Still Walking

Wow, I can't believe I have not posted since June.  I was walking then, and still walking now.  I had just completed my first nine mile walk, now I am up to 18 miles at a pop.  Every week, two days a week, long walks back to back with ever increasing mileage.  That 18 miles took me 5 hours of walking, and over an hour of fluff.  You know, bathroom breaks, stretching, snacking, and chatting.  I have run across an old friend named Jackson who was on the Lakewalk from Hawaii, our amazing speech therapist Tahirih on Park Point by the Lift Bridge, her daughter the next week at their house on the other end of the Point, a nice author named Carol in town to lecture (Go Fill A Bucket), a guy from Ireland on a cross country bike trip, my buddy Sally who lives two hours away, and an interesting veteran with a cool walking stick.  All accidental meetings throughout the weeks. I have also seen an eagle on a garage roof (huge), two different spike bucks in velvet, a fawn, squirrels, bunnies, a fox, a turkey vulture akimbo at the top of a white pine on a hot day, and about a million lbb's (little brown birds).  Plus the Loch Ness Monster down in the Cities.  I am set to see her a lot this weekend as I go down for my big training weekend.  Forty two miles to walk, and about a zillion trips around the Lakes.  I am sure to see her on Lake Calhoun where she hangs out.  And I might even see the Troll that has a little house in a tree down there.  I hopefully wont pass out from the heat.  I am pretty sure I can make the miles since I have now walked all of Skyline Parkway (26 miles).  I have found that it keeps me very amused to be able to check out different houses and yards and gardens, plus the occasional detour into a park.  I need to train on pavement so I have only hiked the zillion trails in town occasionally.   I have discovered many favorite sites in town, and know all the best bathroom stops with water.  Block by block there is a lot of scenery change.  And I found I like to walk one hour before stopping for a bagel and coffee to go.  There are conveniently two bagel/coffee shops in two different directions exactly 3 miles each from my house.  Who knew?  The world looks a lot different when you are walking, and even more different when you are walking alone for five hours.  I thought I would have to resort to electronic entertainment such as MP3 or radio or borrowed iPod, but I made it just fine.  I guess I am more amuseable than I thought.  I will have to wait for another post to consider what profound things I have learned from this portion of the experience, next I have my big training weekend and in two more weeks the Walk itself.  It's all Team time from here on out and I guess I will miss my solitude a little, but not too much.  Cheers.