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How to Walk (12 miles a day)

walkingtheworld.substack.com

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Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#11

Post by stevesearer »

pugworthy wrote: post #9
gandalfff wrote: post #4

I've thought about incorporating such long walks into my lifestyle but I'm not certain the benefits add up. Definitely a fun idea though!

Last year I used the CityStrides website to track and walk every street in my town. All told about 385 miles or so. Some changes I've noticed since doing this are listed below. Not that they are earth shattering, but just a few things I've observed. * My resting heart rate fell by about 5 BPM. * I can now run and walk in my dreams and rarely have the "legs in molasses" thing (if you know what I mean). * I now wear tr…

Getting to know the area you live is a great reason to start walking.

One of my favorite things to find in Santa Barbara are old concrete stamps marking which company/contractor poured that section of sidewalk. Often these are 100+ years old. I've currently found ~25-30 different ones.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#12

Post by markus_zhang »

I used to ride bicycle with my friend a few times every week 10 years ago. Now it's a distant dream. Both of us have families and full time job so barely getting enough sleep. Weekends are usually spent on chores or personal projects that never get finished.

Those were the good days.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#13

Post by Mikeb85 »

I'm a big fan of walking (or hiking). So much that I moved to a mountain town.

For one, creative inspiration often comes to me while walking. Second, it beats sitting on a couch. If you need added stimulation, go with a walking partner or listen to a podcast. Plus health benefits (not going to say it's an amazing workout depending on intensity but it's better than being sedentary) and it's fun.

Yes, it takes time. Sometimes you don't have time. That's ok. It doesn't have to be every day. But it's something you can do with kids, parents, colleagues, by yourself, etc...

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#15

Post by ketanmaheshwari »

ArtWomb wrote: post #6

I'd love to have this freedom. As well as a nice cabin up in the Green Mountains of Vermont to explore. But 12mi a day, and you're basically a professional hiker for a living when you include prep time and post prandial hot tub soaks for recovery ;)

Hey I understand the spirit of your message but you don't really have to be a professional hiker. The OP says it takes three and a half hours to walk 12 miles but could be easily squeezed to 3 hours. Then, it could be split. Half of this could be done in the morning and the other half in the evening.

I would kindly urge you to consider this and give walking a fair try. It made a lot of positive change in my life. Best wishes.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#16

Post by entropie »

Easy to accomplish (at least for me). One word: Dog. I walk daily 90 minutes at least. There was a time (and another dog, but thats not the reason) where it was more like 120-200 minutes a day outside. I live in a fairly populated town in east Germany. We have a solid forest and lots of lakes around. Its great and like 20 years+ later I know most of them, but not all.

My coworker and I worked like a year together at my place. He came around, we drank a coffee together and started working. Like 3-4 hours later, depending on schedule, we took a good 60 minutes+ walk with my dog. We talked project related things sometimes, but it felt never like "we have to talk about work", We were kind of friends so we had lots of other topics. Then back at my place we continued for 2,3 or even 5 hours. We had no issues stopping after 2 hours, but did often way more. We were very productive.

We were a good match, but those breaks outside enjoying life (forced by my habits to go at least 60minutes outside with the dog) helped a lot not burning out and making room in the brain.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#17

Post by paulcole »

sleepdreamy wrote: post #5
gandalfff wrote: post #4

I've thought about incorporating such long walks into my lifestyle but I'm not certain the benefits add up. Definitely a fun idea though!

Elaborate on 'I'm not certain the benefits add up'

He wants to have done it but needs an excuse to keep from doing it.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#18

Post by astrobe_ »

As for safety, always look left and right when you cross, just like how your were probably taught as a child, really. Because of today's rise of mostly silent electric vehicles, and because of drivers distracted by phones sometimes, you should not cross "by hear", if it ever was a good idea (I used to do that), even if you have the green light. Be extra cautious if a large truck or bus blocks your view. Remove your headset/earphones in high traffic environments.

The author mentions other (hostile) people as a potential problem, one could also mention wild animals or straight dogs in urban environments. I had a couple of encounters with lost dogs myself, thankfully they were not hostile. Advice on how to behave from "pros" would be welcome.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#20

Post by subroutine »

I know it's not really the point of this missive, but I average right around 12 miles per day at my treadmill desk. So for anyone who'd like to multitask their walking and work, I'd highly recommend trying it. After about a month the walking bit really becomes second nature.
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