My Journey With Health And Fitness – Time To Test Endurance

I have no idea why but last night I set this morning’s alarm for 5am instead of 4am. This was really problematic because I had a meeting to be at this morning. So, I got up and went for a walk at 5:45 for 2 hours. I then rested for 30 minutes then out for another 30 minute walk. Once I was back home after the meeting I got in another 30 minute walk. Despite losing that hour I still got in 15km today.

I was thinking about how to get at least 4 hours of walking in tomorrow and still make it to the Friday coffee group when it hit me, while I have been pretty good at getting in lots of walking, I haven’t in months really pushed myself in terms of endurance. I have pretty much everyday this week done a 2 hour walk without it being a problem. Hell, I even managed to improve my pace. My ankle isn’t really bothering me (pretty close to back to where it was before I twisted it in Mexico) so why not try to push things for the day.

Here’s the plan I have worked out. I am going to do my normal 2 hour ‘hard’ walk 1st thing tomorrow. I will then slow the pace slightly so that I am in the ‘moderate’ zone and tack on an additional hour for a total of 3 hours of walking. I’ll then take a break for about 1 1/2 hours to have coffee with the gang. Next will be a 1/2 hour walk home and when I have done some work at home I’ll hit the road for another hour walk. While I have been walking 4 1/2 hours a day often lately, it is the 3 hour walk that will test my endurance.

This may seem a bit much but seriously, back in December I did 3-2 hour walks every day for 10 days. This challenge is more about me feeling like I am pushing it. I haven’t done that recently and I think I need it to bolster my determination. I will say I am cognizant of the fact that if things start to hurt (remember, discomfort and pain are not the same) then it is time to get to the nearest bus stop and go home. Having said that, I am actually a bit excited about giving this a try. If it goes well, I may just pick one day each week to do an endurance test.

On a final note, I have started doing red light therapy on my ankle/foot to see if I can’t get the healing over the finish line. If it works I’m going to try doing the therapy on my knee just to do everything I can to avoid the dreaded knee replacement. Here’s hoping the therapy goes well.