81–90 of 259 posts
Taking walks with friends or colleagues is a vastly underrated activity and leads to some great conversations.
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.
Can the treadmill go backwards?
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 to feel uncomfortable. I was never attacked or anything like that, but multiple times it was made clear to me that I was where I didn't belong. And I was on a bike and could quickly ride away. I think I would have had a lot more trouble on foot.
I remember being in a bar once and some guy started trouble with me for no reason and my buddy, who is 6'3'' and 250 pounds did not believe that detail, because "nobody would start trouble with you for no reason." To paraphrase Don Draper, "no, nobody would start trouble with you for no reason."
For the longest time I found walking even short distances insufferably slow and boring. I ride my bike--a lot. The distances and durations I cover have grown each year to the point that centuries (metric or imperial) are a regular weekend event. Boredom is always an issue when you're out for 5+ hours, but you'd be surprised at how much your sense of time can change if you normalize riding long distances. Interestingly, my mind's time-condensation for cycling never translated to walking.
This year I branched out into winter ultra fat biking, which, as it turns out, can involve a significant amount of walking. In bad snow conditions one can end up pushing a heavy bike for hours at a time. The two races I did this winter had their respective all time worst course conditions. So, I did a lot of walking.
This spring I've found myself opting walk to the gym and office, leaving the bike at home. My mind doesn't count the minutes the way it used to. I actually have no sense of how long it takes me to get to these places. I suspect the exaggerated stimulus of pushing a bike for hours through snow drifts has adapted my perception of everyday walking. I would hypothesize that the author's 20-mile weekend walks makes their long daily walks more doable. If you want to enjoy short regular walks, perhaps it would help to go out for a very long and hard walk from time to time.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 don't disagree at all. I can walk many miles at 3mph. At 1.5mph I'll be in pain pretty quickly. But if I really want to suffer, I'll stand for a couple hours. So I don't have a standing desk, either. I primarily sit when working at the computer. But every 30-45 minutes I get up and go for a stroll, even if just around the yard.
fwiw my walking desk is set to 2.4mph, which seems to be the sweet spot between my natural walking speed and a pace that I can still comfortably read and type. Pretty much a linear ramp up from 1.0mph to 2.4mph over 1 year period.
> 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…
I find the anti-backpack mindset interesting, because I started urban walking after getting wilderness backpacking experience. I can't imagine walking around without a daypack, and I often bring it with me even when it's empty. On my morning commute today it held a Kindle, a spare set of headphones, and a plastic bag for when I buy more groceries than can fit in the pack. I'm probably not going to use any of those be…
I am coming from same path as you describe - hiker to the core. Be it 2 hours or 3 weeks in himalaya. That's my past 14 years of life described (with some climbing, ski touring and few other sports on top, but this is the solid base). I have 2 small kids now, and they are really not in best shape for long hikes or anything more extreme. Son on baby backpack would be 20 kilos without any further equipment/food require…
I'm a fan of the small backpack when I'm out with my kids, particularly for a water bottle, tubs of snacks, a place to put that pinecone they found, etc. But just me? A wallet and phone in my pants pockets is more than enough.
For a sedentary/desk job, I suspect that maintaining this quantity of walking daily would be feasible, and beneficial, long term.