I wish it was as easy as putting on my walking shoes and heading out the door.
For me, its a well thought out procedure that takes about 30 minutes before I take that first step. On a good day maybe 20 minutes.
First thing in the morning I have to make a determination as to whether or not Im up to walking that day . Forget about all my other aches and pains, If Im breathing at my baseline, then I usually walk. . If Im kinda tight,and my peak flows reflect the same, then I will usually walk but, not as far. If Im really short of breath that day, all bets are off.
So, once I’ve determined that Im going to walk, then I have to decide when and where. Usually, I know in advance but , not always.
Currently I have 8 different locations that I like to walk . The most convenient of course, are the ones closest to home but they are also the most boring because I do them so often. Occasionally I will travel up to 2 hours via public transit just to walk a certain route.
OK, so now I know when and where. Now ,the real preparation takes place…Getting dressed. If its one thing I’ve learned over the past 2 years , its dressing for the part, wearing the right shoes and taking the right gear. My routine walking distance is 6 miles , 5 days a week and you can double that when Im training for a race. I don’t exactly walk these miles at a leisurely pace either. My average pace for these “routine 6 mile walks “is appx 13 min/ mile . As a result, I sweat a lot. Back to dressing the part. I always wear Coolmax ( or the equiv) shirts , socks and hats regardless of the weather. I also wear a light weight hoody unless its really warm. As far as pants go, it depends on the outside temperature. For temps greater than 48 degrees, I wear long shorts (cargo type , knee level) For temps greater than 80 degrees I wear airwicking light weight running short ( splits). For temps between 47-40 degrees I wear long insulated jogging pants. Last but not least, shoes… If Im doing a routine walk, I ususally wear NB, ( currently I like the 766s lots of cushioning)
for distance walks greater than 10 miles, I will usually wear Asics.
Now, once I’ve put all that stuff on, its time for the accessories…………………..

I select the music I wanna listen to , upload it to the player if its not already on it, then strap the player to my arm. Then I strap on my waist pack that holds the water bottle.( I like gatoraide)
I strap the Garmin Forerunner on my belt , I strap the medical ID around my ankle and I strap my sunglasses around my neck. Now Im almost ready. Just a few more things…
I like to let at least one person know where Im walking just in case I keel over and get 911′d somewhere. After that, I check my peak flow and pre medicate with a neb treatment.
Finally, I can leave for my starting point, wherever that might be but ,before I start my walk I have to warm up the GPS ( that can take up to 5 minutes to locate the satellite) Then I press the start button on the Garmin and the play button on my Iriver……………and IM FINALLY OFF and WALKING

Today I did my usual 6 miles walk with a fair amount of discomfort .My neck has been bothering me alot lately. I started purse lipping from the one mile mark all the way thru to the finish. Used the albuterol twice and post medicated with a neb tx. Starting peak flow was 500, ending peak flow was 300. So, all n all, this was a status quo day for me. Im lucky, at least I dont have to worry about pseudomonas infections , like some of my fellow bloggers.

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