walking in the rain with a bowling ball

Yesterday I spent the whole day indoors doing accounting and graphic design stuff. Luckily, I had a great excuse to walk in the evening: a friend's engagement party with free bowling. The walk was 3 miles from the house. It was raining a bit, so I got to put my new marmot jacket to good use. Carrying a bowling ball that far isn't too bad (I had it in a bowling bag), but it's still pretty awkward and certainly funny looking. After the party, I dropped the ball off at the store, since it was nearby, and walked home in the rain. It began coming down pretty hard, so I had a chance to try out the hood, and make all the various fit adjustments to get the thing fitting snug.

Marmot Minimalist Jacket

The Verdict: I love this jacket. I stayed completely dry underneath, both from the rain, and because of the great wicking and breathablility of the gortex paclite shell. Great purchase.

Along the lines of new gear, there are a couple of things I want to get pretty soon for my life on foot.

I definitely want to get a better pair of shorts. I need something lighter that breathes better than the shorts I have now. I like these. For hiking/athletic clothing, they certainly could be uglier, and they get great reviews:

North Face Paramount Surplus Shorts

I'd also really like to get some better socks. I've been using plain cheap tube socks, but they lack a lot of features that I'm coming to find that better socks come with. The worst part about them is they're cotton, which doesn't protect you from blistering very well. These are pretty sweet. I'd like to get a pair or two in the black and white combo:

Thorlo Experia Socks

Also, as much as I love my new balance MR790's, I'd like to get another pair of shoes for hiking. The MR790's are a great, super lightweight, low profile, trail racing shoe, but for hiking, or even long distance walking, I think I need a little more cushion and support. I'm not interested in hiking boots right now, since I need something a little more versatile, and for the summer at least, I really like hiking shoes that look and feel more like running shoes, so I'd like to get a pair of these to meet my needs:

North Face assailant GTX

Back to actual walking, I walked to work today, and will walk home afterword. Between last night and today, I've gone another 14.4 miles. Earlier in the week I walked to the grocery store and back, and failed to remember to keep track of it. That was another 2.2 miles round trip.

april 7th +9th + 10th

16.6 miles
234.84 miles cumulative
9.3936 total gallons saved