Tag: walking

Walking to another year

Walking to another year

As I polished off a final walk for 2024 just now, disparate thoughts of “obsessed with stats” and “doing what matters” occured to me. Once again I had a goal to complete 365 walks in a year – rules are pretty simple – minimum walk two kilometres, can’t break a longer walk just to claim more than one, and purposeful walk (but can have another purpose too like going somewhere!). I nearly didn’t make it. On 30 November with 31 days left I had 39 walks to go. The pressure! But I clicked over 365 on the 28th, with the sudden realisation that it was a leap year and questioning whether the goal should have been 366 walks this year. Maybe it should have been, but I’m now comfortably home on 367, average walk 4km, total 1470.25 kilometres. Final walk 30 December 4km, longest walk 21.21km (Auckland half marathon) and according to the App I use I burned over 170,000 calories. Happily I must have consumed slightly less than that, as another goal for my weight is well progressed.

It’s subject to audit. My school friend Nigel checks my walks, comments to keep me motivated, but critiques where the map looks dodgy (“went for a drive by the look of it” before hitting “stop” on the App was a common observation), all of which I corrected or ignored in my total. Integrity matters when no one is watching.

Maungawhau Mt Eden gets the heart rate up and a great view as a reward

I walked in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Rakaia Gorge, Methven, Oamaru, Queenstown, London, Cork, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Las Vegas, New York, Washington DC, Noumea and Singapore. If that all sounds a bit grand, it is. But it included a long postponed trip to see whanau and some work travel I was privileged to do.

For me this is all very fascinating and satisfying for my obsessed with stats brain. But that’s just the means to an end.

A freezing DC day

The end is health, in all its physical forms: rehabilitative, cardio, weight control, movement (use or lose at my age). And it’s psychological forms: deep thinking, open brain to solve problems, relationships (catching up with friends sometimes), knowledge gaining on e-books, my – rhymes with I as in introvert – time which is brain resting for me.

It’s free and freedom giving all at once and my favourite transport method hands down.

Stephen

Notes and Photos:

2024 End of year walking awards to myself:

Hottest walk – Las Vegas strip 41c, middle of the day, just dumb to do that

Coldest walk – New York City through Central Park “-1c, feels like -9c” according to the weather App (below)

Biggest surprise walk – Dunedin city at dusk, stunning lighting

Most sobering walk – Belfast, Northern Ireland, the peace walls and sectarian messages on buildings (below).

Most exhilarating walk – New York, anywhere but especially anywhere!

Never tire of it walk – Auckland Domain

Best walking city in New Zealand – Christchurch – a 3km loop on laneways, Victoria Square, New Regent Street. Or Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens. Flat, accessible, close, beautiful.

Best walk to a place that I’ve known for 30 years but never seen – Tom’s Restaurant (Seinfeld – below)

Wish I could walk there now – Cork, Ireland, to see my son and his family again

Walk that stopped me walking for a week – Auckland half marathon, blister special

Walk I didn’t do this year but want to – Auckland Maunga, I did Mt Eden, but a 20km loop of 4 or 5 Maunga is a great outing

Thing I can’t stop photographing on a walk – Bridges – examples this year are Auckland Harbour Bridge, pedestrian bridge across the River Clyde in Glasgow (below, with my son Thomas), Queensboro Bridge NYC (in banner), Brooklyn Bridge (below), Bridge of Remembrance in Christchurch (I see it all the time but still photograph it with different lighting), and all the lighted bridges that authorities take the trouble to have designed and keep looking cool purely for aesthetic reasons.

Photos

Walking over the Clyde River, Glasgow
Walked to Tom’s Restaurant from Seinfeld
Walked along a Peace Wall, Belfast
Waterfront walk past the train in Noumea
Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, NY
Breaking a rule while walking in London
A winter walk in Queenstown
Walking near my home
Walking over Vauxhall Bridge, London
Walking in Republican area, Belfast
Who would have thought you’d find these on a walk in Methven
A walk in the Financial District, NY City
Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, NY
Walking in Loyalist area, Belfast
A regular walk past the Christchurch Town Hall
Walking in Cork, Ireland
One of several walks through Central Park, NY
Walking on the Hi-Line, Chelsea, NY
Rockefeller Christmas Tree Walk
A walk in Oamaru
Hottest walk was in Las Vegas

Use of AI

Like my friend Kris N, HI only used in words or photos (I thought I just invented “HI” as a thing, but on googling, no I haven’t)

A Sunday Walk

A Sunday Walk

I’ve been fortunate to have run or walk over the Auckland Harbour Bridge quite a few times. If you complete five of either the Marathon or Half Marathon in the Auckland Marathon you can become a “Roadster” with your own permanent number. I got mine quite a few years ago when I was running marathons, and although I stopped running back in 2016, I still get to use the number (and the creds that go with it!), for a walk of the half marathon.

I’d last done it in January 2022 which was technically the 2021 event, delayed from the Covid Lockdown. Once again it was on my own this time. A little over 3 hours, stopping only briefly for shoelaces and a toilet stop, for some reason it didn’t feel too hard actually (the days after were another story – see below). We know that athletes (I mean real ones, not Sunday strollers like me) step up on the day and create results at big occasions they couldn’t do in training. Maybe it’s the stopping at lights, or just the general lack of vibe, but I really struggle to get my walking pace below 10 mins/km.

But halfway into the “half” I’m sitting below nine. Somehow. I’m still not really sure how, but there’s definitely something for me about stepping up on the day, no actual pressure, focussing, and micro competitions with those around me (including slow runners!). Then realising that I was heading for a personal walking best of the half there was no stopping me.

No, I didn’t retain the sub 9 minutes for all the distance (see below), but it felt great.

I’m honestly happier than I look!

Part of my journey to be able to finish a semi-decent Sunday walk has been post 2020 surgery on my leg and then getting a involved in Sarcoma support through the Sarcoma Foundation NZ, so I’m looking forward to another (much shorter) Sunday walk at Round the Bays in March. You should think about coming along if you’re in Tamaki Makaurau.

About that blister: I put some heavy bandaids on on bits of my feet, but missed the ball of my right foot! Ouch! But it’s nearly right, although taping and soft shoes have been required.

Everyone smiles after an event like this. And 007 has asked to be in my next post on Friday.

Relax, flow, edge, some pain, enjoy. All the leadership you need on a Sunday Walk.

Stephen

Walking True

Walking True

Almost the last thing I did in 2021 was walk. It could be the year of the mask but it was the walking recovery year for me. After having a chunk of muscle removed from my right leg (with a tumour) in September 2020, I set out to do what I had endeavoured to do in 2020 and that was to walk at least 365 times.

Under that goal you can have a day off, but be warned you have to make it up with two a day if you slacken off! I did 374 walks covering 1582.82 kilometres (I know, it’s the App – keeps it exactly – there’s no hiding). That would have been a reasonable marathon buildup distance back in the day. The average walk was 4.24km and the average per day was 4.33. It’s lower than I would like but I’ve noticed my resilience for longer walks building and 2022 will be about maintaining and building an average walk of 5km. I loosened my “minimum 2km” rule on account of the surgery but very few walks were below 2km. All walks were deliberate (that’s a rule), but I incorporated other activity like shopping, walking at my little piece of land, and occasionally to and from work.

I listened to lots of music (became addicted to True by Spandau Ballet on the walks) and audio books – including 1984 with a mention almost exactly ten years ago on this blog (by Orwell – one insight: it’s happening in parts of the world), Brave New World (Huxley – it could happen), Animal Farm – I love this book, something about the farm, not just the story (Orwell – it’s happened in many places), A Promised Land (Obama – opportunities missed from fear of one’s own authenticity), The Tragedie of MacBeth (a play! – Shakespeare – violence begets violence), Leading Change (Kotter – it takes longer than you think), Skin in the Game (Taleb – only when you have actual skin in your game (work) do you have the rights to be heard), Apropos of Nothing (Allen – he’s funny, very funny and showing humour and grace when under attack is effective), Wuthering Heights (E Bronte – it was every bit as good as it was in the sixth form, and shaped me more than I realised – even the location of my new build to a degree), The Road to Wigan Pier (Orwell – cheer up for goodness sakes!).

From walk #5 of 2022 this morning – Arthurs Point, Queenstown

I walked in Auckland, Queenstown and Tauranga. Fewer places than I would usually, because of lockdowns and the resulting lesser travel. I have many favourite walks but standing out is Ohinerau – Mt Hobson – a gorgeous Maunga with spectacular views and sunsets and very close to home, the Arrow River by Arrowtown. Cornwall Park and the Domain are unbeatable really too. Maungawhau (Mt Eden) tests the cardiovascular system the best.

Reading back at this blog as I drafted it I cringed a little at the mention again of my cancer, but it’s part of me (well I live in hope it’s not physically!), and shaped me in unexpected ways. It made resilience real in 2021, it forced me to face existential questions early on and removed a fear of disease. Having it in the back of my mind – brought to the front of the mind every x-ray check up – has sharpened me in 2021. Live for now and get on with what I want to get done. Build the house, spend time with those that matter, and none with those that take the energy.

This is of course a leadership blog but after over ten years on it, there’s one constant which keeps me grounded in it and why sharing is necessary for leading. Authenticity. It’s everything in leadership. No degrees, accolades, books published or other high-sounding commendations can make up for a lack of it. Ask those who are led.

And grace – my word to start the year – we’re all human, so I try and will try more show grace in good times and in adversity. An old-fashioned word that captures how I’m feeling. And True? That’s the song I got addicted to on the walks. No idea why, but it’s true.

hari tau hou – happy new year!

Stephen

p.s. the featured image is also Arthurs Point, Queenstown this morning – a stiff walk uphill!







	


	


			
				


			

			
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I appear to have picked up some more followers, or at least followers who have noticed, because I’ve blogged about walking and related adventures, such as Cornwall Park.


The most common subject I hear in the leadership world right now is about well-being. It’s a broad subject and seems to cover physical and mental health when it is referred.


We all know it’s important to be in good health, so why the increased consciousness about well-being now?


I did my 201st walk last week for 2019. I probably won’t make 400, but they’re longer now, so maybe 365 is a good goal!


iStock-950716438.jpgWell-being is really about satisfaction, happiness or contentment. You chose the word that suits.


I’m not particularly satisfied that I’ve completed 201 walks, but I am increasingly happy and content from the energy, space and health that those 201 walks have provided me with.


And you can do it almost anywhere.


Stephen