The Miles

Those of you who've been reading this blog for any length of time, already know my obsession with walking and hiking. My goal for the past year and a half has been to walk/hike at least 100 miles a month. Lately, however, my walking goals have started to change. 

When I started making walking a daily thing, it was me walking back and forth to work with weekend hiking here and there. A year later, and with a big hike looming, I started walking on my lunch break as well - still with the weekend hiking here and there. This prompted me to join the Highpointers Club with a goal of hiking my first 14er (a mountain higher than 14,000 feet). 

Then, about a month or so ago, I was reading some articles on the internet and ran across one about a woman who was an ultra walker. Now, I had heard of ultra running before, but never ultra walking. Ultra runners run long distances of 50 miles or more, with many running 100 miles. Ultra walking is exactly the same thing, but instead of running, they walk. I found the article fascinating and started a tiny fire inside. So, ultra walking became another goal to achieve.

As of right now, I don't have any plans to walk 50 miles or more, but I do have a goal of walking a marathon. So, I've been adding long-distance walking on the weekends to my routine. Right now I'm walking six miles or better at one stretch and my shorter goal is to walk a half-marathon early next year. Of course, all this long-distance walking has made me realize that I need to find yet another pair of appropriate shoes. haha Walking long distances require a quality walking shoe with good cushioning and support. I haven't found my perfect pair yet but I'm open to suggestions if you have any!

I've also realized that I need to beef up my walking regimen with some cardio, so I'm looking into starting something akin to CrossFit, but something I can do at home and doesn't require equipment. I'm also open to suggestions for this as well!  

Wish me luck and I'll make sure to update you as my training progresses.