Debbie and I walk almost daily. Most days, we only go a mile or so, but sometimes longer. I've almost never counted the walking mileage in my running log. The rare exceptions are a few hikes where I wanted to see the course or distance. Not that there's anything wrong with walking; it's just not running, and therefore should be counted as such. Until now.
Why now? Now, I'm entered in the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee (GVRAT). GVRAT rules say that walking is allowed, but all walks and runs have to be specific activity efforts, not simply steps for the day. I'd been planning to still only count my running miles, even though averaging ten miles a day for 123 days would indeed be a challenge. Then I learned that the total distance is a little more than 1000K each way as originally stated. It's actually 635 miles (instead of 620), and 1,270 miles when we include the return (which I plan to do). So now I have to average 10.33, rather than 10.00 miles per day.
What's the big deal, you ask? It's only an extra 2.3 miles per week, or a little over ten additional miles per month. Piece of cake, you say. Except that it's a lot of icing to add to the already extremely calorie-laden cake. What to do? Include walking miles, of course. I probably would have come around to this decision even without the extra couple of miles. Those just helped make the decision easier.
What's the problem with mixing walking and running? I value good, consistent data. And now my running log will, beginning May 1, 2020, include running and walking. On the other hand, I suppose I can go through the data when GVRAT is done, and remove the walking activity.
Today, GVRAT Day 1, I ran five miles in the miserable cold rain, then five and half more on the mill. I won't log my GVRAT miles until after I walk with Debbie so that I can include those miles as well.
General Info about The Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 1000K
Info about my own participation in GVRAT
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