16-35

Mile 82.  Tortoise worked in the morning in Hurricane, midday in St. George, and then traveled to California for the evening.  He will be there through Saturday.  About 6 pm he took a 35 minute walking break, part of which is pictured above.  Walking thought was by Timothy J. Dyches ...

Cheerio!

Lou discovered some nice walking paths in Shadow Oak Park in West Covina.

A Ledge-wannabe practicing to put on a clinic in the park.

Tortoise found his hill.  Grade averaged 3%; part of it was 6%.

Today's walk was 2.14 miles and had a 5.4 tortoise rating earned by climbing 165 feet in the 1.07 mile uphill portion.  Average elevation was 585.  This walk burned 342 calories in 34:47 minutes, a pace of 16:15 minutes per mile.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2016:

82.85 miles walked which is 12.13% of Lou's 2016 goal of 683 miles.  His goal for this date is 65.25 total miles.

22:11:08 hours walked which is 10.60% of the 2016 goal (which is to walk 40 minutes a day on the 314 days other than Sunday in the year).  

6,571 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 5,880 feet in the 30 walking days so far in 2016.  So far, so good, but stay tuned.  This is a tough goal.

13,383 calories burned.

9.55% of the year has passed.

Lou has walked 231 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, Overall he has walked on 334 of the 343 non-Sundays in 2015-16, a 97.38% 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 ...

"Corrie ten Boom, a devout Dutch Christian woman, found such healing despite having been interned in concentration camps during World War II.  She suffered greatly, but unlike her beloved sister Betsie, who perished in one of the camps, Corrie survived.

"After the war she often spoke publicly of her experiences and of healing and forgiveness.  On one occasion a former Nazi guard who had been part of Corrie's own grievous confinement in Ravensbrück, Germany, approached her, rejoicing at here message of Christ's forgiveness and love.

"'How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein', he said.  'To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!'

"'His hand was thrust out to shake mine,' Corrie recalled.  'And I, who had preached so often ... the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side. ...

" 'I tried to smile, [and] I struggled to raise my hand.  I could not.  I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or chairty.  And so again I breathed a silent prayer.  Jesus, I cannot forgive him.  Give me Your forgiveness.

" 'As I took his hand the most incredible think happened.  From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

" 'And so I discovered that is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His.  When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.' "

-- Timothy J. Dyches, "Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?", October 2013 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!