Anyone going to WALK this winter?

[suzieqtwa]

Hey Lisa,
Still cant do the walking thing. I just get sooooooo bored. Ive managed to start running a bit now. I did 7miles twice this week ,but I dont want to hurt my ankle again . I am with you on the stationary trainer thing. I cant do that ,or a treadmill,,,I rather face the elements outside. Although in Portland its not really as bad as you guys living on the east coast.
Im still able to bike here ,but not as much. Its been rather chilly the last couple weeks.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hi Suzie Q,

I'm glad you are able to do a little running again. But hey- don't hurt your ankle, or you won't be good for running OR biking! Take care of yourself!

When are you thinking you will be able to pick up your new bike? Do you have a timeline?

I will keep biking down into the 20's, as long as the roads are clear and dry. God knows I have the layers to be able to do it! (and the bills to show for it!) So far my coldest ride was at about 32 degrees for two hours and I managed ok- actually had a good time. At that point it mostly depends on my hands and feet keeping warm.

At least when I walk I don't need to worry about a flat...and wearing a backpack is easier too, so I can pick up bread and stuff on my trek through town.

[suzieqtwa]

I guess I could get it out anytime ,but I've been riding my husbands with straps ,and I'm comfortable (except its a bit too big). I'm kinda afraid of my new bike...no pedals ,and those skinny tires than can go flat. I've been to a couple classes on how to change a flat ,but if it ever happened I wouldn't know what to do. Have you had flats? I still owe about $500.00 on it ,and its Christmas ,so I think Ill wait till January sometime. Are you clip less yet???

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Suzie,
I watched DH change tires a couple of times, and I read a couple of websites with insructions. So a few nights ago I actually changed both my own tires and tubes all myself for the FIRST time. Now I am much more confident. Of course I did it in the comfort of my warm livingroom, not sure how well I could do it at 40 degrees outside. I just put on 700x28's, so mine aren't "too" skinny and flat prone. How wide a tire can your new bike accomodate? YOu might ask them to put on the widest ones that fit to start with- for your road bike, that might mean 25's? Th ewider, the less flats. Oh, and try to get Kevlar or TourGuard treated tires- they have tough membranes inside that REALLY DO help prevent flats- I've seen them in action and they are very impressive.

I don't have any desire to go clipless at the moment. I use regular pedals with PowerGrip straps and I really love how they work for me. Hey, if the clipless thing is keeping you from getting your new bike, and you are comfy right now with your DH's straps, why don't you just get an extra set of pedals and straps and put those on your new bike first? Regular pedals are pretty cheap, unlike clipless pedals and shoes. Besides, then yuo could save $ by not having to buy covers to keep your special clipless shoes warm over the winter! I wear my heavy insulated hiking boots for biking in the cold- heavy wool socks and the boots do fit nicely in my straps.

For walking in the winter, I wear my chunky mukluk boots, but they will not fit in my pedal straps. (See, I DID manage to work the walking subject into this post!)

[ribbit_zap]

Lisa-My mom and I go walking every evening and have a great time! We get a good work out and we catch-up along the way. Talking and walking makes you work twice as hard because you have to use extra energy to talk . My fiance only walks because it is too hard for him to run and he has lost a lot of weight doing it. Good luck with your winter walks!

[emily_in_nc]

Anyone else do walking for exercise when they can't bike?

Absolutely -- of course, I walk year round since Pepper, our Boston Terrier, requires it! This time of year it's too dark to walk when I get home from work (so DH walks Pepper earlier), but I walk or jog on the treadmill at work, or, if it's nice, walk around our building on trails at lunchtime. If it's nice out, I'll walk up to the bank, as I did today (about 2 miles round trip, which I walked briskly). It's nice to get some sunshine and out of the office during the day!

On weekends in the fall, winter, and spring, DH and I enjoy hiking. We take day packs with hydration bladders, snacks, etc, lace up the hiking boots and head to a state or county park to hike trails. We've done some pretty strenuous hikes in the NC mountains, in addition to plenty of moderate hikes here in the rolling piedmont. It's been fun getting into hiking as we've been to so many parks in our home state that we never had visited before and seen some beautiful landscapes. We can also hike on horse trails behind our property (all wooded and vacant land) for miles, but not during hunting season, except on Sundays (no hunting allowed).

I ride the trainer twice a week too, this time of year. DH and I have two trainers, set up next to each other, we crank up music with a good beat, and turn the TV to the news with close captioning, so I can "read" the evening news while riding. It's not as much fun as riding outdoors but is quicker, safer and warmer, so I don't mind it on a dark week night.

Enjoy your walks!

Emily

[MyLitespeed]

I walk both my dogs for 45 minutes each morning, then at night my husband takes one dog and I take the other and we walk from 45 minutes to an hour. It works out to 2.5 - 3.0 each time. He is getting bored with riding the trainer every other day so he figures walking will do him good too.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well, it was a beautiful sunny day today 35-45. I couldn't bike because my bike is getting repaired (broken spoke) and won't be able to pick it up until yet another day, tomorrow evening.
Anyway, no snow yet either, so can't try my snowshoes yet.
So... this morning I got tired of sitting on my butt for the past 3 days and went out on my first "official" winter walk of the season- 3 miles brisk walk around my small town. It's a pretty walk actually, and I always reward myself by starting out with scrambled eggs, croissant & latte at our favorite cafe. Gotta have fuel, after all!!

I did this 3 mile walk almost daily for about 8 months before I started biking, then I just was biking all the time for the past 7 months now. One thing I noticed this time was how much EASIER the walk seemed than I remember, and shorter. Definitely WAY less hard breathing on the uphills...biking has greatly improved my respiratory efficiency. The other thing I noticed is that my hip joints got a little sore- it must be that the heavy walking uses my hips in a slightly different way than biking does....interesting!
I guess it will be good to get a few walks in more regularly....at least for my hips' sake!

[MomOnBike]

I walk all the time, too. Monty (dog) requires it to keep his little innards working. (IBS in a dog - sheesh!)

I'm also walking home from work semi-regularly. On those mornings that I'm too lazy, or the weather is too yucky, or it's just more friendly to ride with DH to work, I car it, then walk the 2 miles home. Co-workers don't think such a thing is possible. What do they know?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

IBS dog?-good grief, that must be difficult!

Since my bike is STILL being repaired, I walked my 3 miler again today. The muscles on the upper INSIDES of my thighs are really sore from the sudden new walking- funny isn't it?

[sbctwin]

I have worked walking into my daily routine until I can start commuting on my bike to work again. I get up and do 30 min on my trainer, shower, then head out for 1+ mile walk to the trax station. I catch trax to within a mile of where I work, and walk the mile to the office. On my trek home from work, I take a bus to the trax station, ride trax to my original station and walk home. I don't slouch when I walk and have learned that I can't wear my work clothes when I walk in the morning. I work up a good sweat, even when it's 15F. I do enjoy the change from my bike commute. I still have some "control" over my time and I use public transportation to get to work. Today we had a good snowstorm and so the walk home was slow because most of the sidewalks were not cleared...

[MomOnBike]

Yeah, poor little guy. When he gets excited he can't poop. He's a mini-Dachshund, so he's excited a lot.

Furthermore, his backyard is NOT a toilet. It's a walk or nothing.

It doesn't help that he had a fight with a car that really messed up his back end. (To hear Monty tell it, he won. After all, he's here, and do you see that mean old car anywhere? Now do you? So, he won. QED)

I sure put up with a lot.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Poor little guy!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Well, too cold for biking (minus 5F this morning!). So I bundled up good balaclava and all and did my 3mile/1hour walk this morning in 0 degrees F. It was pretty darn cold!! Had to take off my glasses (too cold) and pulled my balaclava up over my nose and mouth. My fingers got pretty cold despite 3 pairs of gloves. Will have to find some giant mittens to pull on over all that. Everything else stayed warm enough. Pulled my hat way down, and the only skin showing anywhere was a narrow slit for my eyes.

It felt good to walk though, better than sitting on my butt at my desk all day here.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Bumped this thread up because it's now winter again and I'm often walking instead of biking due to sleety weather and bad roads.

I walked a brisk 5 miles this morning, about 40 degrees F and kind of nice out. But the roads too nasty for biking today.
I really enjoyed my walk and had no trouble at all keeping warm. I wear several layers of thin merino wool, plus a heavy wool vest and good wool socks and gloves. I'm a wool nut. The wool keeps me warm but breathes well. Here's pretty much my typical gear for winter walking:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/attac...3&d=1196475263
We are supposed to get 3-5" of snow tomorrow. Still not enough to snowshoe ...but fun to walk in! Maybe I'll go on the 2 mile nature conservancy trail through the woods near my house if the snow is pretty tomorrow.