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Mile 731.  Welcome to Tortoise's 1,000th published walking post!  Lou has gotten some highlight pictures and other tidbits together that he hopes you will enjoy on this lovely occasion, so please click below and join him on the other side ...

Cheerio!



The pictures above are of the Bedford Depot at the northwest end of the Minuteman Trail (May 2, 2013) and the "moderate" canal walk at Hurricane's Peach Days (August 30, 2014).

Tortoise's one thousand posts also include:

Walks in 45 counties in 16 states, including the Flamingo Arroyo Trail in
Las Vegas, pictured above (October 21, 2014)

6 college campus walks - University of Florida, Florida Institute of Technology,
Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, UNLV, and Dixie State University, pictured
above with Jacob on November 6, 2014.

15 beachview walks, including this classic at Venice beach with
Mike Arlen on December 21, 2013.

Or you could take your own tour of posts by scrolling down the right column of the blog and finding a topic that catches your eye.  Tortoise would love it if you would comment on one you found wandering around ... and what interested you in it.

Today's walk was 3.89 miles, with a 3.9 tortoise rating earned by climbing 452 feet in the 1.95 mile uphill portion at an average elevation of 3182.  The walk burned 620 calories in 1:29:58 hours.  Here's some pictures and a map:

Entering Confluence Park by crossing the tortoise gate that separates the north
end of Hurricane's 200 West Street from the south end of the Tortoise Track trail.

A peaceful view along the Virgin River Trail just after the Confluence View
Trail joined it.

The beginning of Basalt Trail off of Tortoise Track

Continuing on Basalt Trail

The junction of Basalt Trail with Chub Trace provides a beautiful view of
Cactus Cliff on the other side of the river

Looking at Chub Trace as it continues east.

Another view of the river walking west on Chub Trace

Tortoise would love to see who his first reader will be who writes in a comment
describing the trails taken on this walk, in order. 

Here are the overall stats so far for 2015:

731.79 miles walked, which is 73.03% of Lou's 2015 goal. On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 730.03 year-to-date miles.   

224:04:09 hours walked, which is 71.59% of the 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year)

37,583 total feet climbed, compared with 34,932 feet on this day in 2014.  

109,740 calories burned.

69.97% of the year has passed.

Weigh-in:  224.4.  This was a 0.8 pound drop from Lou's last weigh-in on September 3. This losing weight thing as part of trying to improve Tortoise's heart health has been an up and down affair.  On July 11, 2011, the number was 267.  By October 24 it had dropped to 247.6, only to jump back to 269.8 by May 1, 2012.  Time to try again.  Commitment increased, and by November 20 Lou was down to 232.8.  Tortoise had not been that low in many years, and this entered him into a new plateau, mostly in the 230 to 240 range, for the next 2+ years.  The summer of 2014 saw Lou drop from 238.0 to 225.4, his first venture into the 220-230 range in many years.  This past winter saw a return to 237.4.  At least he usually peaked a little lower each time than the last time, and dropped a little lower, as this chart illustrates:

About a week ago, on September 3, Tortoise passed his previous best mark of 225.4 set November 5, 2014.  Today's weigh-in reinforces this ... and Lou hopes this paves the way for further progress this fall.  As my old friendly news friend Paul Harvey would say, "Stay tuned for more!"

Lou has walked 107 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11. Overall he has walked on 210 of the 219 non-Sundays in 2015, a 95.89% consistency rating.  This compares with 207 days walked in the same period in 2014 (a 94.52% consistency rating).

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of distance and time walked than of the year. This tells Tortoise that he is on track. Yes, this is more numbers than you are likely interested in, all Tortoise can say is he's really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because he doesn't do them every, every day.  (If you doubt this, compare Tortoise's 2013 walking record with 2014 ... for him, it is what it takes to be consistent. And Tortoise feels much more vibrant when he is consistent.  He hopes you find what works for you)

And now for today's walking thought by Joseph Zitati ...

"Faithful Latter-day Saints who understand their divine potential and rely wholeheartedly on the power available through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ are strengthened in their natural weakness and 'can do all things.' (Alma 26:12)  They are enabled to overcome the enticings of evil that have put many under bondage to the adversary.  Paul taught that:

"'God is faithful, [and] will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.' (1 Corinthians 10:13)

"'For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.' (Hebrews 2:18)"

-- Joseph Zitati, "Be Fruitful, Multiply, and Subdue the Earth", April 2015 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!