1/23/2010 Downtown Burlington

Today I decided to make a Saturday morning Starbucks run and then go for a walk from there.  I envisioned strolling down the street, sipping my cup of coffee. Then reality hit and I realized how hard it would be to be holding a cup of coffee while I was trying to take pictures or check my walking pace on my phone, so the coffee stayed in the car while I walked.  The town I live in, Burlington, is probably like a lot of small towns. The downtown area is old, only a few blocks long, and while a bit busy, not too vibrant.  A few blocks a away from downtown is a small mall, and lots of big box stores: Costco, Best Buy, Home Depot and the like.  I don't go downtown very often; mostly if I do, it's either to the Post Office or the bank, so today I decided I my walk would be through downtown.  I was actually impressed at the amount of traffic. Lots of people at the banks and local restaurants for breakfast and the hardware store seemed busy--must be that Saturday rush to get things done around the house.  I only passed 2 people on the streets walking, and for a bit I trailed a man in his scooter.  I let him go ahead of me because I thought he'd be faster, but I'll be darned if I didn't have to slow my pace to keep from running him over.  The fact that he was also smoking, and ran off the sidewalk and into the grass a couple of times, made me relieved when he abruptly exited the sidewalk, crossed the street and headed back from where he had come.  What I did notice was that our little town is getting old and needs some sort of pick-me-up.  This sign is an example of what I am talking about.

Now this doesn't make it too inviting to drop in on that restaurant. Actually, I don't even know if it's still open, but it has been there for as long as I have been in the area, over 30 years.  It only took me about 10 minutes to walk through the actual downtown area and then I was into the neighborhoods.  Lots of old small homes line the streets, with very little action this morning.  I did wonder if the people in this house were expecting a flood...

If a flood comes, I guess they will be ready. I hope it's not in their yard as lawn decoration.  The day was fairly pleasant. Still no rain, mid 40s outside, and a good day for a walk!  You can see my route here:  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/606100

1/22/2010 Padilla Bay Trail

Today I returned to where I started this crazy idea--back to the Padilla Bay Trail.  I was able to walk a bit farther today; the wind wasn't blowing; but my pace wasn't much faster than 21 days ago. Guess that's just as fast as my short little legs will go.  It was a very nice day for a walk, though, and the tide was out, so it was like walking in a totally different place.  Unfortunately I left my camera card at home, so I was relegated to taking photos with my cell phone.  A few turned out okay, and some even have a sort of surreal effect to them since I had to zoom in--and cell phones weren't really designed for that.

I really enjoyed the walk with the tide out; there were ducks everywhere digging down into the mud flats finding some good grub. I saw mallards, drakes, pintails of some sort, ruddy ducks, and of course seagulls.  I look forward to going back out again when the tide is out; the landscape is so different. The day was very clear, too, and I could see Mt. Baker and the Cascade Range to the southeast.  On days like this, I think about how fortunate I am to live in such a scenic place.  You can see my route here:  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/605583

1/21/2010 Around and Around I Go

If you view the route I took today, you'll understand the title.  I was working all day and then a friend came over late in the afternoon. Since I hadn't gotten my walk in yet, I invited her to walk with me--but we had to go somewhere nearby, so we did a little loop by my house--a 10 minute loop at best, so we did the loop three times, and then walked back to my house, but we still didn't have 30 minutes in, so we walked around my condo complex until we hit 30 minutes. So around and around we went.  I am amazed at how easy it was to go around my loop in such a short period of time. I remember trying it a year or so ago and it seemed so hard, and today I did it THREE times...amazing.  It really is making a difference. It was nearly dark today when we went, it was a bit after 4:30, but still light enough to see and take a couple of pictures. Proof that the days are, indeed, getting longer.

I'm going to start altering my walking schedule to something like this:  Monday, long walk--50-60 minutes; Tuesday, easy 30 minute walk; Wednesday, hill walk, 40-60 minutes; Thursday, easy 30 minute walk; Friday, long walk--50-60 minutes; Saturday, hill walk, 40-60 minutes; Sunday, easy 30 minute walk.  I'll try to make the 30 minute walks more aerobic, picking up my pace a bit. We'll see how that pattern works for a while.  It should give my body some recovery time.  You can see my walk today here:  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/605049

1/20/2010 Country Club Loop

Today I walked the Country Club loop again. It's very close to 2.5 miles around. The last time I walked it was 12 days ago, so I thought it would be great to compare the two walks. For some reason I walked slower today. It might have been the nice weather; made me look around more for blooms and buds. It might be that I am still tired from my cross country trip, or it might be that I need to alter my distances each week to allow for recovery time.  I might need to better plan my walks, a long walk followed by a shorter walk, a hilly walk in the middle of the week, a 30 minute stroll sometimes.  I tend to get hung up on data, so comparing the times and distances I walk might not be the greatest idea ever...This first month is a good test to develop a model for the rest of the year.

The golf course looked great today and made me yearn for this spring when I can once again golf. I had to put golfing off this past summer and fall because of my knee replacement, but I will definitely be ready this spring. I'm excited to give it a shot. I'm also excited to be able to walk the course once again. For the past few years I have been relegated to a golf cart to save the wear and tear on my knee.  Guess I should start looking for a new push cart pretty soon!

It has been so mild so far this month that I think the flowers are very confused. This is a rhododendron in full bloom that I passed on my walk today.  I also saw several bunches of crocuses, some already blooming. It would be nice to think that this would keep up, but I believe rain is on the way. My route and data can be found here:  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/604560  So far this month, I have walked nearly 40 miles!

1/19/2010 Port of Skagit Trails

Today I was quite busy catching up after being gone for nearly a week, so felt a bit rushed about getting in a walk. I ended up heading to the Port of Skagit Trails again, as it is only a 5 minute drive from my house.  Today was the first day that this actually felt like a burden, like I HAD to walk. Pretty much, I just wanted to get it over with today and get back home to my work. The fact that I had a couple of phone conferences lined up didn't help matters any.  It was actually a very nice day today, about 53 degrees, a bit overcast, but with some sun breaks.  Two people ran past us on the walked dressed in their shorts and T-shirts. I, of course, was bundled up, and am looking forward to this summer when I will walk in 70 degree weather. I like this trail, as for part of it, you can go past a large pond that actually used to be used by a kayak company for testing their products. The pond was full of ducks today.

My body is still recovering from the 4-day cross country trip, and my walk today reflected that: my walking time was a bit slower than usual, and we only walked for 37 minutes.  My route can be found here:  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/603848

1/18/2010 Skagit Dike Trail

Today I made it back home from my fast cross country trip, and then headed out for my walk. I decided to walk the Burlington Dike Trail again. It's very nice, wide, and quite peaceful walking along the river.  It is a relaxing area to walk, I find, but I also have discovered that my pace is better there then on some of the other trails.  I actually think pacing while I walk depends greatly on how I feel physically. If I am dragging a bit, my pace is slower.  I thought these boats looked very cool all lined up along the river at their dock.  Funny that I didn't notice them the last time I was here.

I hope each time I repeat a walk on a trail, I am able to discover new things I missed on other walks. And of course the scenery will change as the seasons do.  I'm surprised I haven't seen any ducks along here or even any signs of bird nests. It might be that the river is too wide or that the trail is too close to a populated area. We'll see how it changes as time goes along.  here's the data from the walk:  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/603372

As to the cross country trip--I have always wanted to ride my bicycle across the United States. It has been on my "bucket list" for a very long time. I really admire people who have accomplished that ride, because now that I have driven cross country, I'm pretty sure I will cross the bicycle ride off my list. I can't imagine riding across the country, taking 6 or 7 days to make it as far as we drove in one day; and especially in the heat of the summer.

 

1/17/2010 Coeur D'Alene

Today we drove from Bozeman, Montana, to Seattle. Safely made it back home; 2800+ miles in 4 days. I am excited that I was able to keep up my walking plan even through a cross country trip. Stopping to walk a bit each day is a great way to get out of the car and see the country from a different perspective then the car. And when that couldn't be done, there was always a treadmill at a hotel. Today we stopped in Coeur D'Alene to have lunch with a friend, so I took 30 minutes out to walk on part of the Centennial Trail along the lake. Very nice walk. There are some beautiful homes across the road from the lake. Wow! I could have easily walked a lot longer, but we were on a mission to get to Seattle. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me on my walk, so no pictures of the walk, but you can view the route here: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/602594


Yesterday I forgot to mention all the animals we had seen, especially through South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana...deer, antelope, wild turkeys, pheasants and buffalo. All in all, a great trip. Now back home and those walking trails of Skagit County.