People are Getting on my Trail.

Yesterday there was a record number of people on the trail during my walk with 51. Today there were 37 people. This of course doesn't count the dogs and babies which have no say in the matter. One of the funniest ones was a woman that brought her bike with her to the Tesson parking area and just rode her bike to Gravois. That was only a two mile bike ride. I guess it is better than nothing at all but it seems really minor to me. I walked 10.63 miles and I thought I should have gone further.

There seems to be an issue with the livestrong.com website. I have tried several times to get on it to

track my walking and food but the pages keep going blank. I wonder if it will be fixed soon. That is a bit inconvenient.

The ducks were out Today, so were the people.

I saw some ducks in the creek near Grant's Trail near the headend at The Lodge end of the trail. They were all swimming together in their little ducky formation and quacking just as ducks tend to do. It will be interesting to see what sort of facility that is going to be built there and how that will relate to the park and fitness. I should look into what is available at the Clydesdale Park. But I think just walking up the hill is about enough activity for anyone.

It is very quiet in here in the morning.

I went to Grant's National Park for my turn around point. I was joust going to Gravois but I had to use their bathroom. When I was in there I sneezed. I guess it was a bit loud and the Park Ranger stuck his head in the bathroom to see what was going on.

I think I am going to get a scale that works Today. That will help measure my actual weight without having to guess. However, when I was up visiting Cheryl one time we went to Zannie's comedy club and the guy there was selling t-shirts that benefit dog rescues and I got one, The thing is the only size they had was large so I had to got that. I wore that shirt Today. Of course I am fat in it but I can at least wear it somewhat without it being over stretched.

According to my fitness tracker I have walked 331 miles and I am at almost 19 percent of my goal to walk 1750 miles. Just think, almost 20 percent done. Looking back it looks so easy, but looking forward it looks really hard.

I also had a large number of hits on my blog yesterday. I want to say thank you for reading and I hope that you will be returning to see me become successful on my journey to a better me. I couldn't do it without you. Well I could and I am.

Keep on track,

Thomas

Warmer Work Day and Windy Casualty

Chicago Skyline from Shedd Aquarium.

Today I had my iPod all charged up so I could actually go the distance and know how far I walked. I did go a bit further than I did yesterday but not by that much; only about a mile further I would say. So that means I should add about 4000 steps would be about right. My total steps Today was 17, 014. This is my greatest distance since I began walking again. That is, walking as a means of weight loss.

On an important call.

That reminds me, since I began doing the tracking last March I have walked more then 333 miles. 113 miles of that has been in the past three weeks so the previous amount is not that important. But to reach my goal of 1750 miles I have to walk more then 3.5 million steps. I have reached 6.51 percent of it Today. I guess that is right. It just seems the number is growing faster than I am “un-growing.” But that is 93.49 percent left of my goal. So I guess it isn't as much as it seems.

The first stop Today was at Cheryl's office. We went by Harpo Studios again. The building looks nice. I like the art deco style that is has. After that we went to Cheryl's office. On the way to her office there is a area where several food distributors are located so the street gets a bit filled with parked and moving vehicles. On the way out after Cheryl got to work the snow started to fall again. But it didn't last that long.

The lake wind took me down Today when I hit some ice.

I have my first injury. I was walking the path around the Shedd Aquarium and the wind off Lake Michigan was really coming in and I hit an icy spot and it blow me down. Right on my knee cap too. I have also notice that foot traffic greatly diminishes after you cross Michigan Ave. From there to Lake Michigan there are very few people out walking. I am getting a bit sick of these drivers that don't think they have to stop for pedestrians. I gave a couple of them the “number one” sign.

Hurt Knee

Also I find saying “excuse me” when walking doesn't seem to get anyone out of your way but a good bark does. Everyone wants to see a dog I guess. So they turn to look and it is me walking toward them and they move. Yesterday was not too bad walking since it was Martin L. King Jr day. I guess why so few people where out and about. However, people were out enough this morning enough to make up for the difference of the prior day.

Another bit of good news is the continued downward progression of my blood pressure. I am getting more and more readings that are “in range” of the normal blood pressure. This is the main goal of the entire process to get my blood pressure under control. So these results are quite encouraging. Also my pulse seems to continue in getting stronger, that is lower.

Near Soldier Field, Bear hope to beat the Packers to get to the Super Bowl.

On my walk Today I made it close to Soldier Field and went around the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. I was going to try to go all the way to the Alder Planetarium but I couldn't figure out how to walk there. I will look at a map and see how that path works out. From there it would be a good view of the city for a picture. Also Cheryl and I are planning on getting some tickets from the library so I can go for free.

Final thought is this; I am not so please with the warmer weather. I wish it was a bit colder so the ice was frozen solid. Less slipping that way.

Keep on track,

Thomas