more by your Mom or room-mate because they are discovering you are getting good at it. "You're the Speedy Potato Man!" Write in a diary or journal or blog every day for 3 - 4 weeks and pretty soon your words and sentences and short paragraphs will fall into place in an understandable fashion. Walk to work for 3 - 4 weeks, as long as the distance is not overwhelming, and soon you will find it's an enriching part of your day.

Though a relatively long habit can form in 3 - 4 weeks, it is very, very important to keep the initial efforts within personal limits. If it is five miles between home and the workplace, for example, a one-and-a-half hour walk could feel overwhelming. And it is so much easier to develop a positive habit if it is within one's initial limits*.

[*initial limits could be, e.g., walking a mile in 20 minutes or peeling four potatoes for supper a few times a week. But early limits change as time goes forward. "Stay within your limits and your limits will grow," I say. E.g., walk a mile per day for 3 - 4 weeks and it will soon feel like you are walking somewhat faster and the distance is a bit easier. How nice is that! And if you're getting tired of potatoes switch to carrots or parsnips. You'll be a slow-cooker master within no time at all!]

I know that my running limits grew over the course of weeks, months and years.

Initially, in the early-mid-1970s, I was able to jog a one-mile course (rectangular; about two blocks wide and four blocks long in Old North London), three times per week after one - two months of easy training. I remember walking to the first corner then jogging for a short distance, i.e., from one telephone pole to the next, repeating the process until I returned to the house my wife and I rented for a few years. As weeks went by I was able to jog the distance between two telephone poles, then three, then four. I took walking breaks whenever needed: I didn't time how long I walked, then ran, etc.; I walked when my legs got tired, and the telephone poles were spaced conveniently.

I felt pretty awesome on the morning that I ran the whole route without stopping for the usual walking breaks. I felt more surprised and somewhat awe-struck when my 5 - 6 year-old son David ran with me one morning and upon returning home said, "Let's do it again!" I wasn't quite ready for that!

What's with young kids anyway! At a certain age they seem tireless.

Back to me: Within a year or two I was able to run two-mile loops, or 8 loops on the track at the University of Western Ontario (U.W.O. was an easy walk/jog from our house), or keep up with a tall neighbour who often dropped by 'ready to roll'. He lived two doors down and would knock on the door to ask if I wanted to run. I often did because I liked the notion I was becoming a regular jogger.

As I recall, Don. D. (realtor) and I looked so different physically - he took one stride for my two - and we must have looked like a modern-day 'Mutt and Jeff' (Don and Gord, respectively) as we ran for approx. 20 minutes together. I also remember that a steady diet of two-maybe three-milers prepared me for an experience I could not explain at the time. (I can now!*)

Photo Credit - Mutt and Jeff

That's Don on the left, me on the right!

Photo Credit - Yesterday's Papers

On one very significant, lovely, summer evening I ran slowly to the U.W.O. track with the idea of just running 8 laps and then walking home. But as I ran the laps I wondered if I could add four more without stopping. 

"Add another mile. You feel AOK," I thought.

And I did. I ran four more laps than usual, and felt great. So I added another four laps. And felt AOK. So I added another four laps. And felt AOK. So I added another four laps. And felt OK. So I added another four laps. And felt OK. 

On Lap 32 I decided to quit going in circles (or is ellipticals the right term?) and head home while I still had a bit of energy. When I returned home with my first-ever ten-miler under my belt I was a pretty happy camper. Ten miles! "Where did that come from?" I wondered. How did multiple 2 - 3-milers prepare to run 10 miles? I didn't have a clue.

*I do now! My stamina or endurance increased over time from one-milers to 3-milers in a visible way. I ran three miles, then stopped, likely because I had other things to do. But I never finished a 3-miler due to exhaustion. I never collapsed when I returned home. Over time my muscular system and skeletal system and cardio-vascular system got visibly used to doing 3-milers, over and over again. And because life is filled with mysteries and I'm related to Mighty Mouse, 10 miles was within my limits on that fateful day.

"Stay within your limits and your limits will grow," I tell myself. After scores of years of running I confidently know that as I train for a half-marathon (21.1 KM) I don't have to run a half-marathon in training to finish the same distance on race day. I do know I'll need to complete 4 or 5 long runs in the 15 - 20 KM range prior to race day. I do know that many runners will have a different recipe to follow than me based on their experience gained over the years.

But when it comes to the development of a habit re short-medium-long distance running, the recipe is pretty much the same. Start easy and keep it easy for 3 - 4 weeks; increase your expectations gradually re frequency (3 - 6 times per week), intensity (slow, medium, fast) and time/distance (15 - 60 minutes per outing for the first few months or year).

"Go slow and enjoy the view," said one experienced runner (Mark Wiebe).

"While running, walk as much as you want," said another.

"Don't discourage yourself by pushing yourself too fast too soon."

A walker/runner's main goal at first should be to get out the door on a regular basis. That's the foundational habit to everything that follows, so we must make the process of building the walking/running habit as easy as possible.

The easier the process, the more likely the habit one forms will be a very strong one.

March 23, 2022: Four miles of walking on a cold, wet, windy day.

Shorter than on an average day. I'll make up the difference ASAP

Oh, and FYI, forming a new habit may be a little bit like a major league mental and physical battle. World War III? Yeh, like that!

More to follow.

Please link to Steady Eddie: A Walking and Running Habit (Part 1)

Unattributed Photos GH

Steady Eddie: A Walking and Running Habit (Part 1)

 The Habit Changes With the Seasons. Walk or Run?

Making a go of it on two legs

Friday, March 18, 2022:

I walked six miles today, starting at about 10:45 a.m. and finishing about 12:35 p.m. I noticed as soon as I left the house that it was going to be a pretty good day to be outside; the temperature was between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius and large white clouds filled less than half the sky, so I was going to get some sun on my winter-white legs. Besides shorts I also wore a nylon t-shirt and light jacket (the one I bought in Boston in 2005 to celebrate what could be my one and only visit to that lovely marathon city).

While walking today I took a few pictures with my GoPro camera. I tend to think that a few colourful pictures help make these pages a bit brighter. And I like - from an artistic point-of-view - the curving lines of tarmac that make up part of the city's pathways, and the natural, colourful landscapes to my left and right, along with the odd alligator.

Shortly after I returned home, and after completing my 10 - 12 minute 'stretches and weights' routine, I logged today's points into my journal. Six points for the walk, half a point for the stretches, etc. And I included the 2.25 miles I'll walk this evening on my way to and from an Ontario Hockey League game at a downtown arena, so I collected 8.75 points. Excellent. 43.25 points for the week, so far. 

And something could happen on Saturday besides shopping and errands, so I could get 45 - 50 points, more than my goal of 40 - 45. Stuff happens ; ) (And it did. I went for a short walk in the rain, did my stretches/weights and finished the week with 43 miles and 46 points). 

I am currently averaging 44 points/week, over the last 10 weeks

The 'points journal' is a long-standing habit, as much as my walking and running routine have been over the last 50 years. Yes, there have been some big breaks in the routine - life can get busy! - during my working career. Big breaks even occurred during my first few years of retirement when I opened a wood-working shop and bought a motorcycle and gained weight and didn't think about it or worry about it... until I did.

Though I keep a journal - and it can get pretty colourful at times - it follows in the heels of an even more important habit, i.e., getting out the door to walk and/or run as often as I feel I can handle. Currently, I get out the door for about two hours per day, six days a week. And that habit has lasted without too many (even short) breaks for the last seven years.

The Determined Walker and Runner

Having good trails, pleasant scenery helps develop a solid habit

There are many faster men and surely stronger women who regularly walk and run on London's fine pathways for longer distances, with greater frequency, than me. And svelter than me? No doubt, but I'm working on it. That being said, I don't mind saying that my 40-plus-miles, 6-days/week habit has earned me the right, in my humble opinion, to own a pretty suitable nickname - Steady Eddie. (Has more zip than Geezer Gord).

A younger walker called me Speedy Pop Man a few years ago but I'll stick with Steady Eddie because it speaks to one of my fairly evident characteristics, i.e., that I'm a determined walker and runner.

Yes, I have short, sturdy legs, and pretty good co-ordination. I seldom walk right into telephone poles or trip on cracks in the sidewalk. I have a lengthy history in a variety of sports and have old hockey sticks, baseball and golf equipment and a box of running medals stashed somewhere in the basement. I generally buy 'near the top o' the line' running shoes, t-shirts, spandex shorts and tights, and have durable caps and toques for every occasion. In London, Ontario, I have access to several great walking and running routes and pathways.

And, besides all of that, I think I know something more important than the value of owning the best running shoes and stylish, matching shorts: I know how to develop an almost unbreakable habit of getting out the door for at least 5 - 6 days per week for a long, long time. 

I've done it for years (along with using a point-system*) and didn't know I was sitting on a gold mine**. 

Page Break: Inform Readers About the Asterisks

*point system: An optional way to keep track of walking and running progress; I think it's more related to my personality than my progress over the years; I like points and one day I might have enough to win or earn a train ride to Ottawa, one of my favourite Canadian cities. (My favourite city, currently, is Edinburgh***)

**gold mine: Where do I come up with this stuff? What I've learned over the years is common knowledge but it took me many years to realize its value. Details to follow. Pay me later.

***Edinburgh: I stayed at an Airbnb exactly 100 steps**** from Brew Dog Brewery. But that's a whole different story.

****I counted them, twice.

Gord at Brew Dog. 100 steps from my digs. Good thing too!

To be continued.

Please click here to view Another Year's Work, 2021

Unattributed Photos GH