Training walk – December 23, 2008

I am sure glad that my boss understands my need to workout. I have a flexible schedule that allows me to leave for long lunches when it is necessary. Tuesday is my 6 mile day, and it just gets dark to early for me to walk that far after 5pm.

So, I hurried home to eat a peanut butter and homemade preserves sandwich, take my vitamins and drink a glass of water. I changed into my workout gear, wicking thermal top and bottoms, long sleeve UA shirt, long pants, gaiters, and trail shoes. The temp was in the high 50’s with south winds so I didn’t need a hat, jacket or gloves. The plan was to walk the 1 mile to the Little League park, walk 4 miles on the gravel path around the park, then walk the 1 mile home.

The first mile was a good brisk warm up in 13:13. I didn’t really want to make this a fast walk, because I missed my recovery walk on Sunday. Then, at mile 2, I started on the gravel path. The cell phone rang, and the wind must have been gusting up to 30 mph. Someone from work needed me to solve a crisis. They must think I have a photographic memory or something. I directed them to someone who could answer their questions, because we were having a tough time communicating in gale force winds. Mile 2 – 13:10. It is kind of difficult to try to racewalk in gravel, but I started to get a decent rhythm going and mile 3 was 12:50. I stopped the timer to have a stretch, and then started again. Mile 4 – 13:02. I didn’t have any gels or electrolyte with me because I had just eaten lunch, but I always carry water, Mile 5 – 12:26 and mile 6 – 12:49.

Total time for 6 miles was 1:17:33, at the end of 6 miles, I slowed down to a cool down pace until I got home. I did the usual stretching routine, then cleaned up, changed my clothes and went back to work. My average heart rate for the whole walk was just over 75%.

I think coming home at lunch and going for my walk immediately after eating is going to help me with my ultra distance walking. One thing that is very difficult is to teach yourself how to eat while maintaining a good walking pace. The same goes for ultra distance runners. Eating while racing is something that takes a lot of trial and error practice. You have to find things to eat that don’t upset your stomach, or give you Montezuma’s Revenge. Also, what worked once, won’t necessarily work the next time, so you have to find a variety of foods that have agreed with you at one time or another. I didn’t experience any stomach upset from the pb&j.