Walk to Mordor Week 15 Update and Ramble

Update Week 15 Walk to Mordor

Week #__15____ WTR Goals: Mileage___5___ Weight ___lower___ BMI___?___ Location* ____Somewhere fun______

Starting Weight	Current Weight	Goal Weight	Projected Goal Date	Days Left**
270	271	175	A long time in the future	Millions and Millions

Date	Activity	Duration Miles	Beginning Mileage	Ending Mileage	Location*	Duration
1/6/14	Walk	.87	34.26	35.13		17:00
1/6/14	Walk	.84	35.13	35.97	Keep walking slowly left of the road.	15:00
1/10/14	Walk	.76	35.97	36.73		16:00
1/11/14	walk	.90	36.73	37.63	Road splits. Road to Stock bends left and goes down into the lowlands. Take a lane which branches to the right, winding through a wood of ancient Oaks. Sun down. Quite close to the road-meeting, they creep inside a huge tree. Eat and rest.	15:00
Totals	Miles this week:	3.37	Total miles:	37.63	Total time:	(12:24:23)

Welcome to week 15 of my Walk to Mordor! I only went to the gym on Monday, Friday, and Saturday this week because I was super sore on Wednesday and had trouble moving. It was super cold on Monday and Tuesday (it was below 20 degrees overnight) and I didn't feel like going outside. It, of course, has warmed up greatly since then and fog season has returned. Fog is not something I had to deal with when I was in college. Here at home, it can totally mess up your day if you wake up and see fog out the window.

My house is really close to Lake Pontchartrain, one of the large lakes in southeastern Louisiana, and when I need to drive into the city for doctor's appointments or meeting someone, I have to drive across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. I LOVE driving the causeway. I'm sure this makes me strange, but I love it! I love the *thump thump* sound of the joints in the concrete and the clouds in the sky and the waves in the lake. I don't love driving it in the fog or rain. In the rain, you just have to drive slow enough to see. In the fog, they either close one of the lanes and make you drive really slow or they have a convoy all the way across. It is so creepy looking around you and feeling like you are in a bubble in a cloud. Sometimes it is impossible to see more than just a hint of the taillights of the car in front of you. Yesterday was like that, and I just sang along with the oldies station the whole way across. It helps me feel less creeped-out.

An overhead view of Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans from Wikipedia

View from the Causeway via Wikipedia

While I was talking to my friend Katie earlier this week, she told me about an awesome thing called Fitbit. I had heard of Fitbit before, but I didn't know what they were. Fitbit is a brand that makes pedometers and fitness trackers. They are made in different styles (wristbands and clips) and are supposed to be pretty accurate when counting steps. I like the idea of a wristband pedometer because I wear lots of dresses that don't have waistbands so it is hard to wear normal pedometers all the time. I had to wear a pedometer for a PE class my freshman year in college. It was really frustrating trying to figure out where to put the darn thing so it would give an accurate reading. I ended up clipping it on my bra straps some times, but it seriously over or undercounted depending on which shoulder I was using to carry my purse.
I ended up ordering a Fitbit Flex online (I of course got mine in the color black because it matches everything I wear). It shipped yesterday evening, so I should be getting it by the end of next week. I've already started logging my foods on the Fitbit website, but I can't really do anything until I get it in the mail. I'll definitely tell you about my first impressions.

This, of course, will change how my Walk to Mordor will work... I will be adding all my steps for the day instead of just the steps that I am tracking at the gym or on my phone when I go walking in the neighborhood. This will also change the "time" section, since it will be the time that I am awake all day. Also, I will be walking "more" since I will be logging the steps and distance I travel all the time. This will help me get to Mordor much faster! Who's excited?!

Hopefully meeting my goals will become easier when I will be able to see what I'm doing all day long. Thanks for reading and I'll post some more for you soon!