Oh, the places to go!

Mom was able to come over tonight and sit with the six year old for a couple hours, so I was able to sneak one more long walk in before the end of the year. I was so excited!! I was practically running to get out. It's been way to long since I could walk for more than an hour.

My husband and I walked out of the house and he asked where I wanted to go. Everywhere! I want to go everywhere!! Let's go downtown... No. Let's go to Krape Park... No. Let's do a loop through downtown and then out to Highland and then loop around Krape Park... Oh, wait. There's not enough time for that. Maybe next time.

We settled with just a nice wandering walk. If we wanted to turn, we did. If there was a street we had never been down, we took it. If there was no sidewalk, we went anyway.... just more carefully. It was a great way to end the year.

So, Happy New Year's Eve from Pretzel City...

We passed through Read Park as the sun was setting. It was beautiful. Did you know the park has been around since the 1920's?

The ice rink/basketball courts are newer. I love that the Park District keeps it clean and usable. It's are hard to see in the fading light, but there were a group of guys out there playing hockey tonight. That's definitely one way to ring in the New Year. Although, who am I to judge? I am excited about taking a two hour walk.

Read Park also has a skate park. I have not been on it, but honestly, one of these days I am just going to get on it in my street shoes and have fun running up and down the ramps and jumping around like a lunatic. Maybe I will take the 6 year old. She can give me street cred.

I'm grateful tonight for the few splashes of Christmas that lighted our path since it still gets dark early.

I have so much to look back on this year, but I am excited by the road that lies ahead.

I think Dr. Suess said it best:

Total distance: 5.63 miles
Total time: 1 hour 40 min
Pace time: 3.37 mph

Not bad. Happy New Year's, everybody!!

The Stronger Wind

Normally, when I walk, I listen to audiobooks. They keep that whiny portion of my brain busy while I enjoy my walk. You know that part of the brain. It's the part that keeps up a constant monologue of, "I'm tired. I'm hungry. Is this over yet? This is boring." Yeah, that bit. The audiobooks keep that bit of my brain occupied and I can enjoy walking and looking around.

I was feeling a bit crazed after work today though. Frustrated and stressed and no amount of audiobook was going to fix that. Plus, it was cold out... and dark... and windy and even though I was only going five blocks, that little whiny bit of my brain was quite loud. I needed a new tactic to destress and unwind so tonight I tried "walking meditation."

Stay with me now. If you've ever tried meditation, you'll know that it can be very relaxing and helpful and a good way to center yourself. If you've never tried meditation, let me fill you in. It is not really as existential as it sounds. For me, meditation is a time to sit and to stop thinking.

You stop thinking about the conversations you've had with your family that are annoying you. You stop thinking about what you are making for dinner or when you can go to bed. Instead, you sit in a quiet, comfortable spot and think about breathing. You think about your breath going in and out. How it feels. How the air feels on your skin. How your body warms your breath. If you have any other thoughts, you just acknowledge them and go back to focusing on your breathing.

After about 5-10 minutes of this, you get up and it's like your brain has had a break. You feel really good and coping is so much easier. If you're looking to try it, guided meditation is a good way to start. Basically someone talks you through how not to think and keeps you focused on breathing. There's a nice basic one on Yoga Journal if you are wanting to try it.

Back to walking meditation. It's the same kind of idea, but you do it while walking. You stay mindful of your body. Your breathing. How your body balances itself while walking. I have been reading up on this to teach it at a TOPS meeting. (This is my favorite site if you are looking for more information about it.) Tonight seemed like the perfect time to give it a try; a windy, cold, night when I felt anything, but peaceful.

I started walking and thinking about how my body was balancing in the wind. How the wind moved around me and past me. How it pushed at my pants while I was walking. And as I kept feeling the wind, I realized that, even though it was blowing, it had to move out of the way for me. And, no matter how cold it was, my body could warm it up with a breath. Between me and the wind, I was the stronger of the two. That was comforting. I felt warm and relaxed as I got to my mom's house tonight.

I love having another way to take a walk.

Today's Thought:

After Christmas in Downtown Freeport

Tonight my mom stayed with the six-year-old and I finally got to do what I have been wishing I could do for the last 2 weeks. Go for a walk!

I know I walk every day. I walk to work. I walk around work. I walk in front of the TV in the evening. It's been so busy though that I haven't had time for a "looking" walk. The kind of walk where I am not really headed anywhere. I am just walking for the sheer joy of walking with plenty of time to look around.

My location of choice tonight was downtown Freeport. I finally got to look at all the Christmas window displays. I'm glad they are still up.

This is from the Wagner House. I love the sewing machine next to the tree.

I loved all the red in this window display. I thought the Green Bay reflection just added a nice touch.

This was the window from Rock and Rust Antiques. The dress on the left is so cute!

This was a fascinating window that we passed. It was actually the sculpture in the middle of the room that caught our attention. Apparently, they are working on a bronze sculpture of Abraham Lincoln during the Blackhawk War. This will be the clay sculpture that they use to make the mold for the bronze. It will be so cool to see this progress!

Here's the concept art for the sculpture. The work is being done in one of the empty buildings on Chicago by where Game Pros used to be. It looks like people can stop by any time and there's some historical information up in the room too. If you are walking by, check it out. They are also accepting donations for the completed sculpture.

We ended the night at the Hero Tree in Debate Square. It was beautiful all lit up.

It was nice to get out tonight!

My new walking buddy

My sister-in-law introduced me to a really cool motivational website the other day. It's call Habitica. You create a character. Then you input goals into the system. Habits that you want to work on. Daily goals that you want to accomplish. You can even enter your to-do lists. As you go forth completing your tasks, your character earns experience. You can join guilds with friends. You fight monsters. And, you take damage when you don't complete your goals. It kind of gives a new twist to the concept of accountability. If you aren't productive, neither is your character.

That got me thinking. If there are cool motivational game apps for general productivity, I wonder if there are motivational walking apps? You know, games you can play based on the number of steps you get. Think Pokemon Go, except I don't have to stare at my phone the entire time With a little research, I found a all sorts of cool things! Here's the first I'm trying.

Meet Jeffrey

Jeffrey is my Wokamon. This is a free app that I picked up in the Google Play Store. The idea is that there are these little Wokamon that feed on energy generated by the number of steps you take during the day. With every step, your little friend gains experience to level up. Plus, in your down time, you can click on him and he will explode in a shower of gemstones. You can then collect the gemstones to add bonuses to your character. The bonuses add to the amount of experience you get per step and your little guy levels up even faster.

Between walking to work this morning and some indoor walking this evening, plus a little frenzied clicking while the six year old was going to bed, Jeffrey is already level 93!! I love this! I am looking forward to earning some friends for Jeffrey now while I keep walking. Plus, the app will sync with Fitbit, so I don't have to carry my phone every where with me. I just sync my tracker like normal and then sync Wokamon with Fitbit and Jeffrey levels up like crazy!

I love having friends to walk with. :)

Feeling pretty pleased!

I have to say, I was not sure how the whole walking in place thing would compare to the long walks I was doing when the weather was nicer. I really love those walks. There's so much to look at and think about and listen to. I don't get bored on them. I really expected walking in place to be something akin to torture.

I actually had a lot of fun today! Our house desperately needed a good cleaning and there were three loads of laundry to do and Christmas presents to wrap and my brother's birthday to celebrate, so getting a three hour walk in was just not going to happen. I decided to set a step goal for 20,000 though. That would still require a time commitment, just not a three hour one.

Just running errands and cleaning house today earned me 5000, then I had some time while a cake was baking, so my husband and I turned on one of our favorite games, Madame Fate. This game is so much fun! You find hidden objects, you solve word puzzles, and then there are more complex puzzles to solve. It's great. Plus, time just flies by with it. You start playing and looking for objects and before you know it, two hours has passed. My husband controlled the mouse and I helped look and solve puzzles and started stepping... An hour and a half later, I had done 10,000 steps while playing video games! I could feel that I had done something too. I was starting to ache gently in all the places that I feel it in on my long walks.

I was pretty elated! I'm skeptical. I thought there was no way an indoor walk could compare with an outdoor one. I went to my brother's party feeling really good with only 5000 to go. We enjoyed the party and I was just thinking about how I could come home afterwards and finish my steps when my sister-in-law asked if we wanted to stay and play a board game, Arkham Horror. I'm a fan of Lovecraft. I couldn't say no. It's amazing how many steps you can get in when you are waiting for your turn though. I hit 20,000 before we left their house.

So, goal completed! I definitely think that walking in place is as effective as taking walks outside. I still prefer the outside walks, but I am thrilled I have an option that will keep me in walking shape while outside walks are off the table. Downside is that I can only do it around people that won't get antsy from the constant movement. Huge shout-out to my brother who tolerated all the steps during the game and my sister-in-law who even did some steps with me!

I did not make it to the top of my Fitbit leader board, but I'm OK with that. Some of my friends are getting 100,000 steps for the week. Apparently, I need to step up. :) Walking in place is a viable option though! Watch out, ladies. I now have goals and a plan!

Today's Motivation:

It's taken a while to solve my winter walking problem. Today, I am grateful I didn't quit because I have found an option that excites me. I wonder if I may be able to break the 35,000 steps in a day mark this winter. Hmmmm. Anybody got some movie recommendations?

A weekend challenge

The forecast here in Freeport for the weekend is looking better than most of this week has been. Friday, we have a high of 20. Saturday, a high of 22. And then Sunday, -3. If you don't factor in real feel, these temperatures aren't bad. It still doesn't sound particularly comfortable though for a 2-3 hour walk, which is what I really want to get in this weekend. I've been doing a lot of thinking about this and I have decided what I am going to have to do this weekend is binge watch TV.

I can watch TV for 3-4 hours at a stretch easily. I've got a list of shows I am dying to watch on Netflix. I just need a good dedicated time period. So this weekend I am going to binge watch my favorite shows while walking in place!!

I'm not the first person who has thought of this. LiveStrong actually has some tips on walking in the bedroom. Leslie Sansone has whole videos of walking 1-5 miles in your living room. I'm curious how far I can go during 3 hours of Korean dram-edys.

This weekend should be fun! Now, the big question is... what should I watch?

The real challenge though. Can I get to the top of my Fitbit leader board, by just walking in place?!

Today's Motivation:

Anything is possible. The challenge is just figuring out how to do it.

Walking tour?

I am willing to walk outside in temperatures down to 10-20 degrees Fahrenheit. I have no problems with walking in snowpants, a hat, artic gloves, and the longest scarf I can find. I don't go as fast, but I love walking outside so much I am willing to do it.

When real feel outside drops down to the negative digits though, that is where I draw the line. The last week or so has been rough because it is just getting too could to walk outside. I am having a hard time coming to terms with this. There has been a lot of sulking and wishing I could walk. I have tried to do more strength training, but it is just not the same.

I have found a solution though. I can walk the treadmills at work! I am not sure why I did not think of it before. I decided to walk for lunch today and not only did I get a good walk, but I got to enjoy some beautiful art! My favorite kind of walk.

So here's my "walking tour" of the staff fitness room at work.

This is a mural along one wall of the room. I think it is of Freeport, because I can see the bandshell at Krape Park over on the far right.

I would love to know who painted the pillars in the room. It looks like every side was painted by a different person.

Here's the other side of the sun pillar.

And this is the second pillar in the room. Apparently owls need coffee.

And the other side of the owl pillar.

I love the colors and the style of this one. Anybody know who painted it?

I know all this is a little surprising for a fitness area, but the fitness room at work was not always the fitness room. At one time it was the entertainment area for a skilled nursing unit, so most of the artwork from that time is still there. I wish all fitness areas looked like this though. It would make exercise so much more fun. I enjoyed my walk today!

The weather outside is...

I went out of town to visit family for four days and when I came back, there was snow everywhere! My husband was less than thrilled. He really doesn't do well in the winter. It's cold. It's dark. He has a hard time getting motivated. Oddly, I love winter for all the same reasons.

It's cold: I love layering clothes. I love walking in cold weather because I don't get as overheated and sweaty. I can walk for a lot longer in cold weather than I can in the summer.

It's dark: I love overcast days. I don't have to worry about keeping sunglasses with me at all times. I won't get sunburned. I don't feel required to be cheerful and energetic. I can be cheerful and energetic just because I want to be.

It's hard to get motivated: I prioritize better in the winter because I just don't want to do as much. Instead, I focus on the things that are really important to get done and I end up feeling more satisfied with my days.

So, this morning when I had the option of driving to work or walking, I was more than happy to put on my snowpants, bundle up, and take a hike through the snow.

We even got out for a family walk tonight. My daughter loves the cold and my husband tolerated it for the steps and we got to take a quick tour of our neighborhood Christmas decorations. Here were some of my favorites.

My husband said the snowman needed to suck it up.

Santa, on the other hand, knows how to travel.

I love looking at Christmas lights at night. My favorite part is just seeing lines of light shining through the dark.

At my house, my six year old went for the natural decorating today. Her and my nephew lined our whole porch with snowballs today. Apparently it took them about an hour and a half. Glad they had fun though. 

I am so looking forward to walking this month!!

Today's Motivation:

Bundling up, right down to the snowpants and boots so I can go for a walk in the snow makes me feel like a kid again. I enjoy it almost as much as walking in the rain with an umbrella!

Perspective...

Every week, I get a little bit of inspiration from my friend, Sarah. And by inspiration, I mean, weekly dose of terror! I get a little movie with a close-up of up of her crossing off one more week on our count down to the Princess Half Marathon.

I'm not going to lie. While I feel a little bit motivated by this picture, I also feel a lot of panic and usually tell her that.

So this week, she sent me a picture of the entire countdown that she made to prepare for the race. I feel lot better now. This could actually be do-able. I just needed a different perspective.

Life is still it's own kind of busy right now. I spent all my free-time tonight working on Christmas presents, canning blackberries, and tidying up before the holidays hit. Hooray for productivity, but no time for a good walk. Looks like pilates and stretchy bands for me tonight. I have to make good use of the time that hasn't been X-ed out yet!

Today's Motiviation:

Compared to where I was even 11 weeks ago, when I started this whole crazy endeavor, I have come a long way. I can walk 9 miles comfortably. My pace time is up to about 3.45 mph. I love to walk. I look forward to exercising now and I actually want to try to eat better. Just think where I could be by the end of the next 11 weeks!

Back in Step at Krape Park

I've had a lot going on the last few weeks and have not been walking as much. I love walking though and today I got the chance to get some steps back and spend the day at Krape Park.

This is one of the most fascinating parks I have ever been in. There is just so much to do there. In the summer there's a carousel and paddle boats, in the winter there is sledding and ice skating. There's a band shell. A gazebo. At one time in the distant past there was even a petting zoo. It's just so much fun! Here's some things I caught while at the park with my family today.

This is a nice detail on one of the park shelters.

Like I said, you can find anything at this park. There's an old fire engine parked there for the kids to play on, next to a fire house on stilts with a pole down the middle, and a little town for the kids to protect. 

 Ducks and geese are a major part of the park since the Yellow Creek runs through it. Now they have been immortalized.

And there's a nice barn for the ducks during the summer. I'm not sure where they go in the winter. 

Flagstaff Hill is an iconic bit of the park. When my brother and I were younger, there were steps that ran up the right side of the waterfall and you could walk along them to get to the top of the hill. The steps have been closed off now, but they will always be a part of my memories. 

 Here's the alternate way to the top if you are walking and feeling adventurous. You can also drive, but who wants to do that. :)

It's a great view from the top! There's also a nice park up here and a frisbee golf course.

The park is a great place for anything you want to do. My daughter loves to swing and explore and my husband got a chance to work with his new camera today. The video footage he got looks fantastic! It helps when you have good material to work with though.

There was so much to see today and it was a great way to get back to walking.

Today's Motivation:

After going for so long without blogging and walking it's been hard to get going again. I just have to remember that it's only over when I stop. Sometimes, there will be breaks. Life happens. As long as I pick it back up again, I will keep heading in the right direction.

Making time and finding steps

The last few days I have been trying everything I can think of to get 20,000 steps a day. I walk to work. I walk at lunch. I have even convinced the six year old to walk with me in the evening and I am still only hitting 16,000-18,000, depending on the day.

Am I sad? No. I am actually pretty proud of myself. Especially today. Today, I had some time sensitive things going on this evening so I couldn't walk to work. I was disappointed. I get most of my steps in on the walk to and from work. I figured that was it. I would be lucky to hit 10,000 steps today. With a little ingenuity though, I hit 10,000 steps before even leaving work today!

So, here's my recommendations for picking up extra steps during the day:

1. Park as far away from the front door as possible and enjoy the walk to the door.

2. Take the stairs whenever possible.

3. Take the longest possible route to the drinking fountain when you need a drink.

4. Refill your cup often during the day.

5. Take a walk to talk with people face to face before picking up the phone.

6. Find a reason to get up and getting moving about once an hour, even if it is just for five minutes. It's amazing how far you can go on five minutes!

7. Go to places in the building you've never been before... within reason, of course. Don't go into high voltage or restricted areas, but this is your chance to see what happens in some of the other offices.

8. Take a lap of the parking lot before going home at the end of the day. It's a good chance to de-escalate and finish off the day.

Those were some of my favorites from today at least. Along with a walk at lunch, I hit my goal for the day. Not 20,000 steps, but I did get six miles. Not bad for just another day at work!

Today's Motivation:

I honestly surprised myself today at how much I could accomplish with just a little extra effort. I was actually more focused today too because I was keenly aware of my time. It was well worth the effort.

Stepping it up.

So I read an interesting article the other day in Prevention about 5 Things That Happened When I Tried to Walk 20,000 Steps a Day. It was fascinating. This is a girl that lives in New York, so she does a lot of walking to and from work anyway. In fact, hitting 10,000 steps a day wasn't much of a challenge for her; that was kind of her norm. So, she decided to step it up and go for 20,000 steps a day.

The benefits she got from it sounded fantastic. She got more done in a day, she was more optimistic, she slept well. Who doesn't want all that? So I figured I would give it a try. I mean, I can almost always hit 10,000 steps in a day, especially during the work week. I walk to work, I do a lot of walking at work, I walk my parents dog a noon. This would be challenge and I need a good challenge, right?

I started yesterday. It was actually pretty easy yesterday because I had the day off work and took an 8.8 mile walking tour in the morning. That knocked out the 20,000 steps for yesterday pretty quickly. I was sore by the end of the day, but still functioning.

Today, I walked to work, walked the dog at lunch, walked home, and made sure I was getting 250 steps in every hour during the day. Oh my goodness! Tonight, I am at 18000 steps and I am exhausted, I ache, and I am feeling a little less than optimistic. (Granted, part of that may be the election tonight.) I am guessing I will be sleeping well though.

We'll have to see how the rest of this week goes. Apparently, I am going to have to step it up still though. 20,000 is definitely a challenge!

Today's Motivation:

As tired as I feel tonight, I feel healthy. I did not need Mountain Dew today to keep moving in spite of the exhaustion. It really is a good kind of exhaustion. Maybe there is something to this.

Excellent Customer Service

So I got my new Fitbit Alta tracker this week and I am pretty excited about it!! Before I get started talking about it though, I just wanted to share this little disclaimer. This is just the experience that I have had with the Fitbit company. This is unsolicited and purely because I was impressed with the service I got. Nothing more.

So a few years ago, I decided I wanted a good pedometer. The idea of tracking my steps and challenging myself sounded cool, but I wanted a reliable pedometer that wouldn't just track steps because I shook it up and down vigorously. My solution was the Fitbit Zip. If you are looking for a pedometer that you can just slip on your bra strap or clip to your pocket and forget about, this is the perfect solution. It tracks steps, and, it links with MyFitnesspal and SparkPeople and several other internet tracking apps. It does not have Bluetooth connectivity, but if you just want something low maintenance, this is perfect. The downside is that it runs on a watch battery. The battery would last for about 3 months and then I would have to buy a new one. The problem was that I didn't always remember to get a new one. So, once the battery would run out, I would go for months before I remembered to buy a battery and so, went months without tracking anything.

Last Christmas, I decided it was time to step up my game. I would get a tracker that was rechargeable so I wouldn't have to deal with batteries. I also wanted one that would conveniently show me my steps. It gets a little embarrassing looking at a tracker that is clipped to your bra. I went back to Fitbit because I already liked the brand and found the Fitbit Charge.

There were two things that I loved about this tracker. One was that I could always see how many steps I had taken so I knew how many I had left. It was on my wrist and I just had to glance down instead of looking down my shirt. Second, it had a silent alarm. This was amazing since my, then five year old, was getting up whenever she heard my alarm clock go off. She was killing me because I couldn't wake up early for a little quiet time. The silent alarm totally foiled her. Best thing ever!! I also liked the Bluetooth feature that allowed the tracker to sync with my phone. That meant my step and calorie totals were always current and synced with MyFitnesspal too. The Charge also tracked sleep. That can be a positive or a negative. I always knew how much sleep I wasn't getting.

My problem was that after 4 months of constant use, the tracker started falling apart. I was a bit upset. I really feel that mechanical devices should last at least a year, so I did something I almost never do and actually wrote to customer service. I sent them a letter and some pictures of what was happening and hoped for the best, but expected not to hear back from anyone.

Not only did I hear back from someone in just a few hours, but they were really polite!! They asked me a few questions about where I had bought it and within 24 hours they were shipping me a new Charge. They were out of stock on my original color, but hey, I was getting a new tracker and didn't have to worry about sending back my old one. Sweet! Excellent customer service!!

I was delighted to get my second tracker and used it everyday and continued to be delighted with it, but then I noticed I was having to charge it way more often. Instead of going 5-7 days between charges, I was going 2-3 days before the battery would be completely dead. "Really?," I thought! I have only been using this new tracker about 4 months and it was already dying! So I decided to try customer service again. Honestly, it hadn't even been a year since I had bought my original tracker.

I checked the FAQs first. Tried a couple of things, then sent an email off to Customer Service. Again, I got an email back within 24 hours and after answering some questions, I had a new tracker on the way... or so I thought.

After two weeks, I wrote back to the company because my tracker hadn't shown up and it didn't even look like it had shipped. A few hours later, I got a nice apologetic email. The Fitbit Charge had apparently been discontinued. After my experience with the device, I can see why. They were offering me an Alta though which was one of their newer models and would I like one? Yes!!

So that is why, I am still a strong supporter of Fitbit!! My faith in them is a little shaken by the quality of the Charge, but their customer service has been EXCELLENT!! I can't wait to see how the Alta does now!

Right now, my favorite thing about it is the reminder buzz at 10 min to the hour if I haven't walked 250 steps during that hour from 9:00 am to 6 pm. I love it!!!It reminds me to get up from my desk and move during the day! Plus that's 2500 steps that are just built into my day that I get reminded to walk! So cool.

Today's Motivation:

The Fitbit Alta - with the little buzz that is reminding me it's time to get up and move!! See you in 250 steps.

Fall has come to Freeport.

I went out for a walk today without the earbuds in. I just needed to get out. I hate to admit it, but I was actually a little nervous about walking without my headphones. I was worried I would get bored. And, now that Halloween is over, that I wouldn't have anything to look at to compensate.

I was so wrong. I was struck by the colors that Fall seems to have painted everywhere. I have been so busy looking at decorations that I have missed what Mother Nature has been putting up.

And the colors that are sticking it out till the snow comes.

This was my favorite though. There are a lot of Burning Bush plants in the neighborhood, but this one has been the brightest so far. 

I am looking forward to walking my way through the rest of fall and into winter now. And I think I will be taking more walks without my headphones in too.

Also, tonight I did the drawing for the Haunted Freeport Walking Tour Challenge that was started a couple weeks ago. Carolyn Duede won a pair of hand knit socks made by me. These are my favorite kind of socks to walk in. I hope you enjoy them too.

I've have another challenge planned to start in a week or two to help get through the holidays, so stay tuned and keep walking!!


Today's Motivation:

The colors of fall that made for a very entertaining walk.