One of the great pleasures of FIRE is that I know have the time to live life at my own pace. Much of the time, I have no need to be anywhere fast, so I just walk. Walking gives me a chance to observe, listen and think. Regarding the last one, a good walk may be one of the best activities you can do to spark creativity. And if that isn’t enough, brisk walking will also help you lose weight.
On an average day, I walk about 8 miles. On extreme days, it’s closer to 20 miles. So far this year, I’ve walked about 2,257 miles.
Walking Fool
Here is how one morning went down last week:
7:15 am-7:45 am: Walk to School! (1.4 miles)
The girls and I walked to school. Younger Daughter complained fiercely about walking:
Dad, we have a car! Why don’t we use it?
5 minutes into it, we were talking happily. This is what always happens.
7:45 am – 8:15 am: Walk to Squats and Deadlifts! (2.0 miles)
My next destination was MMM HQ where I do leg exercises. On the way, I spotted this in the middle of the road:
You can always use more dinosaurs in your life, so I pocketed it and continued on my way.
I take a different way every time and try to discover something new. This walk, I saw this:
I arrived at MMM HQ and my legs are nicely warmed up, so I got right into my exercises. I’m doing the Stronglift program for my legs:
After my exercise routine was done, the light seemed right, so I had a photography session with the newest dinosaur which I’ve since named Investosaurus:
11:30 am – 11:55 am: Walk Home (1.6 miles)
I sat in for the PopUp morning session and then headed home. I contemplated the rest of my day, taking notes as I went.
I greatly enjoy my walks. This year, I’ve walked 2,257 miles/ 4,814,346 steps. This is an average of 18,305 steps per day. If I keep it up, I’ll finish the year at 6,681,325 steps, well ahead of my goal of 6,000,000.
Strength Training
I continue to struggle with strength training. I’ve been so busy that sometimes it’s hard to find the time and focus. Also, the heat! Colorado summers are almost intolerable to me. The mercury has been north of 90 for a while, so I have to do my workouts first thing in the morning when my energy levels are low.
The scale and measurements are meh-tastic:
The pictures show a similar level of meh:
On The Road
I’ll be on the road two out of the next four weeks. First, I’ll be in FinCon in Orlando and then in Greece at Chautauqua. Being away from home is always a challenge. There will be lots of junk to eat and I don’t know what exercise equipment I’ll have access to. However, I’m going to make time for exercise and work hard to avoid the sweets.
And please do me a favor: If you see me in Orlando stuffing a donut or cookie into my face, kindly knock it out of my hands and yell some gentle insults! I need all the help I can get!
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Holy crap, I thought I was walking a lot in Longmont. 8 Miles is amazing!
Re: strength training…I really had to fight to get in more calories and especially protein before I started seeing increases in muscle mass. If you’re walking for 8 miles a day plus working out I can’t imagine how much you’re gonna have to eat.
Stronglifts and Starting Strength didn’t do much for me…but higher volume (more reps) with a variety of machines plus the bar stuff seems to be working. There is a difference between training for strength and training for muscle mass…
Mr. Pop recently posted…Reflections on 90 days of FIRE
I was talking to someone else this week who said the exact same things: more calories and more reps. The good news is that I do see strength increases, so I’m doing something positive. When I get back from travel, I’m going to mix it up a bit.
I agree with Mr. PoP. I’ve been doing a program called PHUL (google it) lately and found it easier to stick to over the long term than Starting Strength type programs. It’s a mixture of higher and lower reps to target a balance between strength and mass gains.
It comes down to goals though. Mr PoP and I might be more interested in muscle mass than you, Mr 1500. So extra calories are a big concern for me, but may not be as important to you. I think the biggest thing is just finding something you can do almost indefinitely because just like gaining wealth, strength comes from lots of really small gains compounded over months and years.
Preach! As much as MMM proselytizes for cycling, I do the same for walking. To me, the biggest downside of our country cottage is that it’s not amenable for walking errands. I *NEED* to walk for errands. I get plenty of walking in, but not nearly as much as I used to. (I’m probably at four miles a day now versus seven or eight when we lived in a walkable neighborhood.) One of my biggest complaints about living in Georgia for six months was the absence of pedestrian-friendly spaces.
“One of my biggest complaints about living in Georgia for six months was the absence of pedestrian-friendly spaces.”
It makes me sad when I see places that don’t plan for walkers and bikers. It certainly is getting better though.
nice score on that dino’. i walk the dog a few miles almost every day and i find all this great stuff: a 10 dollar bill, a cheap coping saw that mrs. smidlap loves, a boy scout brass bookmark, a gold ring, 42 cents, a gold bracelet, a gold ring, a cell phone (i left that behind), kid sunglasses, a cell phone that i left behind, countless dog toys (i only keep the real nice ones and leave the rest for needy dogs) and some brand new socks. it pays to walk around and have an eagle eye.
you can always go for some push-ups on the road. they go great with donuts. travel safely.
freddy smidlap recently posted…Want Free Money? Fill Out Some Forms
“I leave the rest for needy dogs”
Hilarious!
I find tools frequently. They must fall off the back of work trucks. Some of em’ are really nice too.
You’re doing great with walking. Nice job.
You’ll probably have to revamp your eating habit to get leaner.
Keep at it!
Yep, still tweaking to be done. The fun part is the experimentation. I’ll probably go back to P90x hardcore in mid-October too.
One of the things I really dig about our 120-year-old neighborhood outside of DC is how walkable things are. I hit a new meadery’s soft opening Saturday and walked the mile down and back with friends, then took the car in for an alternator on Monday and walked the 1.5mi back home afterward… it’s great. Once we had a flight out of DCA to a friend’s wedding, so my wife and I rolled the carry-on bags out the door and walked the mile down to the Metro station (neighbor on his porch: ‘where’re y’all going?’ me: ‘Savannah’).
As with Longmont, there’s something extra rad about living somewhere established before the automobile really took off!
Oh man, walkable neighborhoods are the best and it sounds like you’re in a great one!
Ever feel like Forrest Gump with all that walking? 😉
Kind of; I’m just not that smart.
That dude was a wise wise wise man.
Yup, walking is the secret sauce to a good life. I walk for about an hour nearly every single day, and I actually feel a lot better on the days that I walk than those days I don’t walk.
Something about getting the blood flowing for that hour that just starts off the whole day right.
Walk ON!
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Your posts on walking helped to inspire me to get back into my own walking program. Several years back I was a beast! Sometimes averaging 20,000 days for a month or two at a time. I’m now back up to over 18,000 on a rolling seven day average for the past few days. Hoping to keep that going. It’s hard though with the day job. I decided to make time for myself by waking up at 5pm every day and knock out an hour walk. That’s usually good for about 8,000 and a great, mind clearing way to start the day! 🙂
With all your walking you should look into sweatcoin. Yes, it is an alt coin but you ‘mine’ it by walking. https://sweatco.in/ What will they think of next …
O wait: https://www.beercoin.codes/
And no, no, no! https://www.sexcoin.info/ will somebody think of the children!!
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I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed walking the 2 miles to and from work the past few months instead of the 45 minute car commute I used to do daily. It’s had such a great impact to get me a little built it exercise as well as to interact and see the world around me. It’s going to be tough if I ever have to go back to a long daily car commute after getting spoiled like this!
I’m averaging 9,629 steps through today this year and I know how difficult it is to get just that, so I can’t imagine DOUBLE…Oh yes, I can….I just need to work harder to get where you’re at financially so that I can create the extra time that you have. Great job on the fitness work. Can definitely see improvement in your chest, back and arms. Keep at it! The hardest thing for me to remember is that 80% of my physique is my diet. The rest is about doing what works for me, and doing it consistently. As long as I pick up something heavy a few times 4-5 days a week and get 9,500-10,000 steps in, and don’t eat too much junk, I’m good.
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“You can always use more dinosaurs in your life, so I pocketed it and continued on my way.”
Now that is a koan for the ages! Most of us don’t find our totem hanging out in the street, waiting to be invited into our lives.
For the lifting, def try alternating high weight/low reps with lower weight/high reps – change it up, build mass and endurance.