Walking Progress

I'm still walking!

Day 5...today was nice and overcast and perfect for walking.  Also this is a nice-looking fan-like tree.

Day 6...it stormed off and on all last night but fortunately it was nice and clear for walking this morning.  The only storm damage seems to be this branch.

Day 7...I had several meetings today so couldn't walk far.  I would walk around the block--about 1000 steps--then come back into the house and check my work email then head back out for another 1000 steps.  I did this seven times.  The neighbors probably think I've lost my mind!  Also, there are flowers in bloom everywhere!

Day 8...I'm counting this as 8000 steps.  Hubby and I had lunch at the air force base today then I walked across the base while he went to the pharmacy.  It was nearly 5000 steps to walk to the commissary then, after walking up and down the aisles for nearly an hour, the step counter only showed I walked a couple hundred steps!  I noticed before that this app doesn't really track steps inside but after all of that walking I was disappointed that all of my steps weren't recorded! 

Walking

My goal for May, since I have been a couch (desk) potato for months, is to walk each day.  I decided to start with 1000 steps on the first day of May then add a thousand steps per day to that total until the last day of the month which should be 31,000 steps(!).  If I make it that far I will be truly shocked as you know how I am with goal setting (aka I suck at this).  So here is what I have done for the first few days of the month...

Day 1...walked 1000 steps; thought I would walk down the wash then thought better of that and just decided to walk on the street.

Day 2...another short walk; it is spring in Las Vegas and all of the desert flowers are in bloom.

Day 3...only in Vegas does road trash include a bingo dauber...

Day 4...it poured rain all night last night and it still looks like it will rain more today...

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

It's Been a Busy Week!

It was a busy week as I walked 80km (instead of 100km as planned, with the price of gas I didn't feel like driving an hour away to finish up the week with walks in Boulder City).  The weather was perfect and the people walking with me were wonderful to talk to as we hit nearly every corner of Las Vegas with the various walks.

In other news...

• Here are 27 interesting things most people don't know (many of which I didn't know either!).
• Denny's has a new 'Endless Breakfast' deal you might be interested in.
• And here are hundreds of great 'street smart' safety tips.
  
• Here are 40 life-saving tips you may not have heard of.
• And here are 50+ tips for growing your garden for free.
• Finally, the SIL called today and told us she was scammed out of $7000 dollars from her checking account!  Apparently it is a common scam, but she had never heard of such a thing.  Someone called from "her bank", almost exactly like what happened to this lady, and she answered their questions thus allowing them access to her account.  She had no idea it was a scam because on the caller ID, the name and number were from USAA bank (note these can be spoofed so never take this to mean the call is really from your bank!).  Before she knew what happened, she checked her account and $7k was gone.  I'm not sure how this will resolve or if she will get her money back but this is a good warning to be extra careful if anyone calls you and asks for any of your personal info.  And one more tip, even though in the above article it says to ask the person for their number so you can call them back, don't do this.  If you get a call from anyone you don't know, get the name of the business and the reason they are calling then hang up.  Look up the number yourself then call the company and ask for customer service to find out if they were really calling you or if the call was from a scammer.
  

The 100k Week

Actually it will be 100k of walking in about 10 days total.  So far my walking group did a 10k in Downtown Las Vegas, a 10k in Downtown Summerlin, a 10k around Henderson, NV and a 10k this morning at Sunset Park in Las Vegas.  We have six more walks to do to finish up National Walking Week and while I am having a great time walking, I am ridiculously out of shape!  Here's some scenery from our walks this week...

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Nice Saturday Morning Walk

Today our walking group did our first walk of the season along the north part of the Las Vegas Strip.  It was a nice seven mile walk with lots to see along the way.  Fortunately this walk goes in and out of casinos since it was in the high 90s today!

It Was a Great Day for a 10k!

It was a nice day to do a 10k with my walking group.  The weather was perfectly sunny and the people who joined our walk were, as usual, amazing to chat with (one lady had climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and did a race across Africa!).  I definitely need to start walking more as I could feel each and every one of the Seven Hills (the area we walked today) in my legs.  And for something interesting...I knew very few of these surprising features on common things that we use every day.

A Great Walk and Some Great Sales!

This morning my walking group headed out to do a 12k walk up and down the south section of the Las Vegas Strip.  It was a little overcast but overall a great walk.  Did you know that a lot of Las Vegas locals NEVER go to the Strip?  There's too many tourists and way too much traffic so this is the first time I've seen the Strip in more than six months!  There is always a lot of new things to see on the Strip and it is definitely better to go early in the morning to avoid all of the tourists if you want to do a fast-paced walk. 

In sale news...

• Hubby bought me a laptop for a (very) early birthday present.  I wanted a small laptop like my old Dell XPS 13" that I had a while back.  I found an XPS for $1600(!) at Costco which was on sale for $1200, and while I am generally impatient, I decided to wait and see what else I could find.  A couple weeks later I saw a Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 13" i7 laptop for $1100 but it wasn't on sale.  A few days later I was checking the Best Buy website and they had the Samsung laptop on sale for $800 so I raced up to get it (the store only had two left!).  Then a couple days later this same laptop was on a Flash Sale at Best Buy for an extra $750 so I took the receipt, not the laptop, to Best Buy and they credited me back the $50 price drop.  Overall I love the laptop and think the price was really good as well.
• We were at the 99 Cent store a few days ago and they had all kinds of produce on sale.  I picked up a giant 10 pound bag of apples thinking they would probably cost more than the $1.99 it said on a sign on the bin (even though it is the 99 cent store, their prices have been creeping up higher and higher a la Dollar General) but no, for some reason the store was getting rid of apples and at 19 cents a pound I couldn't pass up this great sale.  Needless to say, we are going to be eating apples (and applesauce and apple turnovers and apple pie) for a while.
• Our local Albertsons grocery store has a super sale on an item or two each week if you use their app.  A couple weeks ago hubby and I each used our apps to get eggs for 12 cents a dozen, hubby's favorite coffee creamer for 75 cents (it's usually around $3 a bottle), and various other items each week at ridiculously low prices.  This week, the super sale on the app was a case of bottled water for 99 cents.  We've noticed some stores looking really low on bottled water (maybe the panic buying because of the coronavirus?) so even though we have plenty of bottled water, we each grabbed an extra case of water just to have on hand.  
• Finally, Happy Leap Day!  I didn't really know Leap Day was that special--unless you happen to be born on February 29th or something--but apparently it is as there is a huge list of sales and deals you can only get on Leap Day.

Why You Should Walk

I come from a long line of people who walked.  My grandmother never drove a car but she would happily get around by walking, often for miles and miles, to visit friends or go to the store.  Her brother walked five miles a day into his 90s, and my great grandfather was a sheepherder who walked with his sheep for miles everyday.  For fun, free, and frugal exercise, nothing beats walking!  Here's some reasons why you should walk...

• Walking is free!  No need for an expensive gym membership, just put on your shoes and head out for a stroll.
• Walking has a lot of great health benefits.
• Walking can be a solo or social activity (I like walking by myself as well as joining my walking club every other week for group walks).
• There are so many walking clubs and organizations!
• You can walk outside in urban, suburban, or rural places or you can walk inside on either a treadmill, around you local mall, or my default when it gets to be 110 degrees outside--in our local casinos.
• The only gear you really need is a good, not necessarily expensive, pair of shoes (unlike golf or equestrian or boating sports which cost an arm and a leg when it comes to gear).
• You can have great conversations while walking (I've yet to see marathon runners have good conversations while they huff and puff up and down hills).  On our group walk today we talked about genealogy, bird watching, health and nutrition, aging, traveling in Europe, and a bunch of other things...our walking club members are endlessly fascinating!
• You see things when walking that you don't notice when you drive (I walked down a road a few days ago that we drive down often but never noticed that one house has a tiny home in its back yard--interesting!).
• It can be faster to walk than drive!  Where we live, traffic is getting so bad (lots of traffic, not many traffic lights yet) that it can be faster to walk to the store than drive since you have to wait so long to get through busy intersections).
• People are friendlier when walking.  For some reason when people get into their cars here, they turn into raving lunatics but when you are walking along the trails in our city, people are relaxed and friendly, often saying "hi" or commenting on the weather, the dog someone is walking, etc.
• There are all kinds of walking.  From competitive race walking to long-distance hiking, to short 5k/10k club walks to mall walking to crazy ultra long distance challenges.

Walking to Do My Errands

I love walking to do my errands.  Today I walked about four miles and was able to hit the bank, get my hair cut, buy some groceries, pick up a few things at Target, and check the dollar store for a couple of things (which they didn't have, it's kind of hit or miss there).  This is a great way to get some exercise while checking off things on my "to do" list and I save gas this way too (not sure how much gas it saves, probably not much, but it does reduce my carbon footprint a bit).

Of course there are places where the nearest store can be miles away or there are days when you need a couple cases of water (or you need to do a Costco run!) which would make walking to do your errands kind of impossible, but for many people in urban areas or near the center of small towns, walking make a lot of sense.

Walking to do your errands also has the benefit of limiting what you buy.  I bring a couple of strong nylon shopping bags with me to carry my haul but over-shopping isn't an option when I have to schlep everything back home.

Overall, walking to do errands is a win-win-win-win...exercise, save gas, get things done, and limit spending...I should do this more often!

Another 10k Walk

One of my goals for this year was to do all of the group walks scheduled by my walking club.  Since I didn't do that, I have a bunch of free walk coupons leftover so I want to use them all up by the end of the year (14 days left and 10 coupons left so that will be A LOT of walking!).

I had a couple of free hours today so I did another 10k, a nice walk around the UNLV campus.  The weather was perfect (65 degrees and sunny!) and the views were pretty and the exercise felt great!

A Saturday Morning 10k

I drug myself out of bed this morning so I could meet up with my walking group and do a 10k at a local park.  I have been SO lazy these past couple months but I am really glad I forced myself to go because...

• the walk was free.  I buy a bunch of walk coupons for our club walks at the beginning of the year then use the coupons for each walk I do so while it isn't technically free, I didn't pay anything to walk this morning.
• the weather was perfect.  65 degrees and sunny makes for perfect walking weather!
• a couple of club members are bird enthusiasts and since we were walking through a park with lots and lots of migrating birds I learned a whole lot about a variety of birds.  Fascinating!
• the park was the scene of a "run with your dog 5k" this morning so we got to see lots of runners and lots of beautiful dogs (some were even running with chihuahuas!).
• the exercise was good for me, I need to do this more often.
• I got to catch up with club members I haven't seen for a couple of months and learn about all of the fun stuff they have been doing (one lady does walking tours and she just got back from the east coast, another couple just got back from a wine tour of Portugal, a couple of members only have a few more states to walk in to get their "50 states" patch...overall a very cool group of people!).

On a side note, the walking club I belong to has chapters all over the US so if you are looking for a fun and inexpensive hobby, check out their website where you can find links to local clubs here.

A Fun Saturday Morning

Finally!  This morning our walking group went on our first group walk of the season.  It was a nice 95 degrees when we got done (even with heading out at 8am) but it was a dry heat and an improvement over the summer's 110 degree temps!  We walked the north part of the Las Vegas Strip and most of the walk was done before the tourists came out so we were able to make pretty good time.  Overall a great way to start the weekend!

If you are interested in finding a walking group near you, check out the AVA (volksmarch) organization which hosts all kinds of walks around the US.  For non-members the organized group walks are free, for members, the walks cost $3 which both supports the club and goes towards little awards you earn based on the mileage you do and the number of walks you do (one guy I know has walked 40,000 kilometers with the group over the year!).

Today's Free Fun...Walking!

It was time to get out and get some exercise today and there was no excuse for not doing so as the weather was perfect today, so off I went for a 10k volksmarch (volksmarching is an international walking club and I am a member of the Las Vegas chapter.  You can do group walks with the club or walk on your own along pre-set routes which I did today).  Best of all it was free (kind of--I buy a bunch of discounted walk coupons at the beginning of the year so I can earn "credits" through the national organization).

10 Things About Walking

I can't believe I have walked every day for 16 days so far.  Hopefully I will walk every day for the rest of the year and beyond!  But I am taking it one step at a time and walking a bit everyday to chip away at my goal to walk 1000 miles this year (and also to practice for the marathon I want to walk and the one-day 25 mile hike from rim to rim at the Grand Canyon which is also on my goal list).  Here's 10 things I've learned about walking so far:

1. The right shoes are worth their weight in gold.  Regular running shoes kill my feet after a couple of hours of walking in stiffer walking-specific shoes make my feet feel wonderful even after many many miles.
2. I've always walked with a regular day pack but last month I spend a bunch of money to get a really good day pack and it has made a huge difference!  This one is super comfortable, has a wonderful belt that makes the thing practically immobile when it is on me, has useful pockets on the hip belt, and overall carries the load really well no matter how much weight I am hauling.
3. Walking is a great exercise to keep in shape.  It is free--just walk out your door, can be done anywhere, can be done with a group or by yourself, and after a couple weeks of walking your whole body will feel better.
4. When you feel a hot spot on your foot, stop immediately and take care of it.  I've put these things off a couple of times when I have done long distance walks and always regretted it--it can go from a hot spot to a huge blister in the matter of a mile or two.
5. Always carry with you: water, sunscreen, sunglasses, a sweater, tissue, a snack, cash, a cell phone, a tiny first aid kit, and an umbrella if you are walking in a rainy area.
6. Once you start walking a lot you will realize how important the food you fuel your body with is.  Sugary carby breakfast cereal just won't give you the energy to walk very far compared to a high protein meal to start your day.
7. That being said, some carby sugary candy is a great way to keep yourself going once you start walking.  I always carry chocolate with me when I walk.
8. Your health will improve.  People who walk everyday, especially those who walk long distances will not only lose weight and build muscle as well as increase stamina, they will probably find that medical problems such as high cholesterol, diabetes, and high blood pressure are much more manageable.
9. Be safe when you walk.  You might want to carry pepper spray, you definitely want to carry a cell phone, you will want to pick the places you walk with a concern towards your safety, and you definitely want to use crosswalks/crossing lights to get across busy roads.
10. Starting a walking program is hard--it is much easier to stay on the couch and be lazy or use the excuses of everyday life to keep you at home instead of on your feet and walking but committing to walk even a mile or so a day is something that everyone can do (and once you are used to walking, your speed and stamina will increase and that mile will only take you 10 to 15 minutes to complete!). 

Daily Update

• Walk: 2 miles (only 946 more miles to go!)
• No spend: $2 (hubby had a hot dog at the casino for lunch--I need to remember to send a sandwich with him!)
• Update this blog: yep
• Update client blog: yep
• Photo: yep
• Client work: 1 hour (for a different client working on her website)
• Genealogy: a little, I'm making a list of documents I need to get at the genealogy library which provides free access to documents only available on paid sites)
• Writing: yes, also a little.  I need to reorganize the entire document then make a list of parts to write in order to fill in gaps

Shoes, Walking, and an Update

First the update:
The tablet went back to the store.  It didn't do anything more than my cell phone does and I couldn't work on it so I am back to schlepping my laptop around so I can work where ever we happen to be (generally at casinos; fortunately there is usually free wi fi).  A tablet would be nice to have, but to me, it isn't worth paying so much money for something that just gives me a bit more screen real estate than my cell phone.

Then the shoe story:
Right after I returned the tablet, I went down the street and stopped in at Ross.  I have been wanting to get some new walking shoes since my current shoes have hundreds of miles on them already.  The women's department didn't have any shoes I like (never do actually which is why I usually buy shoes at TJ Maxx) so I went to find hubby in the men's department and spied some Brooks Dyad shoes in size 7 mens for $30 (!!!).  I have been wanting Brooks shoes for ages because serious walkers rave about them but I couldn't bring myself to pay $120 for a pair of shoes.  These shoes fit perfectly!  I usually wear an 8 in women's shoes and these were supposed to run small anyway so I snagged them!  After wearing them for a few miles I was in love with them.  So comfy right out of the box and no problems with my feet (in shoes not made for walking, my feet are usually in pain within a mile or so).  I raved about them so much we went back the next day to another Ross and hubby got a pair which he continues to rave about today (he even got up early and walked with me this morning--I think it was because of the shoes!).  When we were getting hubby's shoes, I found another pair of size 7 men's Brooks Adrenaline shoes for $30 (different model, different color) so hubby said I should go ahead and get them since I will for sure use them.  Now I am the happy owner of two pair of fancy Brooks shoes.  Hubby also said that with two new pair of tennis shoes and two new pair of Keen sandals I probably won't need shoes for a couple of years...he is probably right.

And the walking story:
I have been making an effort to walk every day for the past week.  I am even keeping my mileage in a spreadsheet to keep me motivated which seems to be working!  A couple of days ago hubby was playing at the casino and I decided to walk home (about five miles).  After a mile or so, I found a set of 15 pound dumb bells sitting along the side of the road.  There was no way I would be able to carry 30 extra pounds home so I set them at the base of a sign, came back two days later in the car, and they were still there!  We now have a new set of dumb bells (which will probably get sold on Craigslist or at a garage sale).

In other walking news, I saw that there is a guy who has been walking around the world since 1998 (!!!) heading to Las Vegas so I tweeted him and asked him out to lunch.  I think what he is doing is really cool and would love to treat him to a meal and learn more about his adventures.  Since people who walk like that can burn over 10,000 calories a day, I figured a buffet would be good :)  (paid for with hubby's comps of course).

Finally a walking thing and an update:  Since the weather has calmed down from inferno hot to warm high 70s we have been walking to do our grocery shopping.  According to hubby who keeps track of these things, in previous months we have always spent $150 a month in gas for the car (about $50 every week and a half or so) but in September we only spent $100 (which is a 30% reduction!).

And a totally unrelated thing: hubby plays online poker each evening while he is watching movies (how he does both on one computer is beyond me!).  It is free to play and the winners can get some cool prizes.  He won once before over a year ago and just last week he won again.  This time he won two nights at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas, $100 in food comps for the Golden Nugget, a free show for two, and $50 in gambling coupons.  Yeah!  This will be our free vacation for the fall (even though it is only a few miles away...but it is free!).  Yeah hubby!