15-267

Mile 772.  Lou got to start walking a little earlier today, about 5:15 pm, starting at Sullivan Virgin River Soccer Park.  He followed the Virgin River trail upstream, past the ongoing construction of some of the nicest soccer fields he's seen anywhere, past the boardwalk, a little over a mile to the junction with the Cottonwood Wash trail.  Tortoise continued another mile up the Cottonwood Wash trail before retracing his steps.  Lou got picture happy today, there are pictures of the river, pictures of lava flows, pictures of deer, pictures of the new soccer fields ... there's something for everyone when you click below and continue reading ...

Cheerio!

Lou was here just a few weeks ago, this was just a rocky, undeveloped field.

Just look at it now.  Seats, lights, even a concession stand.  Quite a place!

Leaving the soccer fields and headed upstream through some welcome shade
even in late September.

Impressive how they put the trail through without disturbing the terrain
or the trees very much.

The deer kept on the move when they saw me

but if you look closely

in these pictures

you will see Mother

and happily obedient child

Red rocks

and black rocks

Tortoise turned left at this junction

to pick up the Cottonwood Wash trail

Beauty in the midst of the city.

Today's walk was 4.31 miles, with a 3.2 tortoise rating earned by climbing 372 feet in the 1.18 mile uphill portion at an average elevation of 2803.  Essentially all of the climbing came in mile 2 on the Cottonwood Wash trail.  The walk burned 671 calories in 1:10:11 hours.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2015:

772.26 miles walked, which is 77.07% of Lou's 2015 goal. On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 756.13 year-to-date miles.   

236:04:00 hours walked, which is 75.42% of the 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year)

40,040 total feet climbed, compared with 35,970 feet on this day in 2014.  

115,793 calories burned.

73.16% of the year has passed.

Lou has walked 117 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11. Overall he has walked on 220 of the 229 non-Sundays in 2015, a 96.07% consistency rating.  This compares with 216 days walked in the same period in 2014 (a 94.32% 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 Jörg Klebingat (for a piece of trivia only a certain planetary scientist would enjoy, he is a former president of the Ukraine Kyiv Mission.) ...

" ... acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but don’t be immobilized by them, because some of them will be your companions until you depart this earth life. No matter what your current status, the very moment you voluntarily choose honest, joyful, daily repentance by striving to simply do and be your very best, the Savior’s Atonement envelops and follows you, as it were, wherever you go. Living in this manner, you can truly “always retain a remission of your sins” (Mosiah 4:12) every hour of every day, every second of every minute, and thus be fully clean and acceptable before God all the time.

"Yours is the privilege, if you want it, to come to know for yourself, today or soon, that you are pleasing God in spite of your shortcomings. I testify of a loving Savior who expects us to live the commandments. I testify of a loving Savior who is so very anxious to bestow His grace and mercy. I testify of a loving Savior who rejoices when we apply His Atonement daily with the calm and happy assurance that we are facing in the right direction. 

The tortoise is smiling!