A friend told me about mapmywalk.com a couple of months ago, but I only started using the broader functionality this month. I love that you can log your walks and create a training journal.  You can classify the walks according to difficulty, etc.  I've already logged over 25 miles this month, which averages about 2 miles a day.  Not too shabby considering I don't walk every single day.

 

If you are feeling particularly ambitious you can even figure out how many calories you burn each walk, etc.  I just started timing the walks yesterday out of curiousity to see how many calories I burn and have since decided that isn't as much fun and I'm not going to do it anymore.  I'm not as interested in knowing how many calories I burn as I am in figuring out the distance I've walked and having a tool to document/log each walk.  Also, it is kind of depressing to find out that a walk around Seward Park only burns about 200 calories.  I would rather not know.  I've never been one to count calories and that isn't why I walk anyway. And you never know what to expect on a walk with my 30+ lb baby/stroller/carseat combo plus feisty dog  that I have to manage. Sometimes we don't stop at all and other times there is lot of dog sniffing or baby whining. Let's just say it is slow going up steep hills with all the extra weight and full hands.

 

My goal this spring is to walk all of the interconnected streets in the neighborhood, explore the finer grain of the neighborhood, and continue to discover interesting loop walks I can do with Linc and Roo.  This summer I hope to develop some loop walks in other Seattle neighborhoods that I can regularly do with the kid and dog.  I love walking/exploring the urban environment and this website makes it even more satisfying.  Much better than my shabby folded map and highlighters that I have used in the past to mark my routes. 

 

If you haven't used this site before, you should check it out. It is a lot of fun. It has some flaws, but is overall a great tool. 

It's time.  Time for me to stop talking like a sailor.  I need to stop cursing now that Lincoln is of the age where he is beginning to understand words.  I'm starting now because I think it is going to be hard and will take a while.  I know I won't be able to go cold turkey.  Sometimes the curse words just flow out of me--especially when I am fired up, outraged, etc.   I enjoy using expressions like WTF?!?  But, I  should be watching the words I use around the kid.  This goes deeper than just curse words.  Should I really be asking the kid if he is 'ready for the boob'?  Perhaps instead I should be asking him if he is ready to eat ;)  Maybe I shouldn't tell the kid that he "crapped all over himself." I need to figure out what poo word I want to use.  Also, now that I am spending more time around other people's kids, I can't be dropping the F bombs anymore.  That's not cool.  Guess I need to find replacement words, acronyms, etc.  But somebody better call me out if they find me using expressions like "oh, fiddlesticks."  Cause that's lame and I don't want to become that person.