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The leg starts in John Day, OR. It's a small town, but it has a Best Western, a grocery store and probably some local restaurants. It was founded by John Day, a Virginian who was a part of an Astor expedition in 1811. In 1882, the town was predominantly Chinese, but now most of them have disappeared. Maybe they were working on the railroads, or perhaps the timber industry.
New Books
I've added two new books to the blog heading.
Bug Out and Live started as a beginner's backpacking book. As I started writing it, I felt I didn't have the expertise to recommend modern equipment. I tend to use my gear until it wears out. What I do have is expertise in gathering gear to use for a three day emergency stay away from home. If a person eliminated the pack and added the pushcart, I also gave good recommendations for a road walk. Even with a pushcart, I can see limiting weight is advantageous, and "Bug Out and Live" explains how to do that.
My good friend, Bert Nemcik, also known as "Shadow," wrote the 21st Century Backpacker's Bible. I acted as the editor, but only to catch spelling and grammar errors. Shadow is what is known as a gearhead in the backpacking world. He likes to buy new equipment for the sake of testing it. He has found the best solutions for clothes, tents, sleeping bags, stoves and other gear.
Increasing Mileage - 8 x 12
I'm not happy with the number of miles I've been doing. Twelve mile days are common, but six miles days are also distressingly common. I don't mind short mileage if I'm resting, but on most days, I should be able to get to 10 or 12 miles. I've decided to implement an 8 x 12 strategy -- meaning 8 miles by twelve o'clock.
The first five miles will be my morning walk. The next three miles will be around the house. I'll do this by spending less time with useless surfing and using my breaks to do some housecleaning. I have a WorkPace Monitor that signals a seven minute break after twenty minutes of typing.
If I get my eight miles by twelve o'clock, I should be able to easily get two or three more miles by the end of the day.
Zero Pain, no Gain
I've had another little change in philosophy. "No pain, no gain" is often used by coaches to push players into extreme pain of the type that leads to permanent injuries. I don't know the origin of the saying, but perhaps it means "Zero pain, no gain." By this I mean if a person isn't constantly probing to the beginnings of pain, they will not progress as quickly. I'll experiment with this to see what happens.
Metronome
My coach and I had a long talk this morning after my pace was a little slower than usual. We decided I should go back to using a metronome, at least for some of my walks. I'll be setting it a little faster at 120 steps per minute.
Metronome
My coach and I had a long talk this morning after my pace was a little slower than usual. We decided I should go back to using a metronome, at least for some of my walks. I'll be setting it a little faster at 120 steps per minute.
As I looked at this fountain at the University, I started to observe how much wasted electricity is being used all over the campus. There aren't many people around at 5:30 am, and certainly not many people around earlier. No wonder tuition is so expensive.
Time for Blog
I've been looking at using a computer for a blog while on a reality hike. Battery life is an issue, so I'm going to practice getting each post completed in a half-hour or less. This means I'll have to organize the topics in a notebook before getting started. I think it may take an hour each day to make blog entries on a reality hike. That will include outlining the entry in a notebook.
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