My unencumbered walk of 21.36 miles took longer than it did last time-- 7 hours and 10 minutes this time around, which puts me under 3mph: 2.98mph. Double plus ungood, that.
The baby-pushers and dog-walkers were back today, though only tentatively. I've begun to notice that women who jog alone won't greet me when I nod their way, but women who have a running companion, a child, or a dog have no trouble saying hello. Makes me wonder whether a certain sector of American womandom still cleaves to the ridiculous paleofeminist mindset-- you know: all men are potential rapists, so watch out! I'm a Camille Paglia feminist, which is to say a post-feminist, and I don't subscribe to the puckered-orifice attitude of the Gloria Steinems of the world. Men and women are on equal footing, as far as I'm concerned; paleofeminists need to realize that you can't mix an ideology of empowerment with an ideology of victimhood and expect the combination to make sense or be in any way helpful.
Luckily, there don't appear to be too many paleofeminists on the bike path, and the occasional lone female jogger will surprise me by offering a confident smile and greeting. (One older lady, a truly outgoing soul, delights in greeting me each morning I see her.)
Only one part of the path was still submerged when I passed it twice this morning: a short section next to the road that leads to the tiny marina by the Dyke Marsh Preserve. Everything else was perfectly walkable, despite the preponderance of fallen branches. By the time I was headed back from Old Town, the Park Service crews were out with their mowers and blowers, taking advantage of the sun's heat to chop and blow away both deadfall and, for lack of a better word, livefall-- the green wood and leaves blown down by our several days of rain.
Why did the walk take 13 minutes longer this time around? I did stop a few times to grab water from some of the water fountains, but I did that last time, too. I wasn't feeling particularly achy or tired (though my right armpit is chafed as hell), and experienced no special pains.* So, what slowed me down? I have no clue, but it's annoying that today wasn't as good as last Saturday.
I'm thinking about-- just thinking about-- scout-marching parts of the walk, i.e., alternatively running for X paces, then walking X paces. I have no intention of running the entire distance; I'm not even remotely in good enough shape to try something that drastic, and I worry that a run would, at this stage, do more harm than good. I might try running significant distances (by "significant," I mean, uh, 3 miles) later on, though, once I'm much thinner.
I also need to bring my camera along again to photograph the mile markers I pass on my way to Old Town. Send me a reminder, eh?
OK... time to shower and rest a bit, then I have to go shopping.
UPDATE: My brother sends me an article about a woman who remotely accessed her stolen Macintosh and took a photograph of the person who stole it. The man and his accomplice were arrested and her Mac was recovered. If that's not uplifting enough for you, here's another news article that proves there is justice in the world. No man who loves his fellow man will ever-- ever-- wear a Speedo in public.
*I marvel at the fact that, after several weeks' walking, I haven't developed a single foot blister. (Knock on wood.)
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1 comment:
I don't think you should worry about a 20+ mile hike taking you 13 minutes longer than last time. Statistically speaking, you don't have enough data points to draw any meaningful conclusions. What you really need is a few months worth of data, which would allow you to see your progress more clearly. And when I say "a few months worth of data," I mean a few months of keeping as many variables as constant as possible (the same distance, the same load, etc.), so that the only significant variable is the amount of time it takes. As it is, you've been lengthening the walks, increasing (or decreasing) the load, etc. While this may be good training, it's not good for gathering statistically meaningful data. The moral of the story, of course, is "don't worry about the statistics!"
There are always going to be flukes where, for one reason or another, you're not going to do as well as you did last time. Overall, though, I would imagine that you are improving. So look at the big picture, and don't let the little fluctuations get you down.
And when they do, remember: you've got a bunch of people pulling for you every step of the way.
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