16-33

Mile 78.  Lou managed to get in his walk while it was still sunny, around 4 pm.  He then returned with new energy to the files waiting for him at his desk.  While the views and the air was sparkling, it was still cold.  43 degrees, but with wind it didn't feel that warm.  Bundled up, Tortoise felt quite toasty, thank you!  Today's walking thought is by Gifford Nielsen ...

Cheerio!

Slight variation on the route today.  Tortoise turned back at the entrance to the
bus parking area at the middle school, then added the 600 North trail so that
he would get a chance for an unobstructed view of the mountains.

When the trail becomes the West Cinder Knoll trail.  Lou returned to the street
at this point, because he slightly misjudged how far this would go, and went a
little past his target 40-49 minute range.  Work break is over!

Today's walk was 3.27 miles and had a 4.9 tortoise rating earned by climbing 193 feet in the 1.64 mile uphill portion.  It was Lou's fourth 5k walk of 2016.  Average elevation was 3285.  This walk burned 509 calories in 53:44 minutes, a pace of 16:26 minutes per mile.

Weigh-in:  228.0, a 5.6 pound increase compared with Lou's last weigh-in on November 20.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2016:

78.49 miles walked which is 11.49% of Lou's 2016 goal of 683 miles.  His goal for this date is 60.90 total miles.

20:55:10 hours walked which is 9.99% of the 2016 goal (which is to walk 40 minutes a day on the 314 days other than Sunday in the year).  

5,961 total feet climbed in 2016. Wounded Duck has challenged Tortoise to climb more than the 61,316 feet climbed in 2015 -- but in 40 minutes, rather than an hour daily.  To accomplish this, Tortoise needs to climb an average of 196 feet on each of the 314 walking days in 2016  ... assuming he misses no days at 6 days per week all 52 weeks (definitely quite an assumption!).  But playing along with Wounded Duck, this would mean climbing 5,488 feet in the 28 walking days so far in 2016.  So far, so good, but stay tuned.  This is a tough goal.

12,712 calories burned.

8.92% of the year has passed.

Lou has walked 229 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, Overall he has walked on 332 of the 341 non-Sundays in 2015-16, a 97.36% 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.  And of course, he also wants to keep the Boredom Committee supplied with plenty of boring numbers so those good folks will be happy ...

And now for today's walking thought ...

"... I noticed a pair of tattered-looking, bronzed shoes on the credenza behind his desk, accompanied by a scripture ending in an exclamation point.  As I read it, I felt the Lord was aware of my study, had answered my prayers, and that He knew exactly what I needed to soothe my anxious heart.

"I asked the stake president to tell me the story of the shoes.

"He said:

" 'These are shoes of a young convert to the Church whose family situation was strained, yet he was determined to serve a successful mission and did so in Guatemala.  Upon his return I met with him to extend an honorable release and saw his shoes were worn out.  This young man had given his all to the Lord without much, if any, family support.

" 'He noticed I was staring at his shoes and asked me, 'President, is anything wrong?'

" 'I responded, 'No elder, everything is right! Can I have those shoes?'

"The stake president continued: 'My respect and love for this returning missionary was overwhelming!  I wanted to memorialize the experience, so I had his shoes bronzed.  It is a reminder to me when I walk into this office of the effort we all must give regardless of our circumstances."

-- S. Gifford Nielsen, "Hastening the Lord's Game Plan!", October 2013 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!