Monday, May 31, 2010

One lap down, 199 to go

My 500 started a little before 9 this morning, and I walked 2.5 miles in about 50 minutes. I stretched after a little warm-up and afterward, and I'm feeling really good, except for a little sunburn, but that has to do with yesterday, not the walking.

So there are a couple new links in the sidebar. One is to Timeanddate.com, which is a fabulously geeky calculation website. It's a countdown to next year's 500. The other is to my google spreadsheet where I'm planning on tracking my mileage.

As to how I'm tracking mileage - here's my two major tools: Gmaps Pedometer and a fairly standard $5 pedometer. I haven't gotten the little digital pedometer quite calibrated, but it's less egregiously undercounting than it was two weeks ago, so I'm feeling better about using it. And truly, I'd prefer it undercount than overcount. The Gmaps tool will be used for pretty much everywhere I walk or hope to walk more than once. I've already measured 1.6 and 2.5 mile routes in my neighborhood, and the block around work is .5 mile.

I hope to check-in here every week or so, and let y'all know about any cool/fun walks I run across. This Saturday I'll be taking a couple laps around the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival. See, fiber hobbies don't have to be sedentary!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

So this has been May, and while I've had some time to relax and not work and to think about life and goals and stuff. And to clean my house some. And meanwhile I've spent major parts of three weekends now at the racetrack. I live in Indianapolis, and a love I've learned from my husband is the race-fan love. IndyCar racing is pretty cool, and the Indy 500 is amazing. He's been watching and listening to races his whole life, and the way he gently turned me on to the sport and the event is a testament to how well he knows me.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to wake up and walk 2.5 miles in my neighborhood. Two and a half miles is the length of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track. This will be the first lap in my own Indy 500. I got back tonight from attending my fifth 500. And I have a goal to walk or run 500 miles before the next one.

I have more to say, but I'm going to leave that on the table tonight. Tomorrow will be time for details, and tracking, and all that. Tonight I'm gonna be the girl who will walk 500 miles.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Piles

Here's a pile of socks.

IMG_0676

March's Rockin' Sock club, my March self-imposed sock club in pinky-green black, my Lost Socks in Mandie's Oceanic colorway, and that black hole in the middle? There's a sock and a half there that were first seen in this pile of socks. Yeah, that was more than eighteen months ago. They're flat black, patterned, and not for me.

Whittling down this pile is one of my break goals. I think I've knit a full sock's worth since finishing the spring semester a week ago.

I've also spun this: 2-ply shetland. Yum.

IMG_0671

Oh, and since we're talking about piles, here's a pile of handspun yarn: IMG_0658
This is the yarn, minus the shetland, that I've finished since March. Yum!

Meanwhile, I'm flirting with the idea of weaving. Stay tuned.