16-62

Mile 156.  Lou operated on four hours sleep today, that's what happens when you work until 3 am.  It's that time of year.  Tortoise still went on his evening walk, although at a slower pace.  His picture of the night is this fine view of the Hurricane power plant.  Somehow it looks much nicer in the evening ... and certainly we are thankful it is there.  The walking thought is a story of loving leadership shared by Linda Burton ...

Cheerio!

Two day before Friday night lights from the high school stadium

Today's variation on the path up the hill was to loop northwest at the ball fields
rather than yesterday's loop southeast.

Today's walk was 3.39 miles and had a 4.8 tortoise rating earned by climbing 234 feet in the 1.70 mile uphill portion. Average elevation was 3291.  This walk burned 507 calories in 57:52 minutes, a pace of 17:04 minutes per mile. It was Lou's nineteenth 5k walk of 2016.

Here are the overall stats so far for 2016:

156.06 miles walked, compared with Lou's goal for this date of 168.79 miles.  

11,789 total feet climbed so far in 2016, compared to a year-to-date goal of 10,388. Lou hopes to climb more than the 61,316 feet he climbed in 2015 -- but in 16 minutes less each day than his 1:07:04 hour average in 2015.  So far in 2016 Tortoise's walks have averaged 47:46 minutes each.

His average pace so far in 2016 has been 16:13 minutes per mile, slightly more tortoise like than his goal of 16:05 minutes per mile, but a noticeable difference from his 18:25 minute per mile pace in 2015.

Lou has walked 254 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, Overall he has walked on 357 of the 366 non-Sundays in 2015-16, a 97.54% 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'd like to begin by sharing a story that touches my heart.

"One evening a man called his five sheep to come into the shelter for the night.  His family watched with great interest as he simply called, 'Come on,' and immediately all five heads lifted and turned in his direction.  Four sheep broke into a run toward him.  With loving-kindness he gently patted each of the four on the head.  The sheep knew his voice and loved him.

"But the fifth sheep didn't come running.  She was a large ewe that a few weeks earlier had been given away by her owner who reported that she was wild, wayward, and always leading the other sheep astray.  The new owner accepted the sheep and staked her in his own field for a few days so she would learn to stay put.  He patiently taught her to love him and the other sheep until eventually she had only a short roper around her neck but was no longer staked down.

"That evening as his family watched, the man approached the ewe, which stood at the edge of the field, and again he gently said, 'Come on.  You aren't tied down anymore.  You are free.'  Then lovingly he reached out, placed his hand on her head, and walked back with her and the other sheep shelter."

-- Linda K. Burton, "The Power, Joy, and Love of Covenant Keeping", October 2013 LDS General Conference

The tortoise is smiling!