PDY

UPDATE… It has started!

August 9… not a whole lot to say about walking these days. Am kinda on break, so the most significant walk was to cross the street to a really cool beer garden I only discovered three weeks ago. Walked there twice yesterday (it’s only like 300 yards, no big), once for a latte in the morning, and then an IPA in the evening. They do both very well. So just me and Cheeto, Isabela’s little dawg, Isabela being my youngest daughter. Also walked around town doing last minute errands, and probably 50.000 steps around this bleeping apartment trying to get myself focused, having realized that anything I miss will not be as easy as going to the kitchen to get! But all is in order.

Will bore you one last time about this particular blister, which ironically happens to be dead center on my Achilles tendon, obviously adjacent to the heel. After my last long walk it has not good, raw and getting deeper, so I resorted to what I should have done in the first place. Went deep into a box deep in my closet and pulled out the Corona. My horsey friends know perfectly, to most of you it’s a beer. Corona is the best cure for anything short of depression… cuts, chafes, raw skin, blisters on young middle aged walking fools.. lanolin based. So 48 hours later, blister gone, pain gone, with hopes of not talking about this again, but it is a story, remember?

Had a handful of panic moments over the last couple of days… inspected my laptop, and found a separation between screen and bezel, not good if it’s going to be shoved into a backpack next to a water bladder and a bunch of clothes, so I broke down and got another. Have had some security issues so I took to Microsoft Store for ghosting from the old one… dint work, so we did have to spend some time reconstructing the file structure but as my mom always insisted, all is well that ends well. Not sure if I totally agree with her, but I am now laden with reliable IT, I do hope. But when I saw no files, zero, I panicked, only cuz Microsoft tech put them where they dint belong!

And with 01:06:45 to go… there is an eerie calm, but definitely challenged by extreme nervousness. Have tomorrow to tie up loose ends, last details, including a new pair of sunglasses (which BTW, I really should practice what I preach, justa pair of sunglasses, but I’m still a little pissed :-), picnic in the park farewell tomorrow with 2 kids I adore, one I adore but won’t be here, and friends I love…

August 6… this timer is really kinda pissing me off! I already KNOW how much time is left, and if it were for me, I’d leave tomorrow… I’m ready. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

Couldn’t sit still yesterday afternoon, went for a walk. Very comfortable with backpack now, feet smarting a little bit but much better. Another walk today, watched the sun go down in my park.

Kinda pissed at myself earlier… lost my sunglasses. It’s not the sunglasses themselves, it’s the fact that my kids gave them to me for a birthday seven or eight years ago, and I’ve worn them ever since. They are now somewhere between Zilker Park and Southside Pizza on Congress. I hate losing stuff - sorry, my mother would correct me and say dislike instead of hate - but I severely dislike losing stuff, and thankfully it doesn’t happen often. A few weeks ago I was considering getting a new pair for this stroll, and I thought, no, these are fine, you like them, no need, plus, your kids gave ‘em to you! But alas, all things, including my sunglasses, come to an end, just like the 9000 year old Ming vase that will eventually shatter… don’t mean to be a downer here, quite the contrary… enjoy it while it’s here and you can! I saw some incredibly cool stuff through those glasses, and I hope whoever wears them going forward will too!… but I’m still pissed :-(

Chompin’ at the bit to get going…

August 5… the timer above is going way too fast! Last handful of days to finish up what I’ve been thinking about for a couple of years, somewhat surreal. Yesterday was a very light day, walked three miles to a brewery, backpack on, getting very used to it by now. Feet feeling better. What I am realizing is that I’m going to have to be in better shape than I already am if I’m going to walk 20 miles a day, day after day. This will come over the first couple/three weeks. I had anticipated this, but there’s no point in peaking now, as I’ve got to sustain for about three months.

On the IT front… made great strides yesterday, unassisted. I have been relying on my son Thomas for help with the blog space and email stuff, but he got distracted this weekend, so I was on my own, Reminded me of my first foray into PC’s back in 1990 when my dad bought an IBM clone, x386 processor, 2 Megabytes of RAM. There was a guy at the office who kinda knew his stuff, but I hated having to wait around for him to help. So I decided that if I was going to use a computer, I was going to learn to use a computer and not rely on anyone to get me through, so I read, from cover to cover, the entire Windows 3.1 User’s Manual, which back then was still in print. Then I proceeded to read the entire DOS 6.0 manual, for some of the stuff we were using was still DOS-based. Though painful at the time, learning this back then has served me well throughout my career, as once I understood the logic, you could transpose to most any application or program. So now I’m managing my own sites, love the independence.

Lots to do this week, including figuring out the exact 17 pounds of stuff I’m taking… not altogether easy, I’ll keep you posted.

August 3… my penultimate Saturday… woke up in a snit, ran a few errands, always nice lunch with Isabela and Thomas… then a much needed walk (aka peace, calm, detach, regroup)… strapped my laundry laden backpack on me back and off I went through the neighborhoods that I’m beginning to love. And the lake, and downtown, and Zilker… Austin is really is one of the best walking cities in the country… any and all kinds of trails and streets and cool places to walk. Great place to visit but not really a great place to live, really :-)

So with restlessness at full bore, I opened a spreadsheet, the first new one in a while, and it felt kinda weird. I hate to admit, but I love Excel, and I kinda miss some of my old spreadsheet stuff. I was pretty good at ‘em, pivot tables, all the formulae and macros… I could create a pretty mean spreadsheet, though it was often criticized for having too much color, to which I say, it makes it much more pleasant. The one tonight is pretty drab, no customization or automation, just some pretty cool multiplication/addition stuff, though about on my walk.

Google Maps says it’s 1,729 miles… at my stride, that’s about two million seven hundred sixty four thousand four hundred steps… imagine writing a check for that, and that’s without the xx/100 for the cents! It’s a lot of steps…

So we can talk about calories and energy expenditures later, but today is about pressure, and weight… no no, not emotional, but on my knees, much more mundane.

So depending on who and what you read, every time you take a step, the pressure on your lower joints (hip, knee, ankle) is anywhere from 1.5 to 4 times your body weight, depending on who you read and conditions, uphill, downhill etc. Let’s be conservative and take the lowest number at 1.5… pressure on joints is 1.5 greater that body weight, yes?

Current weight, 165 lbs, at 1.5 factor, that’s 247.5 pounds of pressure on each knee every time I take a step… so multiply by steps above, that’s 684,684,000 (funny number I notice, do the math!) pounds of pressure that will be exerted on my knees, one natural, one a replacement, pressure on a plastic piece of pseudo-cartilage. The Empire State Building weighs 365.000 tonnes, and the above mentioned 684,684,000 is 342.342 tonnes, which is almost the weight of the ESB… point is… the less weight you keep off your knees the better, and that does not mean go sit on your couch…

August 2… not much to say about walking today, instead, took the day off and went sailing! Truth is, I needed a break. All I’ve been thinking about (and stressing, I must say) is this upcoming little walk, so it was a nice break, both mentally and physically. The crew aboard Shotglass, Bob, Thomas, Spencer and Emily gave me the honorary helm… they were obviously in no rush to get anywhere. Super cool afternoon on Lake Travis out of AYC…

Had to chuckle when I put on the last remaining band-aid in the box! My man Sponge Bob… must be 15 years old! I just find things like this funny.

August 1… can’t believe it’s August. So three walks later since yesterday, couldn’t sit still yesterday afternoon, and a 5 and later 4 today. Feet feeling a little better, though I’m beginning to think you might not care, but they are getting me across this journey! Have ditched the sock things and reverted back to my old cotton six-pack, and if any of you would like a very slightly used dainty little pair of silk sock liners, all yours… dint work for me! Just let me know and I’ll give them to you when you walk with me! So by next week, I’ll have a new pad on my foot, blister healed, just like a dawg.

Thought a lot about my Dad today, it being his birthday. He would have been 93. Best father a kid could ask for… supportive, generous, kind. I asked myself what he would be thinking about all this walk stuff, and I think he’d be pretty cool with it, but very nervous at the same time. Back in the days I used to drive my horse trailer back and forth from Mexico City to Upstate (sorta) New York, he used to get very nervous and uptight, causing a couple of ills along the way! Now being a Dad, I understand. But as always, he would support me, and just ask me to be careful, to which now I say… Dad, I promise I will.

July 31… off morning, left foot kind of hurts. Had all kinds of time to blame by shoes and socks, when in fact it was MY fault for not breaking them in gently - I do not recall the shoes forcing themselves onto my feet and make me walk ten miles at gun point. Ah, but it’s so much easier to blame something, or someone else, and it seems it’s an ever-increasing trend… it’s always someone else’s fault these days, when in fact, most of the time it’s really no one’s fault but our own, and if we’d just take our own responsibility for our own actions, we’d all be better off…

Mind still playing all kinds of doubt games, as the time to launch approaches. I wonder if it’s an inbred defense mechanism.. why do we always get anxious or nervous before an event such as this, and why do we doubt? And I listen to the doubts, but I know it’s going to be tough, I know it’s going to hurt at times, I know these things, and I have thought about them for many months, and am forging ahead, allowing things to unfold… I suspect all this doubting is unfounded but I’m listening anyway.

On a more positive note, I have registered for Traffic and Access alerts from the Port Authority of NY & NJ for the pedestrian crossings of the George Washington Bridge.. that would kind of stink… walk to the bridge after 1,700 miles and find it closed…

July 30, 12 days to go… I was really hoping to get through this story without mentioning blisters… hope was short lived, and I’m pissed at myself for doing what I did… walked too far in a new pair of shoes and tried out a pair of sock liners and socks… deep blister on the ball of left foot, little one on back of right ankle. So stupid, but what I deserve for trying to change a winning game.

Here’s what I’ve successfully done with my various old shoes…

And then today… little bitty stroll. Blisters are what I get for trying to get all fancy with shoes and liners and all that… think I might revert to formula that works! Shoes that cost a quarter of what these did, and a six-pack of cotton socks… should have listened to my feet and not the videos and reviews! Feet will be fine for takeoff, and there might be a pair of shoes with only 10 miles on them available on eBay soon!

June 29, 2019 - This is getting a bit unreal…  I used to measure departure time in months, then weeks, and now it’s boiled down to days, 13 to be exact! And yes, I’m nervous, I’m excited, and my brain continues to play games, the what if game specifically, injecting little challenging thoughts and doubts…  what if I ______? (fill in the blank!).

Continue to get used to the backpack I bought last week - walked about 50 miles last week with it on, filled with 1) a couple of cans of beans 2) a couple of 5# weights 3) a water bladder and 4) a bunch of dirty clothes to get up to 17 pounds! Made a couple small adjustments to the pack that really helped, and my legs and hips have adjusted to the extra weight, which at first does affect your center of balance…  but I’m confident that all will be fine upon departure.

So today was a ten miler, lugging my laundry from South Congress to the park, then downtown, nice lunch with Thomas my son, the back to SoCo. Must admit I’m getting a little bored with the same streets, think I might just have to expand my walking territory… any ideas?

So the shoes… with 12:11:15 left to go, I have had to make a decision to change shoes… have used Nike Pegasus 33,34 & 35’s for four years… no longer what they used to be, so I’ve switched… felt good on the way home, we shall see. Nike Airmax now… we’ll give it a try. BTW… this is not sponsored in any way by the manufacturer of these shoes… here’s hoping right?