Exercise 10/4/08

Walked 6.o9 miles in 98 minutes
Avg speed 3.7 mph (fast walk)
Max. Speed 5.4 mph (moderate jog)\
Total extra calories burned 612.
All according to my Garmin Forerunner 405.

I like to walk through the wooded trails at a nearby outdoor learning center maintained by the city park department and the school district. The trail twist and turns and you can see the rabbits, squirrels, birds, hawks, occasional coyote. It's boring to walk on the neighbor sidewalks, but I do so when necessary. When I do have walk in the neighborhood, I try to walk on grass along the sidewalk as much as possible. It burns a few more calories and it reduces the impact on your joints.

When I go on long walks, I tape up my feet to minimize the pain from bunions, old football injuries, calluses and prevent blisters. I buy athletic tape usually from Academy.

I drink 12 oz. of water before I begin my walk and I carry along a quart thermos of water and drink regularly from it. I sweat a lot. My shorts and t- shirt are soaked by the time I've finished the walk, so I try to stay well hydrated. Water weighs about 13 lbs per gallon so the quart I carry adds 4 lbs of weight which causes me to burn more calories. I also carried a 3 pound hand weight today. I figure the extra weight caused me to burn an extra 21 calories. Hey. every little bit helps!

I also place a tsp of cocoa under my tongue before I walk. Cocoa produces nitrous oxide which dilates the blood vessels. I also contains flavonoids which are antioxidants.