The Life And Times Of Lou, The Smiling Tortoise: 15-316

"The Blog Almost Too Boring To Be The Most Boring Blog in America ... for Over 5 Years!"

until it got too many red cards from Wounded Duck and the Boredom Enforcement Committee ... now the tortoise's goal is to get to 10 red cards so he can get Big Dog to drive down and take a good long walk with the tortoise

P. S. This blog listens to its readers. We have the Benjamin Category Override for 5+ mile walks and now, it humbles Tortoise to say he has been named "Lou", by Doug Jr, in memory of Mr. Consistency himself, Lou Gehrig. Tortoise can hardly type the words to think he is in any way comparable to the noble Iron Horse. Thank you!

Thursday, November 12, 2015

15-316

Mile 938. The last remnants of sunlight glow seen at 6:20 this evening not quite a mile into Tortoise's walk. Six months ago today, Lou started a new string of consecutive Non-Sunday walks that is still going strong and giving Tortoise something more to smile about. Along with today's "ponderizing" walking thought by Devin Durrant ...

Cheerio!

Today's walk was 4.42 miles and had a 5.0 tortoise rating earned by climbing 196 feet in the 1.71 mile uphill portion. Average elevation was 3285. This walk burned 659 calories in 1:25:27 hours.

Weigh-in: 223.1, a 0.3 pound decrease compared with Lou's last weigh-in on November 2.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2015:

938.94 miles walked which is 93.71% of Lou's 2015 goal. On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 902.12 miles.

287:58:14 hours walked which is 92.00% of the 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year).

50,037 total feet climbed, compared with 44,234 feet on this day in 2014.

140,831 calories burned.

86.58% of the year has passed.

Lou has walked 159 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, Overall he has walked on 262 of the 271 non-Sundays in 2015, a 96.68% consistency rating. This compares with 258 days walked in the same period in 2014 (a 95.20% consistency rating).

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of both distance and of 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 walking record up until 2013 with 2014 or 2015 ... for him, it is what it takes to be consistent. He hopes you find what works for you).

And now for today's walking thought ...

"As you reflect on your selected verse each week, words and phrases will be written on your heart. Words and phrases will also be written on your mind. In other words, memorization will take place easily and naturally. But the primary goal of ponderizing is to provide an uplifting place for your thoughts to go -- a place that keeps you close to the Spirit of the Lord.

"The Savior said, 'Treasure up in your minds continually the words of life.' Ponderizing is a simple and edifying way to do just that.

"I believe Nephi was a ponderizer. He said, 'My soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them [continually], and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children.' He was mindful of his children as he pondered and wrote the scriptures. How might your family benefit as you continually strive to fill your mind with God's words?"

-- Devin Durrant, "My Heart Pondereth Them Continually", October 2015 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!

4 comments:

RachelNovember 13, 2015 at 9:46 PM
Love the city night lights :) big time high five on the Sunday walking trend. This ponderize talk actually has a free app you might be interested in. It's called LDS ponderize
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BenjaminNovember 14, 2015 at 9:30 AM
Is 159 consecutive a record? Tortoise consistency is pure torch!
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UnknownNovember 14, 2015 at 9:45 AM
Totally pure awes Tortoise! Love that he starts his talk offering simple financial advice to save a portion of your wages to more than anything develop discipline in managing your life and affairs. With that context, the ponderizing becomes all the more powerful to me. Rachel - Have you used the app and had success with it?
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UnknownNovember 14, 2015 at 11:01 AM
I just downloaded the app. Thanks for the suggestion, Rachel. It looks promising, both because it gives you quite a choice of scriptures by topic, and because you can set reminder times that work for you. I'll let you know how the ponderizing goes. By the way, I thought about it in the temple last night. Going to the temple often causes us to ponderize what we hear and learn there. A beautiful thing!

Thanks also for the kudos on the consecutive walks. Yes, it's a record, I tell more about it at 15-306 (November 2) and 15-245 (September 2). Guess I'm trying to earn the name Lou, although I have no illusions I will make it anywhere near 2,000 consecutive. Still, I'm now to the point I don't dare quit. There is a cold, rainy day coming Monday, we'll see how that goes. One step at a time ...
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Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Segments Hiked

Total lifetime PCT miles hiked: 205.0 out of the 2,650 total.

From 1966 to 1969 segment Tortoise hiked the portion of the PCT shared by the John Muir Trail, covering PCT miles 767.0 to 942.5 (175.5 miles). (While hiking the full 211 miles of the Muir Trail from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mt. Whitney)

Tortoise then embarked on a long career at a desk, interrupted momentarily for a day hike in 1988 up Mt. Baden-Powell as a Varsity Boy Scout coach with his team. That took him from PCT miles 374.0 to 377.9, roundtrip. (There was also a second trip from Onion Valley to Mt. Whitney with the Varsity Boy Scouts in 1989. He barely made it, crying with joy and appreciation when he did. That is a story all of its own).

He returned many years later with these walks. Please click on the date for a link to that day's blog post:

June 14, 2012, hiked PCT miles 565.0 to 566.6 (1.6 miles) on both sides of California Highway 58 at the Cameron Road exit.

October 20, 2012, hiked PCT miles 341 to 342 (1 miles) mostly on the east side of Interstate 15 but also under the storm runoff tunnel just south of the exit to California Highway 138 near Cajon Pass.

February 2013, continued in two segments to do miles 342 to 347 (5 miles).

August 13, 2013, hiked miles 374.2 to 376.6 roundtrip from Vincent Gap trailhead at milepost 74.7 on California highway 2.

February 17, 2015, hiked miles 452.9 to 450.4 roundtrip from Vasquez Rocks Picnic Area.

March 16, 2015, hiked miles 341.9 to 340.2 southbound from Cajon Pass Road, then returned. Partial redo of October 20, 2012 walk ... plus a little more.

April 3, 2015, hiked miles 1089.8 to 1091.9 roundtrip from Echo Summit trailhead to near Echo Lake.

May 12, 2016, hiked miles 206.8 to 204.3 southbound from the Snow Canyon Road gate at the bottom of Mt. San Jacinto, then returned.

August 17, 2016, hiked miles 209.5 to 206.8 southbound from the underpass at Interstate 10 Exit 110 to Snow Creek, then returned.

May 26, 2017, hiked miles 369.4 to 364.4 southbound from the Inspiration Point trailhead on California Highway 2, then returned.

The tortoise may eventually set some kind of record for the longest time to complete the PCT in microsegments. You never know, but we're already at 51 years and counting since his first segment from Onion Valley to Taboose Pass in July 1966 :-)