16-253

Mile 712.  'Twas the night before Family Discovery Day and all through the church house there were people busily setting up their most interesting displays.  Pictures of those tomorrow!  In the meantime, Lou snuck in a walk doing laps around the grounds during a break.  He just might have been one of those people busily setting up before and after the break, ha!  The fresh air felt good!  Todd Christofferson provided the walking thought of the evening ...

Cheerio!

Today's walk was 3.25 miles, done in 58:11 minutes at an average pace of 17:54 minutes per mile. This route had an average tortoise rating of 5.2, earned by climbing 150 feet in the 1.63 mile uphill portion. Amazing how 11 or 12 feet climbed on each of thirteen quarter-mile laps can add up. Average elevation was 3234. 

This might be one of the less interesting of the jaunts Tortoise will take on his 52 Hike Challenge, but is was over 5k, and so far he has managed not to repeat a path.  This was #hike3.  The important thing is to get out there and do it, yes?

Here are the overall stats so far for 2016:

712.17 miles walked, compared with Lou's goal for this date of 691.08.

Tortoise has climbed a total of 49,571 feet so far in 2016, compared to a year-to-date goal of 42,532.   Lou hopes to climb more than the 61,316 feet he climbed in 2015 -- as a way to get the 125 heart rate his doctor suggests for these walks.  So far in 2016, Tortoise's walks have averaged 59:13 minutes each, compared with his daily average of 1:07:04 hours the previous year.  He enjoys seeing what he can do in an hour and change each day!

His average pace so far in 2016 has been 18:02.6 minutes per mile, compared with his 18:25 minute per mile pace in 2015.

Lou has walked 418 consecutive non-Sundays since his 8 missed days May 2-11, 2015. overall he has walked on 521 of the 530 non-Sundays in 2015-16, a 98.302% consistency rating.

And now for today's walking thought:

"As in the days of Nehor and Korihor, we live in a time not before the advent of Jesus Christ -- in our case, the time of preparation for His Second Coming.  And similarly, the message of repentance is often not welcomed.  Some profess that if there is a God, He makes no real demands upon us (see Alma 18:5).  Others maintain that a loving God forgives all sin based on simple confession, or if there actually is a punishment for sin, 'God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God' (2 Nephi 28:8).  Others, with Korihor, deny the very existence of Christ and any such thing as sin.  Their doctrine is that values, standards, and even truth are all relative.  Thus, whatever one feels is right for him or her cannot be judged by others to be wrong or sinful.

"On the surface such philosophies seem appealing because they give us license to indulge any appetite or desire without concern for consequences.  By using the teachings of Nehor and Korihor, we can rationalize and justify anything.  When prophets come crying repentance, it 'throws cold water on the party.' But in reality the prophetic call should be received with joy.  Without repentance, there is no real progress or improvement in life.  Pretending there is no sin does not lessen its burden and pain.  Suffering for sin does not by itself change anything for the better.  Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life.  And, of course, only through repentance do we gain access to the atoning grace of Jesus Christ and salvation.  Repentance is a divine gift, and there should be a smile on our faces when we speak of it.  It points us to freedom, confidence, and peace.  Rather than interrupting the celebration, the gift of repentance is the cause for true celebration."

-- D. Todd Christofferson, "The Divine Gift of Repentance", LDS General Conference, October 2011

The tortoise is smiling!