The Transition Zone 12 - Vacation Time

A Lengthy Break From Routine

Steady Eddy strikes again! Three jogs in six days

Oh, and I was doing so well!

The week (Sept. 4 - 10) before my wife and I drove to PEI I walked and jogged 30 miles. My 10 week average didn't suffer one bit.

In the back of my mind I may have realized my fun and fitness routine was going to go 'bye-bye' while visiting with my oldest sister and her hubby in a land far away. And that it did. That it did.

I think I gained 30 pounds in 12 days. Ouch!

Oh, I had a few bursts of energy here and there. I walked 4.75 miles in Cornwall on the 12th after driving about 650 KM, and I ran 4 miles on a hotel treadmill on the 21st (again, in Cornwall after 650 KM or so. Something in the water?). But, there was a lot of relaxing and eating at restaurants during our time away. What's to be done now?

I will take the long view:

 The St. Lawrence River, east of Quebec City

South of Montague, PEI

Today is the one year anniversary of The GREAT Canadian Comeback and I can truthfully say I am already making a comeback toward my usual fun and fitness routine. Since the 24th of September (the day I officially finished unpacking from the trip east) I have walked and jogged 15 miles and will likely have a good total for my first week back in the 'hood. 

Yes, my 10 week average will suffer for awhile because of my vacation but I think I will start Year Two of The Comeback with good incentives. (Aims: About 25 miles per week including 2 or 3 jogs). 

Svelteness is likely just around the corner. 

: )

Please link to The Transition Zone 11 - Finding My Average

Photos GH

The Transition Zone 11 - Finding My Average

The Year Tells a Tale

I won't stop walking in the 'hood

The date is fast approaching that will mark the one year anniversary of The GREAT Canadian Comeback. Will I serve cake on September 28th? Not likely. But I will reflect on progress made in Year One, from being more couch-potato like to being more physically active on a regular basis.

One thing that has come to mind lately is that I find myself aiming to walk/shuffle/jog at least 25 miles per week. Early on I did not log my miles on a daily or weekly basis but focussed on developing the habit of getting out the door 5 or 6 days per week or 20 - 24 times in a four week period. In that regard I can say I have met with success.

A month or so ago I started calculating the 10-week average for miles covered and though I've only collected a short list of results, the average has been around 25 miles.

For example: 10 Week Average to....

July 30 - 25.68 miles

Aug. 13 - 26.45 miles

Aug. 27 - 26.28 miles

Sept. 3 - 25.40 miles

25 miles seems to be a reasonable target and as long as I shuffle and jog on a regular basis, e.g., 2 - 3 times per week, I should continue to see improvements in my stamina, strength, duration and speed of my jogs. If I get out the door regularly, as in the past year, and log a steady supply of miles (keeping my 10 week average around 25 miles), I should be svelte in a few years!

Still a long road ahead but the view has been awesome so far

Goals - improvements in stamina, strength, duration and speed of my jogs.... and sveltness.

Not bad, not bad at all.

Please link to The Transition Zone 10 - Good Routine

Photos GH

The Transition Zone 10 - Good Routine

Two Per Day Due to Humid-id-idity

Edward Street, Wortley Village, looking north

I am currently completing a series of 100 walks known as The 'Transition Zone'. My chief goals during the series follow:

     walk briskly

     keep my head up, improve my posture

     regularly include shuffling and jogging, w walking breaks as required,
     e.g., 2 or 3 times per week

     make note of improvements/changes in the shuffling or jogging routine,
     e.g., changes in ease, frequency, duration and overall speed

     take my time, enjoy gradual development

 Walk/jog numbers 40 and 41 were split into two less-humid sections

Notes:

     during London's hot, humid weather I will continue to break my walks or
     walkajogs into 2 parts, e.g., 2 miles in the AM and 2 - 3 in PM. Good routine

     I don't think I shuffle anymore. I think I actually jog

     ease, frequency, duration and speed (related to jogging) are improving

     I will soon be looking for a fall race, 5 K.

    race goals - steady jog all the way, wear new race T-shirt cheerfully
   
I've been keeping track of the number of walks and mileage for almost 11 full months now and can honestly say that - gradually - good things have been happening. I have been staying within my limits and those same limits are growing.

Every once in awhile I wonder if I have another marathon in me. Honest answer - I doubt it. That being said, one never knows.

Please link to The Transition Zone 9 - Steady Jogging!

Photos GH

The Transition Zone 9 - Steady Jogging!

Some Kind of Miracle

August 17 - A great bit of shuffling with no rest breaks. Progress!!

However, I slowed the pace a bit on the next two walkajogs

One week ago I had such a breakthrough that I felt as if I'd set a new world record. I set out on a relatively cool evening - with no crippling humidity - with a walkajog on my mind. I walked for five minutes to warm up, then started to shuffle off to Buffalo, and (surprise, surprise) I kept on shuffling past the 1 mile marker, 2 mile marker, three mile marker, four mile marker.... and only stopped a short distance from home. I reckon, out of 5.25 total miles I jogged over 4.5 of them.

"Where did that come from?" I asked myself. Certainly out of the blue, but also out of months of walking and shuffling goodly distances on a regular basis. (The excitement soon past. It had to happen sooner or later.)

Since then, I have not been pushing my way out the door each day to complete walkajogs at the same pace. I have the time to let a jogging habit establish itself by walking most days and walkajogging at a comfortable pace two or three times per week. Last night for example, I covered four miles and walked at jogged at regular intervals, with walking breaks lasting 1 - 2 minutes in length and jogging intervals of 2 - 3 minutes at a time. My pace was slower than a few recent jogs but I was just fine with that.

I went out the door twice yesterday, at an easy pace*

Go slow and enjoy the view, I say. I know that if I keep up my GOTD rate (Get Out The Door) and cover an average of 20 - 25 miles per week, good things will continue to happen.

No need to push myself more than I am already doing. I have lots of other things on my plate:

 I try to cover some miles on my motorcycle each week as well

 I like to photograph things of interest, e.g.,  hop crop near Lake Erie

 I keep an eye on my own crop of hop cones

 I always have projects on the go inside my wee workshop too

Summer is for some 'relax time' as well (Port Burwell)

Please link to The Transition Zone 8

*When I jog, I keep track of the distance and time, then calculate an average pace per mile. My average pace is generally about 30% faster than my walking pace, so I'm not setting any world records out there : )

Photos GH

The Transition Zone 8

The Last 10 Weeks

Walkn - Sunday and yesterday: Smooth sailing in tall hats 

On Aug. 15 I completed TZ32 (walk number 32 of 100*)

I enjoyed positive results related to The GREAT Canadian Challenge during the week of Aug. 7 - 13. I covered 30.0 miles and included 3 walk-a-jogs in 7 outings. Though I was visiting family in Lindsay during 4 of the days I found it easy to get out for walks after supper, and I made good use of an old quarter-mile track at a local vocational school (on Kent Street, Lindsay's main drag). Thankfully, The GC Challenge is generally all about walking, shuffling and jogging, so I should be able to meet my goals whenever I head out of town.

One stat I have started to record in my daily journal (a cheapo 1-year pocket planner) is found in the lower right corner of each entry, i.e., cumulative total of weekly mileage (see photo above).

As well, I have been comparing my weekly totals at-a-glance for some time now and will now keep track of another new stat every 2 weeks, i.e., the average total of miles covered during the last ten weeks. For example, I covered 25.68 miles over the 10 weeks ending July 30th. I covered 26.45 miles over the 10 weeks ending August 13, an increase of about 0.8 miles.

Though weekly totals fluctuate for a variety of reasons, a ten-week average will not and therefore will provide a better reckoning of how I'm doing when a series of ten-week averages are compared 'at-a-glance'. You know me, I have my 'number crunching ways', and I bet by the end off the year I be thinking about some other stat to collect. E.g., Average number of miles I can cover on a pair of Nikes vs Adidas. Sounds interesting, right? Cost of a pair of shoes per mile? Oh, better yet. : )

In May I kept track of 'miles walked' while on Vancouver Island

Notes: Recently I was able to time myself while walking on two different quarter-mile tracks and found I cover a mile in about 18 minutes. Since the beginning of The GC Challenge, on all walking routes, I've been counting "one mile every 20 minutes", so it's nice to know I haven't been padding my totals.

: ) More to follow.

*TZ = Transition Zone (a series of 100 brisk walks with jogging included).

Please link to The Transition Zone 7 (Breakthrough!)

Photos by GH

The Transition Zone 7 (Breakthrough!)

Steady Eddie in Slow Transition

I started The GREAT Canadian Comeback on September 28, 2015 with a brisk walk that was recorded in my ever-present journal (cheap day-planner) as MM1, i.e., 'Miles and Mountains 1'. At the time, as I crossed the Start Line, I wanted to cover a couple of miles several days per week and include travelling up and down a few challenging hills. I knew then that if I got out for brisk walks on a regular basis my fitness level would gradually improve.

Since that date I have recorded many positive results related to my fitness and I've enjoyed a lot of fresh air, along with good scenery, pleasant conversations and surprises, and satisfaction in the whole enterprise at the same time. I can only recall one small set back, i.e., a sore left foot, but it is definitely on the mend so all is well in my book.

Here we are almost 11 months later.

Where am I at?

I would say I'm at a pretty interesting stage on this long-and-winding-road of a comeback (from generally couch-potato-like to regularly active and productive). I have developed some pretty decent 'fun and fitness' habits - from Sept. 28, 2015 - August 8, 2016 - and notice perceptible, positive improvements in three or four key areas:

     - I have gone outside for walks and jogs for 89% of the calendar dates

     - I walk/jog about 120 miles per month

     - I now include some jogging about every third day of each month

     - During the last month or more, I have noticed improvements in
       my strength, stamina and speed while jogging

I have also noticed that I don't mind taking all the time I need to make slow, gradual (perceptible) progress. (My motto: I've got the time so I'll take my time. After all, the comeback is part of a 20-year plan, not a 20-week ambition). I know that as long as I stay within my physical limits and 'get out the door' 4 - 6 days per week my limits will grow and improvements will be almost guaranteed.

On Aug. 7 I walkajogged* 5.25 miles and covered each mile in under

13 minutes. Stand back, I say. Blinding speed!

It's a long and winding road but I'm still on it and doing well

Please link to The Transition Zone 6 (Breakthrough!)

Photos GH

The Transition Zone 6 (Breakthrough!)

Walkajogging is Paying Off

Lovely downhill section of the world-famous Old South loop

Not only have I been getting out the door regularly for walking loops in Greenway Park and the 'Hood (14 walks/jogs - 2 to 6 miles in length - in the last 15 days), but I have included walking + jogging during 6 of those outings.

And during the last two nights, upon a two-mile-loop in Old South, I jogged almost the entire distance. I know, it doesn't sound like much but for the guy making The GREAT Canadian Comeback it is a significant breakthrough. My experience - let's call it 'The BIG Breakthrough' - is similar to Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel breaking the sound barrier. Very similar!

Snoopy and I have the very same walking style.

Photo Credit: Hangar 9 - Sopwith Camel 60 ARF

So, after ten months of walking here, there and everywhere on city pathways and sidewalks, I can say 'The Comeback' continues successfully. Oh, I may not be smooth, strong or svelte to any recognizable degree, but I'm getting sturdier! I'm good with that.

By the Numbers:

     My GOTD (Get Out The Door) rate was 84% in July, and after 10 months
     of records stands at 89%. Not bad, not bad at all.

     I covered 111 significant miles in July, and after 10 months
     I maintain a healthy 119 miles/month average.

     2 short but sturdy jogs in a row. Things are looking up.

     For 9 months in a row I have recorded 100-plus miles
     of walking or walking/jogging. (Let's go for 10!)

The "good walkajog" on July 27 lead to a breakthrough 3 days later 

 On Edward St., near Baseline Rd., what goes up must come down

Winter Walking leads to Summer Success: Photo from Feb. 29

Prediction: I will break the 1.5-mile barrier in August while wearing red spandex tights.

Stay tuned for more exciting details.

Please link to The Transition Zone 5

Unattributed Photos by GH