Walkabout Wednesday

Last week we had National Donut Day, today it’s Global Running Day.

Researching Donut Day, learning it’s history of having been created in 1938 to honor the Salvation Army’s Donut Girls who served donuts to soldiers the front line of World War I, made me curious to know the history of Global Running Day.

It doesn’t seem to have a history, being more/less a day designated, by some unknown organization years back, first as National Running Day, then Global Running Day, to occur annually on the first Wednesday of June for people around the world to celebrate the joys of running.

Outback Steak House, one of many places on my Never Ever Have I list is calling it, Walkabout Wednesday, so since I can’t run, I’m going with Walkabout Wednesday.

Judging from the email notifications I'm receiving, there are all kinds of running activities scheduled for the day; but actually, all it takes to participate is to take part in some type of running activity. “It can be a solo lap around the block, a long run with friends or even a game of tag with your kids. The key is to share your passion for the sport and inspire others to get moving.”

I could have walked the complex, but having seen the bling offered by the BGR organization, I’d registered last month.

Receiving an email reminder yesterday, with a link to my bib that worked this time, I suited up and headed out to walk the Ontario Mills Mall.

Inasmuch as this was a print-your-own bib, I had the option to change it up a bit.

I didn't want to bring attention to myself by wearing the bib. Instead, I kept it in the car on the off chance I ran into other BGR participants, as a group of Inland Empire ladies do get together occasionally and run/walk the mall perimeters; but no. Not this time. Guess they were on the nearby walking trail, which I don’t much care for because there’s no shade, anywhere.

Walking inside the Ontario Mills Mall, if you’re local and interested, takes four times around. Walking outside, takes only twice around.

It being such a nice day, I chose outside and, with adequate training now under my belt and the new shoes that feel like walking on a cloud, I beat the last time I walked the mall by a lot -- finishing in 1 hour 11 minutes 16 seconds, up from 1:25:36 last time.

Truth be known, these 3.12 miles of qualifying for bling is getting a bit wearing. But for the bling, I’d limit myself to a leisurely 2-mile walk around the complex or campus of the university.

Maybe that’s why they temp us with bling … to encourage us to stretch ourselves.

At any rate, I’m looking forward to the next challenge because it’s biking. All I have to do is put in 25 miles on the indoor bike between June 10 and June 18 to qualify in the 2017 Pedal for the Medal. That's a fairly easy 5 miles a day.

On tap for remainder of the day is to check into the Community Room to see if anything new and interesting is posted to the board, what this week's movie is, and check my weight on the scale in the Game Room.

I took my measurements this morning, they're still the same. So, I'll be very surprised if the scale registers a weight loss.