The Walking Thread

citruscurtis · 2026-04-01T16:42:05-0400

Folks have shown me better photos of the moon on their every day phone...and I tell them no... not possible.... one woman won't allow me to attend her dinner parties because I pointed it out to be impossible... they all said... well it's right there...why can't this be a real photo

WLWildlife · 2026-04-01T22:49:44-0400

TiggerTrigger said:
I can see it!!!

Me too!

WLWildlife · 2026-04-01T22:55:00-0400

TiggerTrigger said:
I hate unexpected weather timed up with my walk. It makes me feel a bit like a caged animal if I have to stay in. If I get stuck out in bad weather on a weekday, it's pretty much on me to get home as nobody else is up...and I've had those days where I forgot to check the radar and gone into a panic to get home. I will walk in rain, but not severe weather. My water resistant hiking pants aren't very water resistant, but the cycling rain jacket I got makes rainy walks a lot more tolerable. I remember those days of my kids being super energetic before holidays. I still think it's very pretty scenery with the cattle and the bright green grass contrasting against the bare trees.

I will walk in rain some times, but it's too cold yet and it was going to storm- and it did. It is still raining. No walking today. Highs in the 40s, but feels like 30s. It's just cold. Still feels like the weight of winter.

WLWildlife · 2026-04-01T23:02:39-0400

TiggerTrigger said:
Happy Wednesday!!!

So, my new shoes arrived last night. It was their maiden voyage so I didn't want to do anything too crazy. I picked a flatter route that was a bit shorter with a few options to extend at the end. These ASICS shoes look massive compared to my Brooks (both the 22s and 23s) but they are significantly lighter and bouncier. I always laugh a bit when I see reviews of my Brooks and people compare them to walking on clouds. They are by no means stiff or thin to the point that you can feel the ground, but they never felt like I was bouncing on clouds...well, except for maybe my current peach pair in the early days. Those had some nice squish. I remember people having the same review comments about Hoka Bondi's and while it was the intense rocker that I disliked, I never felt they were as cushy as they looked. The new ASICS do have some rocker tech in them, but it's not the same. Like I barely feel it moving around casually, but when I started power walking, I could feel a push forward coming from the midsole and moving through my toes. It was bizarre and cool at the same time...and maybe also effective in the goal purpose for me buying these.

I went 6.22 miles today. My effort felt about the same as yesterday but my overall avg pace was 16 seconds faster than yesterday. Who knows what that number could be if I push towards tempo or race effort. I also felt a little bit of slippage in the heel as I got to mile 4 so I think I am going to have to relace the top into a runner's loop to create more of a heel lock. Feeling more stable will also speed me up a bit. Speaking of stability, I was warned that the higher stack makes some feel unstable but the only thing I really noticed was some instances of scraping the ground a bit more because you have to pick your legs up just a smidge more to account for the height of the shoe. I nearly face planted in the dark a few times, but thankfully was OK.

Side note- I had to have this color. HAD TO! I've been eyeing it since the preorder period and official launch (the beginning of March) but it wasn't until after those mid month races that I started to give them serious thought. Apparently, I am not the only one that loves insanely colorful shoes. Finding these in my size in the color several weeks after release was a challenge. I got them for retail on a last ditch search on Monday (after my run shop being sold out, the manufacturer being sold out, and the run shop I was using on Amazon not updating their inventory). I checked yesterday and Amazon's cheapest seller for this shoe now wants $120+ over retail! OK...I'm sorry to bore you about my shoes! LOL I did also order a replacement race tiara that should arrive tomorrow! That's fun too!

Starting out with typical morning pics...including some blurry angry ducks.

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Next up...while I didn't walk here, the moon was pretty spectacular last night. I knew I wasn't going to see it this morning, so I took a few extra. Too bad I only had my phone. This would have been good with the real camera.

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And finally...the shoes!!! I love shoes (in general). Today's outfit normally makes me feel like a Toy Story alien but the shoes push me more towards Rainbow Brite.

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*Also wanted to add...99% humidity this morning. I needed a towel when I got home. I can feel summer approaching!

I love colorful shoes too! Cool pictures of the moon. I always enjoy your photos on your walking route. I can't believe you are so warm and I am so cold. Wanna trade? I am jealous. Summer is my season!

TiggerTrigger · 2026-04-02T09:33:31-0400

citruscurtis said:
Folks have shown me better photos of the moon on their every day phone...and I tell them no... not possible.... one woman won't allow me to attend her dinner parties because I pointed it out to be impossible... they all said... well it's right there...why can't this be a real photo

Now, I know there are tricks on an iphone to improve your photos and some swear they'll pick up the craters, but the ones I've seen online that have real definition involve aftermarket optics you have to add to your phone. In one case, it was a $400 add on. So, technically taken with an iphone but a serious lens upgrade. My dad had something like this for a while for his that hooked up to his telescope. It was not the easiest thing to use but he has some interesting pictures of Saturn and Jupiter that technically he too could say were taken with an iphone.

TiggerTrigger · 2026-04-02T09:45:01-0400

WLWildlife said:
I love colorful shoes too! Cool pictures of the moon. I always enjoy your photos on your walking route. I can't believe you are so warm and I am so cold. Wanna trade? I am jealous. Summer is my season!

What's funny is that I am wishing for summer right now. I hate this sort of in-between we get in spring. There's something about these upper 60s to low 70s mornings in April and May that are just miserable. Mornings are always super humid but for some reason, it's a bit more tolerable when we're upper 70s to low 80s early in the day in this post "winter" time. I think it's the bugs. This seems to be the couple of months where I get the most bites, stings and chases. It's not just mosquitos but I can't tell what all is biting me and I have bites all over. Today, something a bit bigger than a housefly landed on my shoulder and was taking a chomp out of me. Interesting that by some time in September or October, we should be back to these morning same temps but it'll be tolerable because the bugs aren't as bad at that time of year.

TiggerTrigger · 2026-04-02T10:23:18-0400

Happy Thursday!!!

6.24 miles this morning. Today's walk was not fun. I was kind of dreading it because I wanted to do some tempo work. I did that for the first four miles...which is probably the more appropriate amount than the tempo work I did last week. It was a bit more enjoyable once I went back to my normal mindset of going out for a walk, but it was just one of those days. Some of it is attire. I know that's so silly, but I feel so much better when I like what I'm wearing. Yeah...I had some cute options, but it was a bit muggy for leggings, so I skipped those. I also skipped the cute shorts because I can save them for the long weekend...when I am out in the daylight and people can see it. I know it's so petty, but things like this can impact my mood. OK...so my black shorts and old blue tank with the partially separated strap weren't mentally cutting it but they get the job done. I really think it was everything else.

I was starting to get into it and pacing pretty well when I came upon a large downed tree limb blocking the entire path. Thankfully, the top portion was narrow enough that I had a little room to get by but it was sort of symbolic...like I should not pass. I stopped to try and take pics but it was so dark and my flash didn't want to fire properly because my spotlight was messing up the lighting. I got down to the lake and I hit my next obstacle. I guess at some point yesterday, they changed how the path was fenced off. In the dark, it's hard to see...even with all of my lighting. I ended up walking into a couple of dark green temporary metal stakes that were part of a detour sign. I saw them on the way back and I'm not really sure what they were doing because the sign was still standing and they just seemed to be propped. Either way, I hit them with my foot and caught the edge of the sign. It could have been much worse, but it was not pleasant. I also wound up having to go into a different part of the grass which I was not expecting. And then...there were BUGS...lots and lots of BUGS! I know I ate one and managed to spit out a good 4-5 others. About a mile later, I could feel something biting into my shoulder. No idea what it was but I guess I was tasty. I suspect other things were biting me along the way because I felt similar sensations on my arms, back, neck and scalp at various points. I already have all kinds of bites all over my body. I can handle the almost 100% humidity, but the biting not so much. There were storms just to my northeast but nothing ever rained on me. Tomorrow, I will be able to walk in daylight with more fun clothing and I'm thinking of taking you guys to a waterfront area I haven't visited in years. I think I'm also just going to go back to walking and only worrying about pacing when I feel like it. As for the route... It's still in town, but it's a more convoluted approach and I sometimes get lost taking the more scenic path. Still, it's a beautiful area so it's worth it...may even be enough for double photo posts. We'll see.