Losing a part of me

I was thinking, as I approached the last quarter-kilometre of my fitness walk today, that it was less than three months ago that I passed the exact same spot where I was today, and said ‘Wow, I can’t believe that I was able to finish five kilometres in such good time, with a pace of 10m54s per kilometre. I remember thinking to myself ‘I had better put on the brakes right here, stop my timer, and just take a relaxed pace back to the apartment. I really pushed myself today!’

If I were to register a pace of 10m54s per kilometre today, I would consider it a terrible fail.

I did push myself today, although I am still not hitting 8km, which in Canada is my bare minimum. I do not know if it is the heat (which today was nowhere near as prohibitive as it has been) or the humidity, or simply the fact that I do not know the area as well, and the routes I take are safer, but shorter. I do know that I am still proud of what I achieved today, and only wish I was carrying more water. Yes, I am worried that if I run out of water on a stretch of road where there is nowhere to buy another bottle of it, then I will end up panting my way back home. I finished my bottle as I came into the apartment today, 7.5km into the walk.

• Distance: 7.5km (7km)
• Duration: 1:13:40 (1:11:22)
• Average Pace (Min/km): 9:49 (10:11)
• Best Split-Pace Kilometre: 9m28s (9m33s)
• Steps: 9.2k (8.7k)
• Calories burned: 941 (857)
• Elevation gain: 34 (27)
• Average cadence (steps per minute): 126 (120)

Today’s was the first walk in Dallas on which I have a total average pace under ten minutes. I am happy about that, and remembered along the way of one walk in mid-July when I was just hoping to finish seven kilometres in under 1h15m. While there is still the occasional walk when I do not achieve that pace, today was not one of them. These days, I try to keep ahead of 10 minutes per kilometre pace, which means that I will always be under 1h10m on the seven. Today I did it in 1h8m19s… not my record, but certainly a very respectable pace for me!

I am glad that I am keeping active, and hope that I will be able to stay on track with my weight loss regimen. The holiday aside, I can definitely get back on track starting tomorrow. If I keep up my walking, there is no reason I should not be able to get back down below 315lbs by the weekend!