Mileage and Virtual Mileage, State of the Fitness

Feet of the outside world. Ian Mortimer: How do you accidentally run a marathon? 2021. Link to PDF from IM: Notes & Essays.

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Restarting my fitness posts. Long post. Rationale at end. Most recent fitness post was July. [Walks While Milton Took Time Off, Fitness Friday]

How Is This Helping My Riding?

Let’s make this at least passingly relevant to a horse blog.

Walking is keeping me up and moving. I don’t think it is helping my riding specifically. What I really need right now is more endurance. Biking doesn’t seem to help that. I don’t ride hard enough to get out of breath. Swimming may be the answer. I tires me out so fast that gradually doing more may build up my puff.

Daily Walks

Back up to a mile in am. I never stopped walking each morning but for a while the trips were short, as little as 1 lap. Five laps equals one mile, so I was doing two-tenths of a mile. Eventually I got back up to 5 laps. Then I got back up to 5 laps without being exhausted for the rest of the day.

Monthly 5K, Almost

U Montevallo Campus
21 September 2025

I did an almost-5K in September, e.g. 4.6K. Since the second half was in a downpour, I’m declaring victory.

We had plans to go somewhere for a bike/walk adventure. Come the day, my tum was in a mood. We picked a place I would be near a restroom. We chose Orr Park. We went somewhere anyway because I didn’t want to sit around the house all day, because I was running out of month, and because I thought a walking cure might help. Didn’t get better. Didn’t get worse. Got distracted.

Before walking around park, I decided to walk thru the Montevallo campus. Adorable. Acres of Federalist brick. In New England, or even the Mid-Atlantic, it would be one of many. In Alabama, it stands out. At the farthest point from the truck & nowhere near an open building, the sky went sploosh. (I had lost track of the restroom plan.) I tried walking under trees. I spent 10 minutes on the porch of a student retreat building. It eventually calmed down to a steady rain that was not stopping. Fortunately my sun hat is a fancy adventure hat so it is waterproof/resistant. Wrapped phone in hat. Stomped back. I was at that point when you are so wet that puddles aren’t a problem. When I reached the truck, my phone said 2.8 miles. Sold!

Stiffer than usual the next day. Wore off relatively quickly.

5K Catchup

January 2025 [Sauntering on the Streets, Walk Report, MLK Day 5K Drum Run 2024, Weekend Warrior Part 1 & Feet On The Street, Drum Run Photo, Fitness]

February 2025 [Getting Started, State of the Fitness for February]

March to June was foot. [Playing Footsie, Morning Walk Stories, Or Lack Thereof start & archives]

July. Back to one mile. Still tired by the effort. A 5k was unlikely.

August. Almost. At the end of month I was hit with what was probably an attack of diverticulitis. Never had a fever so never went in for a formal diagnosis. Slept a lot & ran out of month. I mention this because it comes up below.

Biking

Wetumpka AL
14 September 2025

On weekends, I am doing short bike rides with husband before he goes off on his longer rides. One adventure to Wetumpka AL. [Scenic Arch Bridge]

Swimming

I was getting into something resembling a habit. Once a week, even twice a week on one occasion. Then the nap attack mentioned above. Project got derailed. Need to reestablish.

Virtual Mileage

Resuming my virtual trek down the Mississippi River with walk and bike miles – and swimming miles if I ever have any. Previously, I have been logging this trip over on my storage blog.

Introduction & list previous files [Table of Contents]
August 2020 to August 2023 [Part One – Minnesota]
August to November, I assume 2023 [Part Two – Minnesota & Wisconsin]
November 2023 to January 2024 [Part Three – Iowa & Wisconsin]
January to July 2024 [Part Four – Iowa & Illinois] Stopped logging here
Bits & pieces for when I get that far [Part Five – Missouri & Illinois]
Bits & Pieces circa 2022 [Biking and Walking Virtually, Mississippi River, xGeneral Info, Inactive]

On land, I will be restarting between Dubuque IA and the Quad Cities IA/IL. On the river, between locks 13 & 14. River Mile 516. Total 825 miles. The maps I was using counted the Upper Mississippi mileage down to St. Louis.

Reward for the Reader

In return for making it this far, some vicarious, virtual travel for your amusement.

What have I learned in the first 800+ virtual miles? So much material, so very, very much material. It would be impossible to read everything written about the Mississippi River. It would be a Herculean task to simply list everything that has been said about same.

What stuck with me from phase one?

“The Big Trip: Paddling the Mississippi: The Plan. First post … Trip & posts in 2012. German Tourist (seriously, her trail nickname is GT) and friend in two kayaks.” [General Info]

John A. Weeks III: The Bridges And Structures Of The Mississippi River. Amazingly comprehensive. Maps. Photos. Descriptions. Dated 2007, but bridges don’t change quickly.

Currently reading, The Great River, The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi, by Boyce Upholt (Norton 2024).

How The Sausage Is Made

Accountability is my minor reason for restarting the fitness posts. Posting isn’t a big push. It doesn’t get me into the gym but it might help get me out the door for a monthly 5K.

Recording is my main reason for restarting these post. As I have said elsewhere, the blog has become my external memory. I’ve used the blog to look up what month I got my Covid shot. I’ve used the blog to look up what year I went to KY, [2018, The Road Leads to Lexington]. Now I will have a record of how the 5Ks and the rest are going.

Scheduling is in question. I used to do these as monthly Fitness Fridays. I decided my photography skills would benefit from staying with photo posts on Fridays. Which means I’m not really sure where these go. Does this matter to anyone other than me? Probably not. No one is going to object if I do horsekeeping on Monday and Saddlebreds on Thursday or vice versa. However, I like to think that sticking with a schedule gives the blog on underlying structure. Or perhaps I am compulsively organized. Or both.

Why Wednesday? I didn’t have a hunt seat post for today.

Onwards!
Katherine