training for belgium

In June, I'm going to be in Belgium for a few days with the family. The idea for the trip is to take the train up from Paris to a town in west flanders, called Poperinge. From there, we'll either walk, or ride bikes across the country side to visit a couple trappist breweries, which are settled among the hop fields in the region.

Yesterday, I trained for the event.

Interestingly enough, a young couple from Belgium came into the store, and we talked about the trip. He corrected me on my pronounciation (it's "pope a ring ee" not "pop err inj"). He also tried teaching me some Dutch.

After walking to work, and doing my time there, I continued on into north west portland to the NW quimby Lucky Lab location for "portland cheers to belgian beers". It was a belgian style beer festival and competition between local breweries, for charity. I tried several (too many?) really good belgian style beers there, and then walked home about 6 miles later in the night. 6 out and 6 back was pretty easy, even after liberally sampling tasty higher-abv libations.

Now I just have to learn dutch for "I'll have another" and I'll be ready for the trip.

may 1st

11.77 miles
328.63 miles cumulative
13.1452 total gallons saved

april 28th

yesterday I walked to work in pretty steady rain. again, my jacket kept me completely dry, so it wasn't a bad experience. at the store, I worked on a couple projects in down time, including trying to gain some order in our back stock room, which had fallen into severe disarray. I was rewarded by finding a chest full of hidden treasure buried deep under a pile of clothes. a cooler full of BEER! I hung around for half an hour after closing the doors and celebrated my discovery before heading out. With my newly invigorated beer muscles, and the motivation of getting back to the house in time to catch the second half of the blazers playoff game; I power walked home, and shaved nearly 10 minutes of my previous fastest time. Again, I was rewarded for my efforts, and got to catch their VICTORY.

april 27th

7.2 miles
307.56 miles cumulative
12.3024 total gallons saved

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

rain

I left my car at the store yesterday morning and walked home. This morning, I was glad that I had. It was raining pretty steadily, and I may have caved in and used my car to commute if it had been available.

Rain is a good motivator. I got to work as fast as I ever have.

I almost bought a nice rain jacket earlier this week. I held off to wait for a better deal, but having it today would have been worth the difference.

March 28th

3.6 miles
142.99 miles cumulative
5.7196 total gallons saved

march 16th + 17th

on the 16th, I walked to work in the rain. I've been trying to limit my excuses not to go places on foot, and a little rain is no longer one of them. If it were pouring, it might have to be different because I don't have any proper rain gear; but a windbreaker was enough to keep the drizzle off.

On my way home, I took a different route, which was a bit longer than the way I normally go. I wanted to walk by a house that was for sale and check it out. It was disappointing, which was for the better I guess, because it turned out to have some serious issues that would need to be addressed by the next owner. The walkability would have been nice though, a little closer to the store, a little closer to the grocery store, and dangerously close to the beer store.

the 17th was st. patrick's day. I was off, so I didn't get to commute, but I did decide to walk to the bars and back to celebrate. I didn't go far, but the walk was nice for all the usual reasons, plus I didn't have to worry so much about how many beers I had to drink!

March 16th - 17th

10.42 miles
106.78 miles cumulative
4.2712 total gallons saved