WALKING IN THE GARDEN OF PEACE

Just minutes after leaving our home with a gym towel in my hand, and with all intentions on going to the fitness center for a weight workout, I felt like this day was reserved for a walk in the park.

With the temperature at a pleasant 65 degrees Fahrenheit and the sky brilliant blue, I knew that being indoors in the gym, underneath florescent lighting, just wasn’t going to get it. I had to remain outdoors, and I had to take a mind-clearing walk in our tropical-paradise-of-a-park. The park, after all, is only ½ mile from our gated community.

Ironically, as soon as I entered the park, my youngest daughter called me on my cell phone with a heartfelt question. Being amongst God’s beauty gave me the insight to answer her question in a manner becoming of our faith, and in a manner that was uplifting for her and for me. Without going into detail, we put the bad guy where he belongs – behind us.

All throughout this morning’s five-mile, two-hour walk, I stopped to take pictures with my smart phone’s camera, never once placing my Garmin 110 GPS on pause. This walk was not about clock time or walking pace; it was all about walking through the garden of peace in total appreciation for what’s been provided for us by Jehovah.  

What we do with these life-sustaining endowments is completely up to us, for He has given us free will to do and think as we please.

Me? I’m staying with the good Guy – and so is my daughter.

Details of Walk

SLOW, CHILLY ESCORT BIKE RIDE

Only two miles to go...

Leaving our home shortly after 5 a.m. with the temperature at a mild 60.8 F, we headed towards the semi-darkened shopping-mall parking area for a long run/escort bike ride. My wife planned to run and walk in the mall’s massive parking area prior to sunrise and then head for the county park during daylight to complete her planned 16-mile run. The mall's security lighting would provide enough light for a safe run and ride.  

We stopped only twice while in the parking area, once for a potty break at Chick-fil-a and once to say hello to my biking mates that were gathering on the east side of the mall for a cool Monday morning bike ride.

After taking a good 10 minutes to cross busy Flamingo Road, and then running and riding into the park, my wife had 4 or 5 miles to go in the park to complete her planned 16-miler.

Even though we were finally in an open area, I still kept my speed at whatever speed she was running.  I did manage to open the throttle up to something like 15.3 mph, and that was against a strong wind coming in from the NW. Whoopee for me!  That was when my heat rate “shot up” to 118 bpm.  My average HR, however, was 69 bpm.  

As far as aerobic training is concerned, today’s bike ride was a real laugher.   

   

mapmyride

garmin.com

1/2 DOZEN MILES OF WALKING

This morning’s walk was done at an overall pace that is acceptable by most marathons and half marathons. There are exceptions, Walt Disney World running events being some of them.

The first mile, however, was around two minutes slower than the other five miles because I spent a good amount of time clearing the sidewalk of all debris generated by Hurricane Sandy. Knowing that my wife will be beginning her long run early tomorrow morning on that very sidewalk, I didn’t want her tripping over twigs and palm branches in the darkness.

As I was removing a large palm frond from the sidewalk, some guy that was running on that walkway thanked me. I thought that was very kind of him.

Just past mile 3.6, I ducked into the fitness center for a forty-five minute weight-machine workout. The gym itself was nearly void of humans. Only cycling room, where they play loud music and pump stationary bikes until they reach near-death status, was full of upright Homo sapiens.

Feeling really good after 3 ½ miles of brisk walking and 45 minutes of pushing and pulling, I decided to walk through our neighboring gated community just to get in some extra miles.

Enjoy the day, and may your football team come out the victor – unless you are a NY JET fan.

http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/198513127

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/237897244

WINDY ESCORT BIKE RIDE

Average temperature was 70F, it was very windy and the sky was cloudless; perfect for a slow escort bike ride.

While my wife did one of her short-distance training runs/walks across from where we live, I rode alongside her, around her, in front of her and in back of her, handing her the lone bottle of Gatorade whenever she would reach out with her left hand. The extended left hand is the thirst signal. The extended right hand is the signal that she found loose change on the ground. She came up empty today, but I found two pennies lying by their lonesome in the massive mall parking lot.

I also turned on the video camera at times, just to show my DM friends how windy it was and how awesome my wife looks during her training runs. I am one proud hubby! Her average run/walk pace was 13:35 minutes-per-mile.

System used for my wife's run/walk: walk 1 ½ minutes/run 1 minute throughout the entire distance.

GARMIN STATS

AUTO MAINTENANCE WALK

When our SUV was ready for pick up after dropping it off early this morning at our local Ford dealer, I walked the 3.38 miles along busy Pines Boulevard to the front entrance of the auto dealer. Using my legs for errands is the smart thing to do.

It was a fun walk, watching all the hurried motorists heading for their individual work places. I spotted only one other walker and one biker, which doesn’t say much for our non-green culture.

(Our Wednesday morning bike ride was cancelled because of rain and wind.)

I sure did work up a craving for one of my delicious strawberry smoothies. In fact, I made two of them, one of me and one for my lovely wife. I put a couple extra strawberries in hers…

Walk Data

PERFECT WEATHER FOR A BIKE RIDE

On a morning when I wasn’t sure who was going to show up for our Monday morning bike ride, I was pleased to see that Rey, Tom, Steve and Sandy had saddled up and were ready for some fun miles. With the average temperature right at 79F, and the sky absolutely clear, how could we not enjoy riding our bikes in the temperate sub-tropics of South Florida!?

We took our usual route to the coffee shop, enjoyed our individual drinks and eats, and then decided on a different route back to the shopping mall. By then, however, the wind had picked up considerably, pressuring us to pace-line nearly the entire distance back to the mall’s starting point. I don’t mind pace-lining with these guys because everyone in this particular group is a seasoned cyclists.

Riding through the Southwest Ranches is always enjoyable and downright peaceful. What little traffic that we do encounter is usually on the lookout for bicycles, motorcycles and slow-moving tractors. Let’s include geese and ducks with those!

Nice, fast-moving pace-line down Flamingo Road, with a top speed of 24.3 mph.

Time for breakfast…

mapmyride

SPEED-WALK TRAINING

Confidence builder, that’s what this morning’s walk was.  This morning's walk gave me confidence that I’ll be able to speed-walk January's half marathon in Walt Disney World in the allotted time of 3 1/2 hours. 

The only issue in question, my left knee, held up nicely during the 6.5 mile walk. Slight tightness, but no discomfort to speak of! Perhaps last Thursday’s cortisone injection is doing its job. The series of lubricant injections beginning two weeks from now should help even more.

Meanwhile, I’ll do very little walk training. Preserving the knee takes precedence over being in tip-top walking shape.

Walk via Map My Walk

EARLY MORNING ESCORT BIKE RIDE

Leaving our home ½ hour before sunrise, we headed in the general direction of our neighborhood shopping mall for some run/walk/ride miles with smiles. We accomplished all three!

For me, this was an escort ride. For my awesome wife, it was a short-distance marathon training run/walk.

Like I typically do whenever she trains for marathons, I ride alongside her on my road bike with two 24 oz. bottles of fluid. This morning she could choose between plain ice water and orange-flavored Gatorade. Both were nearly empty after her 10km run/walk. I took one small sip of the water.

With a recorded average heart rate of 71 bpm, I doubt that I got too much out of this “workout” other than some fabulous companionship with my super wife. We’re planning on doing the same thing tomorrow morning when a cold front enters our area. We are expecting a low of 70F (21.1C). 

That, my good friends, is life in the sub-tropics.

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/195548667

PEACOCKS, PARROTS AND RAIN

Only three of us rode today, Rey, Sandy and I. Rey was jokingly pleased to hear that I had cortisone injected into my left knee yesterday. That meant that this morning’s ride would be slower than normal, whatever normal is these days.

After our coffee break at Einstein’s Bagel Shop at mile 12.5, we rode through Markham County Park, east on the concrete bike trail, south on Flamingo Road service road and then on to Tom’s place, where we sat underneath his new Tiki hut chatting.

Shortly after we left Tom’s place, some unexpected rain came down upon our helmeted heads, forcing us to duck underneath one of Flamingo Garden’s pavilions. http://www.flamingogardens.org/Gardens.html While in the garden area, we enjoyed some delicious freshly squeezed orange juice that was grown and squeezed on the premises.

I was somewhat amused watching the colorful Peacocks walk around us while we drank our juice. I was also entertained while listening to the parrots and other tropical birds communicate with one another in bird language. I swear, I believe they were making fun of us three.

Anyway, today’s ride was fun and relaxing, albeit a bit damp for the last seven miles.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/234938216

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/195323585

IMPROMPTU WALK

After a few hours of restlessness staying indoors with a TV remote glued to my hand, I strapped on my Garmin 205 and then headed out the door. I had a sudden urge to head to the gym for a token workout.

After slowly walking the .38 of a mile to the hospital’s fitness center, I paid our annual membership dues, made like I was working out on the machines, and then headed back home via the longer route through the hospital’s parking lot. The mild temperature and slight breeze made for a pleasant walk.

Half way home, I notice a relatively new-looking long knit beanie ski cap lying on the sidewalk. It was a NY Giant’s (football team) ski cap. My first thought was cooties, the worse kind, the NY Giant’s kind.

Can you tell that I’m a Miami Dolphin fan??

The ski cap still layeth on the concrete sidewalk, untouched by yours truly.

http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/195062159

KNEE INJECTION

I just received a pain-free (Not) runner’s cocktail injection in my left knee. On order are the series of lubricant shots for the same knee. Right knee is doing fine, as is the rest of my body.

I am determined to earn that new Donald Duck ½ marathon finisher’s medal this coming January.

NORDIC WALKING

Welcome to my inaugural Nordic Walking workout.

Expecting to walk just a few steps around our condo area, basically out of sight of most humanoids, I surprised myself by walking outside our gated community so that all of South Florida could catch a glimpse of the old man walking along the lake with his new Leki Walking Poles. Well, no one honked their car horn at me, so I guess I didn’t look too stupid – just a little stupid. After all, Nordic walking isn’t exactly widespread in the good ole USA. At least not yet!

I have to say that walking with poles is unlike regular walking, in that you use you your upper body as well as your lower body. I’m sure once I get the form down I’ll feel more comfortable walking with poles versus walking without. My first time out, however, I felt mildly awkward, especially when the poles would bounce up on the uneven sidewalks. And we have plenty of those in my town.

Anyway, I’m well pleased with the pace, seeing as though I barely broke a sweat. Maybe the 100% cloud coverage and steady wind had something to do with that. Ya think?

http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/194690989

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

It felt wonderful being in the saddle again after a nine day hiatus from road cycling.

The air temperature started out at 72F and ended up at 84F. We enjoyed the 2 mph southeasterly wind in the beginning as well as the 10 mph wind at the conclusion of the ride. Cloud coverage was around 50%.. Perfect!

The out and back course ended up being 28 miles with a bunch of smiles, even while discussing last night’s presidential debate.

Distance: 28.05 miles

Time: 02:17:22

Max/Average Speed: 20.2/12.3 mph

Max/Average HR: 150/112

Elevation Gain: 119 feet

Calories Burned: 720

http://app.strava.com/activities/25291839

HOT WALK

I love to walk! But when the real feel temperature is 92 F, and the sun is directly into your face and eyes (Yes, my eyes are located on my facial side), walking then becomes pitilessly uncomfortable. That was the case this morning.

But not being fair weather walkers and runners, we endured the heat and humidity, stopping in the gym at mile marker 2.5 for a brief resistance machine workout. The gym’s air-conditioning never felt so good.

Keeping my fingers crossed for good riding weather tomorrow. The high heat will be okay, because we generate our own wind when riding. It’s the thunder and lightning that frightens the dickens out of me.

On order are a set of Leki Nordic Walking Poles to assist me in walking.  Nordic walking has become very popular in Europe.

http://www.mapmywalk.com/workout/191496475

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/231704922

RAINED OUT

100% animal miles, riding around the mall in contemplation of enjoying a fun coffee-shop ride with my cycling companions!

Thanks to a massive amount of dark grey clouds coming in off the Atlantic Ocean, all four of us had to skedaddle back to our homes before the deluge began. Dry as when I left my home at 7:05 this morning, I made it back home with maybe two minutes to spare.

Although this has nothing to do with cycling, I feel  like I should comment on what I saw while riding around the mall’s parking lot. Trash, trash and more trash, left behind by fast food consumers that sit in the mall parking lot eating their junk food - and then tossing all leftovers and bags on the ground. I can think of countless places on this planet where I’d love to send these ignorant people.  Third world countries come to mind - where squalor is the norm.  

Rev 11:18 “…and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”

http://app.strava.com/activities/24372630

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/231346455

IBIS’, CROWS AND AIR JORDANS

Average heart rate on this escort ride was 72 bpm, so I’m not sure if I should classify this ride as a workout, joyride, or what. I believe the only time my heart rate went above 80 was when I spotted some loose change on the ground.

Anyway, my wife managed a 10K training run/walk while I scooted alongside her on my road bike. The bike conveniently held two water bottles in its bottle cradles. She drank only one bottle, or 24oz.

Average temperature was a warm 82F (real feel 89F), there was very little wind, and the sun was in our eyes when heading east. We began the run/ride at 6:49 a.m. Sunrise was at 7:17 a.m.

When we were on the southwest side of the mall, we noticed several young people congregating around one of the entrances. There were two police cars and one mall security in the area as well. When I asked a young man that was headed for the entrance what was happening, he told me that the new Nike Air Jordan's are going on sale. Another real head-shaker!

The entire ride/run was recorded on my video cam. But other than my wife running through a flock of Ibis’ that were searching for worms in the grassy areas along the lake, nothing extraordinary occurred. One other time, near the end of her run, I recorded her making a funny face when I swung the bike around facing her with the handlebar camera. With her permission, I’ll post the short video.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/230434124

BIKING IN BABEL

This morning’s bike ride was a nice slow ride with my weekday biking companions.

But I believe all of us are tiring of the same route day in and day out. Perhaps it’s time to change routes or alter the one we have! If it were not for vehicular traffic and ruthless scofflaws, making a change would be simple. In reality, there simply are not many places in our area to ride a bike that are safe from one or the other.

City and county parks are generally safe, but most of them are too small. Let’s face it, who wants to ride in circles for two or three hours!? A Gerbil in a cage on a Ferris wheel comes to mind.

There are very few “country roads” remaining in South Florida. Ever since the last half century’s population explosion, we have regressed into a quagmire of people, roads, cars and buildings. Buildings and asphalt roads replaced sub-tropical trees and palm-shrubs, the cars and trucks spew out pollution into the air, and the people speak multiple languages.

Picture the Tower of Babel in a jam-packed city with motorcars.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/230180159

http://app.strava.com/activities/24067701

KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE, NOT LITERALLY

After dropping off my SUV at the auto shop, I walked from Firestone to the gym, did a resistance machine workout while in the gym, walked from the gym to home, ate a healthy breakfast, and then I walked from home back to Firestone. Our SUV now has new tires and I recorded four miles of speed walking at a moderate pace. That’s killing two birds with one stone!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/229874928

TREADMILL RUN/WALKS

Oh my goodness, I had four workouts on my Garmin 110 to upload into Garmin Connect. Three of those workouts recorded my distance and time to and from the gym while the fourth recorded my treadmill stats. Well almost! I had to adjust the distance that the little GPS recorded when I walked 2 ½ miles on the treadmill, otherwise it would have had me walking zero miles in 42 minutes.

All of them recorded my heart rate, which rarely got over 100 bpm.  

My wife ran on one of the treadmills as well.  When she was half way through with her 12-miler on the treadmill, I walked back home, made two strawberry smoothies, and then walked back to the fitness center.

Anyway, because of the rain, heat and humidity, we chickened out of walking and running outdoors. The gym’s air-conditioning never felt so good.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/229279760

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/229279763

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/229279751

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/229279746

MY RIFLE, PONY AND ME

Despite everyone’s fear of rain this morning, the weather turned out to be ideal for biking, hiking or just enjoying the great outdoors. We did the former and the latter.

We did have a relatively strong wind in our faces when riding back to the barn. Agreeing not to ride each other’s rear wheels any longer for safety reasons, no one pulled and no one escaped the full force of the wind.

And speaking of the barn, we ran across the cutest pony while riding on the horse trail. The small pony was alone when we first rode beside him or her. I had my video cam on, so I’ll put together a very short video of the pony trotting to find its mommy and daddy.

http://app.strava.com/activities/23701039