Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Tale of the tape Part 3

Part 3: Also, my shirt won't dry while resting because good rest requires lying back, and lying back keeps the shirt wet. Anyway, I walked a mile on Rte 29 through Calistoga to see if I wanted to go that way. I didn't want to, so I walked the mile back to Rte 128 and headed toward Healdsburg and US 101 (which may eventually take me to Oregon). Ten miles up the road I caught a whiff of what I thought was strawberries, so I kept an eye out for some strawberries. What I found, however, was wild raspberries; lots of 'em. I spent at least an hour picking raspberries--nearly 2 lbs of them--putting them in a zippered sandwich bag to create an unexpected snack for later. It ended up turning my right hand purple (because not all of the berries can be easily removed from the vine). I also found various parts of my body bloody from the thorns (or rasps?) that surround the berries. (I took a
picture of me, my berries, and a vineyard behind us, but my phone deleted it for some reason.)...

Take of the tape Part 2

PART 2: Lewis (sp?) Palmer gave me a ride from Napa to St. Helena, where he works as a Wine Country tour guide. From St. Helena he told me it would be about 7 miles to Calistoga, which he also said is a cool town. A few miles up the road I decided to make a race against the clock; I challenged myself to hit the 10-mile mark before noon, which meant I'd have to walk nonstop for a long time. Barely into Calistoga, at 11:50, I topped 10 miles. While I rested, I calculated that I could make it to 30 miles by 10:00 if my walking time doubled my resting time (30 minutes of rest for every hour of walking). That may not seem too tough, but a lot of my rest time isn't restful at all because I have to do things like dig in my backpack and move stuff around. Another issue is dry clothing. I often have to add rest time because I need my shirt to dry before I resume walking. The extra rest time adds
up quickly, and I don't get that time back unless I walk for 2 or 3 straight hours (6 to 9 miles)...

Tale of the tape

STEPS: 61,087. CALORIES BURNED: 3,091. MILES WALKED: 28.10. That's the "official" count from yesterday, although the actual figures are probably 1 to 3 percent higher because sometimes the pedometer misses steps and sometimes I walk without the pedometer. This is how yesterday took shape: Antoine (who lives in Napa) had to work very early, so I was up by 4:30 and out before 5:00. Before 6:00 I stopped in front of Albertson's and ate the plum pie-like dessert Antoine's mom gave me. (That was my first time eating plums.) When Albertson's opened I bought 3 donuts, 2 apples, and 3 Pay Days (3 for $1). I didn't even consider the possibility for a 30-mile day until leaving Albertson's after 7:00. Up the road a way, when I stopped to put my jacket in my backpack (near an on-ramp, coincidentally), someone stopped and offered me a ride. I wasn't even looking for a ride because you can't walk 30
miles in a day if you're not walking most of the day, but I decided to take the ride anyway...