First, thank you for all the suggestions on ways to celebrate yesterday! I haven’t answered most of them yet, but I did read them and they are awesome.
Second, the harder (and maybe less fun) part for me – what to do about the Dog Walk Challenge. If I am going to stop the streak, doing it at a year makes some sense. That said, I don’t really want to stop it. Sure, there are days where it’s a pain to get the walk in, but that’s why you have the challenge – you still go out there and do it.
Now that I’ve been taking these mile long walks every day for almost a year, it’s gotten to be a bit routine, despite the occasional days where it’s tough to get up and get out there for the walk. I’d like to mix things up a bit, which is where I am happy to have any suggestions from all of you – any thoughts on ways to liven this up, both for Choppy and me?
I do have some ideas – I’m seriously considering attempting to average two miles per day. This wouldn’t mean taking a two mile walk every day, which won’t work with my current lifestyle, but walking enough longer walks and multiple walks per day over the course of the year that I ended up averaging two miles per day. I haven’t done the final math, but over the first year, I’m pretty sure we’ll have averaged over 1.3 miles every day. Hitting two miles per day doesn’t seem like a big increase, but it will require a significant increase in my regular walking, especially in the winter when I would rather not be out and about.
I’ll also probably decrease the Dog Walk Challenge blog posts to once per week – I figure you’ll get better comments from me that way (I mean, as much as everyone likes to hear about the weather in Wisconsin, I’m sure you’d appreciate a change). It’s also less of a chore for me. Plus, I’ve got enough regular features around here that most weekdays there will still be at least two posts, with more than that at least once a week.
Let me know your thoughts (if any) about potential changes to the challenge, and thank you in advance for any ideas.
Walk One:
Date: April 25, 2017
Location: Home
Length: 1.3 Miles
Who: Sarah & Choppy
Walk Two:
Date: April 25, 2017
Location: Work
Length: 2.4 Miles
Who: Sarah & Choppy
Averaging 2 miles/day seems like a great goal, but I would suggest not thinking in terms of an average over 12 months. It would be too easy to let it slip to point where retrieving “lost mileage” could be difficult. My suggestion would be to average 14 miles/week. Just a thought. 🙂
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Sorry… confusing choice of words! My suggestion would be to average 2 miles/day and total 14 miles/week!
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Oh, it wasn’t confusing! You’re absolutely right on the thinking of it in the smaller pieces. I try to read 52 books a year – one per week – and the key is to keep up with it from the beginning. If you get behind, you never catch up. It’s a lesson I learned the first year I tried it!
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🙂
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I’m happy so long as there is a pic of Choppy -haha! Maybe you could record the daily average over the course of a week, or post all the daily stats at the end of the week?
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I definitely think if I do the weekly posts, I’ll put the daily stats in them. I keep a (sometimes updated) spreadsheet with the cumulative mileage, so I could probably do more statistics than I already do. That might be something fun to include sometimes – a random statistic on the walks (like, how many sunny days vs. rainy days).
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Choppy really is a happy girl.
Hmmmm , some serious thought is needed on this one. All I am thinking about is your cold winter days where bed and your duvet is such a better option than out in the cold ! sorry I am no help.
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Those are the specific days I’m celebrating waking up and getting through!
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All that walking must be paying off, as Choppy looks really fit. I’m sure you do too by now. 🙂
I suppose there’s a reason you walk and not jog a bit? (I walk cos gammy knees, feet, asthma etc etc!)
The reason I ask is, if you jogged for even a few minutes during your walk, you’d get more distance in, in the time you have. So you’d reach your target of the 2 miles, without taking too much time out of your already busy schedule.
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I am just not a fan of running/jogging – nothing to do with injury, I just prefer walking. I don’t want to get all sweaty running and have to shower. It’s pretty much just a vanity situation.
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No worries – I understand that too. 🙂
I was just trying to solve the problem, scientifically, of a longer walk in the same amount of time. 😀
Also,walking is supposed to be much better for you; less damage to the joints etc
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I think I may just be destined for waking up a little earlier every morning to get more of the longer walks in!
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🙂
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Decisions decisions! 🙂 Maybe walk backwards? 😀 😀
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Three hours, and many falls later, it would at least be a good story!
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😄
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You should walk daily but perhaps blog weekly about the walks and share the best two photographs.
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I think this would definitely improve the quality of the posts – they’re so similar day-to-day now, anything to liven them up!
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I wouldn’t say the quality is a problem, but you’re right, the posts are similar. Once a week we can see the stats and enjoy the best photos of choppy as she starts to enjoy the warmer weather on your walks.
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“We are your followers, we will adapt to what our leader provides.” (😹🙈)
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Always flexible!
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Great job Sarah and Choppy
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It’s been fun – I’m so glad we started the challenge. I never knew it would become such a big deal!
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Great job on this challenge. Know it is hard to get up some days and put the effort in. Heck, some days this challenge is the only exercise I get. 🙂
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Ha! That would definitely be me, if I didn’t have the accountability of this challenge.
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I was going to suggest adding in some jogging, but I saw your response to scifihammy. How about if you increase your pace a little with a goal to reach at the end of the year. Say, walking 3.5 mph or faster, depending on where you are now. Warning, this may cause some sweating during the summer months. LOL
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You could add that stat to your posts – the average speed for the week’s walks.
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Even in Wisconsin, we would get some sweating – and Choppy would probably wonder why we needed to move so fast. She’s not exactly Miss Speedy.
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Ten pound ankle weights will liven things up on the walks. 😉
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Ha! They would liven things up, but definitely not lighten them up!
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