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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Walkin' With the Wild Things: An Argument for Walking

Today, I walked with my friend David. 3.96 miles. 69:49. 17:38/mile. For me, that's around 423 calories. We worked the streets until arriving at the Willowbrook Wildlife Center, as seen above, where we looped a trail, then headed back.

He's on a campaign to lose 80 pounds and is 60 pounds into it. 20 pounds to go. My weight loss goals are more modest, to say the least, but the idea to get there is the same: eat right, exercise right. By most accounts, I'm exercising well.

David has yet to fully jump in -- still coaxing his knees to cooperate -- but he's getting there. However, he has been eating well, and now, by putting in a few miles, if he sticks with it, will see gains there. He knows this, and is working to get in some walking, and even some jogging when he can.

Why walk? Walking, for all intents and purposes, burns as many calories per mile as a 5:00 mile. Today is a off day from running, with my weekly butt kicking tomorrow. Still, to run faster, I need to drop fat.

Is it a workout? Not in the pure aerobic sense, but in that I walked, have I burned a few calories? You bet. 423 calories equals a portion of my lunch (leftover Sloppy Joes - three of them). That means, in practical terms, the buns, 100 calories each, made no impact other than whatever vitamins and minerals they may have. The meat? I'm not sure what it was worth, but, I ate 123 calories worth free of charge.

I walk often to finish off a run, or just a mile or so with my wife. Just as we all can nickel and dime ourselves into being overweight, we can also reverse the process. A mile here, a mile there, and the next thing ya' know, 33 miles, or, one pound.
Willowbrook Wildlife Center is a rehabilitation facility that provides care and medical treatment for injured and orphaned animals that are native to northeastern Illinois. As an education center, Willowbrook also serves as a resource for understanding the natural world and provides learning experiences for DuPage County residents to help them live in harmony with diverse, healthy wildlife populations.

2 comments:

Andrew is getting fit said...

Great point. Nickel and diming ourselves back to health. I like it.

A said...

Do you know that phrase in NZ? Here, it usually refers to how we botch our budget, by buying little things too often, spending nickels and dimes without thought, even when we avoid major purchases.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, I have an eight miler planned. 12.874752 kilometers, according to Google, for you in the land of some very odd birds. It will the longest run in many months, so I am hoping to survive.