Day 44: from Decatur to Bloomington

I am loving this walking challenge we're doing, folks! So far in the month of April I've walked 102,604 steps, which loosely translates into about 51.3 miles! I have walked the length of Decatur to Bloomington!

This is a great accomplishment for me as I thought getting in 10,000 steps a day would be quite a feat. As it turns out, getting those steps in can be difficult, and there are some days where I haven't made it there, but it hasn't been quite as cumbersome as I thought it would be. I've enjoyed it more than I normally enjoy exercising, and I think it's due to the fact that I have a goal in mind that I'm working toward. Plus this weather has been so nice, and all the foliage is springing up, and it just makes you feel like life is perfect....

Is anyone else interested in training for a 5K walk, along with my mom and I? Remember, a 5K is 3.1 miles. At Weight Watchers this week they distributed information as to how to train yourself to walk a 5K. Even if you haven't been doing any walking at all, this training program is pretty simple. With the plan, you don't focus so much on distance as you do time endurance. You want to walk at a brisk pace for the amount of time indicated for each day.

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7
Week 1	10 min	10 min	rest	12 min	12 min	rest	15 min
Week 2	15 min	18 min	rest	18 min	20 min	rest	20 min
Week 3	22 min	22 min	rest	24 min	24 min	rest	26 min
Week 4	26 min	28 min	rest	28 min	30 min	rest	30 min
Week 5	35 min	35 min	rest	35 min	40 min	rest	40 min
Week 6	40 min	45 min	rest	45 min	45 min	rest	5K

Of course you can switch your rest days if you need to, and if you're already at a point where you are able to walk for longer than 10 minutes at a time, feel free to skip ahead to the middle part of the plan.

I found a walking loop in my neighborhood that is 3.72 miles (half a mile LONGER than a 5K). I would love to invite anyone who wants to come out and walk this path with me sometime in late May. I haven't decided on a date just yet, but I figure that will give everyone enough time to train to be able to walk that distance. We'll meet at my house, do our walk, and then come back to my place for a healthy lunch. The walk will probably take an hour or so, so I figure if we meet at my house around 10:30 we'll be back at the perfect time for lunch. If you're interested, please let me know so I can know how many people to expect.