Monday, July 12, 2010

Today I discovered ...

... walking 20 miles isn't really any more painful than walking 10 miles, if you've got a good book on the iPod and a decent pair of shoes.
... my (new larger size) sneakers are only good shoes for about 10 miles, and even then only if I use $10 worth of various blister prevention aids before I start walking.
... my Rockport "sports" sandals are perfectly good walking shoes for at least 10 miles when worn with socks.  Dorky, but blister-free.
... I now get a speckly red rash on my calves every time I walk, presumably from where I kick up grit onto my skin and it somehow irritates the shit out of it which thanks to Google I now know is Golfer's Vasculitis.  It's completely painless and itchless, but it looks like I was attacked by a swarm of fire ants or something.  Last weekend it lasted for a couple days after I walked - wonder when this batch will clear up?
... when I run out of audio book, I can entertain myself for at least two miles or so by counting paces, but I lose interest after I hit 1,000 or so.
... when I run out of interest in counting paces, I can entertain myself for about four miles by practicing my intentional breathing - two paces inhale, three paces exhale.  My diaphragm is going to bitch about that for the rest of the week, I'm sure.
... blueberries are Nature's Most Refreshing Exercise Snack.
... bored hawks can fly incredibly high, so high that they are literally the size of a pinprick in the sky.  At least, I assume it was a bored hawk, because I can't think of any practical reason it would be up in the stratosphere.
... toenails - really not as necessary as you would imagine, based on their popularity.  I'm down to having about 9 1/2 left, with no negative results so far.  Using a pair of tweezers to scrape the hardened scab out from under the loose parts is strangely compelling, like picking the dried glue off of the glue bottles was in elementary school art classes.  What, like you never picked at the dried glue?  Really?  Weirdo.
... there's a whole page on the 3-day website devoted to what friends of participants can do to help.  On it I learned that I'll be starting at the Port Authority parking lot at 6am on July 30, and finishing at the fairgrounds in Berea at 4:30pm on August 1.  Cheering stations should be announced soon, so check back for more details on where your sorry butts will be with HUGE signs to cheer me on (and/or cookies.  I think the cookies might be better than signs, as long as there are enough to share with the 900 other walkers).
... I only have a couple weeks left to come up with a really cheesy last-ditch solicitation e-mail to send to all the deadbeats concerned citizens who haven't donated to the 3-day on my behalf yet.  Strangely enough, I'm not the first person to think crying kittens will do the trick ...
... all of my donations have come from people I know in real life.  I would really, really like at least one of my online-only acquaintances to step up and donate.  Really, really, really.

1 comment:

mlf said...

Or you can plan your next blog entry while finishing the last couple of miles...

...then again, would the subject of a blog about mile 18 be suitable for family-friendly viewing?