15-317

Mile 943.  After a day of meetings and work in St. George, Lou parked his car on the street by the temple and used that as a starting point for his walk in the waning moments of light.  He headed east to Dixie State University.  Pictured above is the relatively new Jeffrey R. Holland Centennial Building and the clock tower that also puts on a continually changing light show.  It went into the 6 pm chimes right about this moment, that was nice too.  Tortoise then made a loop of it by heading up 1000 East to Tabernacle, then heading west for 14 blocks before making his way back to his starting point, changing shoes, putting on a tie, and heading inside to complete a nice evening.  Today's walking thought is by Von Keetch, see you on the other side (you know how to get there) ...

Cheerio!

We do have some fall colors in southern Utah, if you look for them ...

This is the view back up the sidewalk standing where Lou took the picture of the
Holland building.  On the right is the Udvar-Hazy Business building, former home
of Tortoise adjunct professorship ramblings

Looking down Tabernacle now.  A quiet Friday evening here, but in a few
blocks there was a good crowd at a restaurant near the central roundabout.

Walk complete with an inspiring view.

Today's walk was 4.64 miles and had a 5.6 tortoise rating earned by climbing 152 feet in the 2.32 mile uphill portion.  Average elevation was 2716.  This walk burned 691 calories in 1:27:31 hours.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2015:

943.58 miles walked which is 94.17% of Lou's 2015 goal.  On this day in 2014, Tortoise had walked 904.17 miles.

289:25:45 hours walked which is 92.47% of the 2015 goal (which is to walk 1 hour a day on the 313 days other than Sunday in the year).

50,189 total feet climbed, compared with 44,288 feet on this day in 2014.

141,522 calories burned.

86.90% of the year has passed.

Lou has walked 160 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, Overall he has walked on 263 of the 272 non-Sundays in 2015, a 96.69% consistency rating.  This compares with 259 days walked in the same period in 2014 (a 95.22% 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 ...

"We show our love for God -- and our faith in Him -- by doing our very best every day to follow the course that He has laid out for us and by keeping the commandments that He has given to us.  We especially manifest that faith and love in situations where we don't fully understand the reason for God's commands or the particular path He is telling us to take.  It is relatively easy to follow a course inside the barrier once we know there are sharp-toothed predators swarming just outside of it.  It is more difficult to keep our course within the barrier when all we can see are thrilling and tantalizing waves on the other side.  And yet it is in those times -- times when we choose to exercise our faith, put our trust in God, and show our love to Him -- that we grow and gain the most."

-- Von G. Keetch, "Blessed and Happy Are Those Who Keep the Commandments of God", October 2015 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!