I am a planner – especially when planning allows me to procrastinate. And since I have tons of grading that I don’t feel like doing right now, what better time to map out routes for slowly building my endurance to 3 mile walks?
After posting my walking goals for the next 3 weeks, I was inspired to keeping going on RunKeeper, figuring out a number of routes that gradually increase by approximately .2 to .3 miles. If I can manage to add that much distance every week (is that overly ambitious??? I honestly don’t know), I can get to 3.16 miles in 10 weeks, using the following plan:
Week 1, starting 9/13: 1.07 mi, no hill
Week 2, starting 9/20: 1.10 mi, moderate hill
Week 3, starting 9/27: 1.32 mi, steep hill
Week 4, starting 10/3: 1.53 mi, moderate hill
Week 5, starting 10/10: 1.78 mi, steep hill (after this, they all build off this same route with the steep hill)
Week 6, starting 10/17: 2.05 mi
Week 7, starting 10/24: 2.31 mi
Week 8, starting 10/31: 2.64 mi
Week 9, starting 11/7: 2.90 mi
Week 10, starting 11/14: 3.16 mi
My intention is to walk at least 5 days each week. I’m hoping that’s enough to acclimate me to each distance so that I’m ready to add a bit the following week. If not, I can always do two weeks on each route before bumping up if I find that I need to. A formalized exercise plan like this is new to me, so I don’t know if I’m biting off more than I can chew. However, I know that my first walk, taken just 10 days ago, was .75 mi and today I easily did 1 mi.
So I think this is reasonable, but if it’s not, all I need to do is slow the progression a bit. The key is that I have the routes mapped, and I can move on to each new one as I’m ready. Now here’s hoping for a mild fall and no big snowfalls that throw a wrench in my plans!
The Scarlet F 
So Michelle, I have always been the first mile will always be the hardest to accomplish, and from then on each 1/10-1/4 mile gets easier. I do have to say I always have the hardest time in the 1 mile and by the end of my timed walk of an hour I don’t want to stop, but since I walk on my lunch an hour is all I can walk. PS if Tuesdays you want to walk after dropping Maggie off let me know, I work 2 blocks from there.
Wow, you walk for your entire lunch hour? That’s amazing! I can see how it would get easier after the first mile, too. On the days I don’t do the hill, a mile really isn’t that hard. It’s just when I have one of those stupid hills that I ended up winded. But today, even that wasn’t that bad, because after the hill, there was a nice, gentle downhill stretch. That 1 mile stretch is the foundation of all of my future routes, and I felt pretty good by the end of the downhill, so I can see how I’ll hopefully get a burst of energy after that.
I would love to walk on Tuesdays, especially now that the weather is cooling down! I drive both ways of our carpool on Tuesdays for the time being, so I’ll have some time to kill. 😉 After October, I’ll be splitting the return shift with another mom, but if I’m not in a rush to get home, we can still keep walking.