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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)

#201

Post by DapperZoom »

I've yet to read the article posted in the OP, but already want to chime in after reading some of the comments.

I tend to walk 5-10mies a day, usually as part of my commute within San Francisco. One of the reasons I love this city so much is the walkability. I'm a fan of the backpack for a book, an extra layer, and in case I buy something on the walk, or in case I find an interesting read in one of those neighborhood share libraries.

My wife will be visiting relatives out of the country for the entire month of July, so I'm planning on a solo trip to some town or city in the United States. Any suggestions on nice, walkable cities? I also like to visit bars and try and see live music.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#202

Post by [deleted] »

dionidium wrote: post #83

> I will end by saying, as a guy, I have never had any problems from other people. In all my years walking all over. But that it is sadly very very different for women. He's either only walking in exceptionally safe areas, he's very large, or I have a particularly punchable face. I biked every road in St. Louis a few years ago, which required biking every street in some high-crime neighborhoods. I was frequently made…

[deleted]

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#203

Post by tastysandwich »

Walking rocks!

I walk every day, preferably with my wife.

It works for me because I'm not a sit-down-and-chat kind of person. I can't sit still - I'm _always_ doing something. I just get ants in my pants and have to get up.

A good hour-long walk is fantastic because it provides a long stretch of uninterrupted time where we can talk about, well, anything! Free from any distractions or time pressure. And strangely, I feel way more open to talking when I'm physically moving.

When walking alone I usually put a podcast on, but most of the time I zone out and end up thinking. It's great because you can carry a long chain of thought and see where it takes you! And the minute I sit down - poof! - it's all gone.

Nietzsche said "all truly great thoughts are conceived while walking".

I wish I could say I had such lofty thoughts are the great philosophers. Usually I'm daydreaming about something useless. But it's nice to think I at least share something in common with them!

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#204

Post by jurassic »

subroutine wrote: post #44
rootusrootus wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend trying a decently long slow walk first. The mechanics of walking slowly are not the same as walking at a normal pace. Some people get sore, some do not, better to find out before spending real money on the walking desk. Or be like me, know already from experience walking with slow people that I can't walk that slow and not hurt, buy the treadmill desk anyway, sell it six months later after giving up.

To counter, try standing for a few hours vs. walking slowly and you will be surprised that walking is actually easier. Humans anatomy seems to prefer walking over standing. It's particularly obvious after those long moments where you are deep into woking through some code, where you totally forget to move for about 20 min. The treadmill takes care of that. So if you already bought that standing desk... https://www.li…

I recently bought one of these to pair with my standing desk and I'm losing about one pound per week from walking a leisurely 5-6 miles a day during work. Took me a few days to get acclimated, but after a few weeks I felt fully productive. Wish I'd figured this out sooner.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#205

Post by Arainach »

exhilaration wrote: post #136
nahmean wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps an odd thing to ask, but what are you packing in your backpack for coffee? That sounds lovely, but between the need for hot water, the subpar quality of most powdered coffees, etc, it has seemed out of reach.

Not the OP but I take every opportunity to brag about my Zojirushi SM-KHE insulated mug. I use mine every day -- cold coffee and tea are a thing of the past. I have several friends that really like their Fellow Carter Everywhere mugs if you want an alternative.

+1 for the Zojiroshi. I've owned a variety of vacuum flasks and it's by far the best. Years later and my tea is still scalding hot ten hours later (I usually let it cool a bit after steeping before I put it in because it protects too well). It's gone on dozens of flights and journeys with me and other than a few scratches looks and feels as good as the day I got it. It's also trivial to disassemble and clean.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#206

Post by wrycoder »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #91
rootusrootus wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> could be easily squeezed to 3 hours The fraction of the population that can sustain a 4 mph pace comfortably for three hours is probably small. That's a pretty good clip. 2.5 to 3 mph is much more realistic.

Yes. I've been walking for a LONG time and 12 miles takes me about 4 hours. That's a lot of time out of your day, plus you likely won't have a lot of energy left for errands or whatever else needs to be done afterwards.

At that pace, you could leave San Francisco in March and arrive in Boston before the snow flys.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#207

Post by jodrellblank »

farleykr wrote: post #167
munificent wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> allows me time to process existing thoughts as opposed to consuming more inputs This can't be stressed enough. With phones and the Internet today, most of us consume way more information than we have time to really process, organize, and reflect on. It's like we do a shopping spree every single day and never spend any time in our house unpacking any of the grocery bags. Our minds are a chaotic mess of piled up worr…

This is an excellent articulation. I’ve read dozens of books and articles about the cons of using technology too much and it’s never quite clicked like it did when I read your shopping analogy. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you’re a stranger on the internet and I don’t have any underlying worries about your stance being motivated by selling books or building an audience on social media.

> "I don’t have any underlying worries about your stance being motivated by selling books."

You didn't check his profile, then? ;)

He's also been on the Corecursive podcast, about Crafting Interpreters: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/corecursive-coding-storie... which happened to be one of the most recent things I was listening to while out walking.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#208

Post by shrimp_emoji »

munificent wrote: post #62
stevesearer wrote: post #8

After walking to and from work for 5 years along the same route, I found that I prefer walking without listening to anything on headphones. Just thinking increases awareness of my surroundings, allows me time to process existing thoughts as opposed to consuming more inputs, and connects me to the people I would inevitably see on a semi-regular basis. Personally, I have found that 1 hour + is a good threshold to aim f…

> allows me time to process existing thoughts as opposed to consuming more inputs This can't be stressed enough. With phones and the Internet today, most of us consume way more information than we have time to really process, organize, and reflect on. It's like we do a shopping spree every single day and never spend any time in our house unpacking any of the grocery bags. Our minds are a chaotic mess of piled up worr…

That is a level of boredom unacceptable in ${current_year}.

The content must flow.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#209

Post by oska »

balaji1 wrote: post #122
munificent wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> allows me time to process existing thoughts as opposed to consuming more inputs This can't be stressed enough. With phones and the Internet today, most of us consume way more information than we have time to really process, organize, and reflect on. It's like we do a shopping spree every single day and never spend any time in our house unpacking any of the grocery bags. Our minds are a chaotic mess of piled up worr…

There is a benefit of re-listening to certain audiobooks, lectures or podcasts. If there was a sophisticated way to just have content on-repeat, that would be cool. New content all the time is over-consumption, while repeating could be used for learning. Also if walking alone, people should try calling friends and family. It's a great way to reconnect and stay connected with friends. Handsfree, heads up, it's good fu…

I dislike coming across ppl on my walks who are loudly talking to someone on a phone whilst walking along. I find it bizarre behaviour.

Re: How to Walk (12 miles a day)

#210

Post by jonnycoder »

I was surprised to learn he wears Teva sandals for walking that much, but it makes sense with a little thought. My most comfortable walking shoes are very comfortable on the sides which means no excess pressure. Those Tevas are not restrictive on the sides.
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