03:04:00

Today's walk was about four minutes slower than it should have been, which makes me wonder whether I should be jogging part of the walk to make up for lost time. Not that I'm all that exercised (heh) about the slowness; 3.3mph is a faster speed than I'd originally anticipated; slowing down a tiny bit isn't really a problem, as long as I'm averaging at least 3mph unencumbered.

Because I now walk 90 minutes out before turning back, I find myself at the entrance of Fort Hunt Park, one of the largest parks in the area, and very popular for picnicking, biking, and just strolling. The park has, if I'm not mistaken about the distance, a 1.1-mile perimeter loop around which you can cycle like a mad hamster. I suspect that most local cycling enthusiasts prefer simply to start at the trailhead for the George Washington Parkway's bike path. While I'm a fan of the bike path (how can I not be a fan? I'm walking on it, after all!), I'm leery of it in the fall, when dead leaves and rain combine to make the path treacherous for us larger bikers. As a walking path, though, it's great even partway into winter.

OK... I need to go stretch. Back in a bit with distances. Today was my second three-hour walk, and I'm curious to see the exact distance traveled.


UPDATE: My 03:04:00 route is 4.78 miles, one way, which means I'm walking less than I thought: only 9.56 miles in 184 minutes. Hmmm. This means I'm walking only about 3.1 miles per hour. I'm not sure this bodes well, as I haven't added encumbrance yet and I'm still a long way from doing the ten-hour walk.


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