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Walking and Hiking Page

Diagnosed, But Not Doomed

I loathed the idea of walking as a form of exercise when it was proposed to me. I'd say, "It's boring. The only way I can walk is if I have company." Well, that attitude, and consuming way too much food, got me to an all-time high of 440 pounds when I was 34 years old.

I'd been active in the past, having mountain bikes recreationally, and practicing martial arts for a number of years, but my disfunctional mind and emotionals lead to increased eating and a decrease in physical activity. Then, one day, I woke up and put on my glasses to find the world still blurry. A visit to an eye doctor lead ultimately to my being diagnose as a type 2 diabetic.

My doctor was doom and gloom but, uncharacteristic of my normal reaction, I just wanted to know what to do. Frankly, I fell through the cracks with the HMO and had to do my own research. I surprised myself yet again when I approached the disease with the attitude that all I need to do to deal with diabetes is what I should've been doing all along to take care of myself. It was in line with a life long goal of becoming physically fit.

A Well-Used Tool

The first thing I needed to do was rein in the food. My biggest problem wais that I ate without thinking. I needed to be aware of what went into my mouth, in order to make conscious, healthy decisions. A tool that had worked for me in the past was recording my food. I'm not talking about weighing and measuring, calorie counting, or pre-planned meals. I mean simply writing down what I eat as I eat it. This made me pay attention. It was a personal log, shared with noone, and not based on shaming myself. If I thought about eating something and found myself embarassed at the thought of writing it down, I simply didn't eat that item. As soon as I resumed writing down my food, I started losing weight.

Stepping Up

When I got down to about 390 pounds, I wanted to increase my physical activity. The only thing I could do was walk. I suppose I could've swam, but laps bore the snot out of me, and I wanted to have music. The first thing I had to get over, and this took some time, was the requirement that I had to have a walking partner. I could never find a reliable walking partner and I soon came to realize that I was making my health contingent on the presence of others. I was giving others the power to keep me unhealthy and being a victim. Additionally, I felt unwanted.

Toys Were Crucial, But Pedometers Suck

I needed some sense of progress, beyond simply the shedding of pounds. Not having been present in the world much of my life, I didn't have a good sense of distance. A pedometer would seem to be a good start, but for a fat guy like I was, they just weren't practical.

Frankly, any gear that clipped to a belt ended up on the ground, all too often, displaced by my gut. It was too painful to contemplate. I lost one pedometer, and another one kept losing the stride length that I programmed into it. Also, cheap pedometers don't have sensitivity settings, so if you jiggle when you walk, each step tends to be multiplied.

The first toy I really enjoyed, outside the obligatory walkman, was a heartrate monitor. While athletes might use them for getting up to their target heart rate, a deconditioned person can use them as a throttle, keeping your heart rate low enough to be in the aerobic zone. Heart rate monitors are not designed for fat people. Frankly, it brought anguish to my heart until I found a solution. I found straps (webbing) and buckles for less than $5 that allowed me to bridge the gap.

My favorite toy is my GPS. With it, I can have real-time speed, distance, and time walking available to me. With it, I am able to record the stats of my walk and use that information to set more difficult goals. I can see whether I'm going fast enough to meet my challenge. Actually, I have two models. One is a handheld with downloadable maps that I can use for hiking, mapping my hike, and, should it come to it, finding my way back. The other is wrist mounted and not designed for orienteering, but for tracking speed, distance, and time. The handheld can record speed, distance, and time as well.

Other Gear That Helps

Good fitting walking/hiking shoes and sweat wicking socks help prevent setbacks such as blisters. Clothes that wick away sweat prevent heavy sweaters like me from overheating. A backpack or aqua waistpack helps, and the same solution I mentioned for fitting heart rate monitors to us bigger folk, works for packs. Water is a must, as well as sun block and a hat.

Walkers Are Happy

While I welcome the opportunity to walk with others, it just doesn't happen often. I like going to places where lots of people walk, and walk in the opposite direction. I get to see many more smiles and hear many more greetings than I would by just passing them if we were walking in the same direction. I've noticed that people here are going about their everyday business, going from point A to point B, and have no time or inclination to smile and say, "Hi." People who go somewhere just to walk or hike, in contrast, are generally happy to smile, or nod, or say, "Hey There."

Alternating Walking and Hiking

I enjoy alternating walking and hiking. When I walk, I generally try to increase my speed for a given time or distance, trying to build up my aerobic capacity. I stick to relatively flatter courses, though I go off pavement as much as possible. When I hike, I'm generally trying to increase my time or distance, and difficult of the gradient. I think of it being more like cross-training, sometimes aerobic, sometimes anaerobic. Good music helps keep the rhythm. I keep it down to the lowest level possible so that I can hear runners and mountain bikers coming behind me.

One Step at a Time

The key to walking and hiking is similar to dealing with my food issues, taking it one day at a time, one step at a time. When I attempted to hike up Spring Creek Trail to Lake Ilsanjo in Annadel State Park, which I used to do long ago, I had to give up three times. I had to stop frequently and felt like I was going to throw up. I was wearing my heartrate monitor and could not stay in the aerobic zone. One day, while going up the trail, it occurred to me that I was trying to maintain the same pace and stride length I was using on flats. I realized that my goal was to maintain the pace and that the answer was to take smaller steps. The first time I did this, I made it all the way to Lake Ilsanjo without stopping. Sometimes, I need to break my goals into smaller steps. It turned out that all those times I'd failed to make it to the top, I'd been just around the corner!

Setbacks But Back On Track

On my fitness program, I had progressed to weighing and measuring my food and had gotten down to 249 1/2 pounds. I had some setbacks, which I discussed on my main page, which culminated in my letting my recording of my food, walking, hiking, and weighing myself (another important tool for me) and led to me regaining some of my weight until I reached 302 pounds. I'm now back on track and hoping to walk and hike my way to health.

Walking/Hiking Partner(s) Sought

I'm always looking for walking and/or hiking partners. It can be one-shot or regular thing. The more the merrier. Your gender, age, or appearance NOT a concern. My only requirements are the desire to walk/hike, enjoy the environment, and perhaps chat.

I enjoy Howarth Park, Spring Lake, Annadel quite a bit. I like to get off-pavement as much as possible. I also enjoy Santa Rosa Creek Trail and Joe Rodota Trail. I'm looking to expand to other local places, like Sugarloaf Ridge. I prefer varied terrain. I enjoy walking at an aerobic pace and hiking for fitness and enjoying the scenary.

If you know how to racewalk and are willing to teach, even better :)

My schedule is pretty open/flexible due to self-employment/seeking for regular employment.

Resources:

Books/Magazines
	"Walking Magazine The Complete Guide To Walking: for Health, Fitness, and Weight Loss", by Mark Fenton
Internet
	Walking for Fitness at About.com
	America's Walking: Resources and Links - A great set of resources I couldn't dream of duplicating.
Gear
	Garmin Forerunner 101 - The wrist mounted GPS unit I have which is aimed at walkers, runners, and cyclists. Has been replaced by newer models with additional functionality.
	Garmin eTrex Summit - The hand held GPS unit I have which is more for orienteering with the ability to download maps.
	Heart Rate Monitors at About.com. I had a Timex that died on me, but was good while it lasted. There are lots of brands, so shop.
	Lacing for a Better Fit - This Flash Player demonstration from New Balance is very useful. It shows different methods for lacing and tying your shoes depending on what problems you have, such as heel slippage.
	Webbing and Hardware - Not an endorsement of the vendor, but a good place to get an idea of what materials and buckles I was talking about. You can probably find someone closer to you where you can buy the webbing by the foot and see if the hardware works with yours. I'll post pictures of what I'm talking about when I get my camera repaired or replaced.
Commercial Maps
	360 Maps - The best maps of Annadel State Park I've seen, and at a reasonable price. Maps of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park & Hood Mtn Regional Park and China Camp State Park & San Pedro Mountain as well.
Sonoma County Places to Walk, Hike, and/or Bike
	Annadel State Park - see brochure and map
	West County Trail, which includes Joe Rodota Trail - see map
	Sugarloaf Ridge State Park - see map A or map B (includes Hood Mountain Regional Park)
	California State Parks in Sonoma County
	Sonoma County Regional Parks maps
North Bay Walking/Hiking
	Bay Area Hiker>North Bay Hikes

more to come...

John M Smithers

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