Yeah, not TOS. (IYKYK)

So I did the poles this morning. I wish you could export the data from the Fitness app. I did a quick search just now, and it doesn't look possible. Something about the Health app, maybe? Why not just a simple "Export" action? Apple is so disappointing these days. I use their products because I'm pretty much embedded in their ecosystem, but I'm no longer an enthusiastic user. I'm just another one of their consumers, and my "customer satisfaction" is low and decreasing. They just suck these days. Suck. Suck. Suck.

Anyway, first time doing an "exercise" kind of walk using trekking poles. Took a few adjustments to get the height of the poles right. I'm not certain it's dialed in yet, but I was able to move quickly without hitting the tips on the swing forward.

You're supposed to bring the right pole forward with the left leg, and the left pole forward with the right leg. That took about three quarters of a mile and establishing a rhythm. On landing forward, the pole should be about where the opposite leg is. You're not swinging the pole way out in front and then pushing back. Again, once I got the rhythm down, that was pretty easy to get right. It was kind of frustrating at first.

I forgot to adjust the wrist straps. "Real" Nordic walking poles have these kind of fingerless gloves attached to the poles. The idea is that you don't grip the handles, because that causes fatigue, which I'm feeling right now as I'm typing. And the propulsive action is made through the wrist and the strap. I gripped the poles the whole walk.

It takes a certain amount of concentration or focus. Turns could mess me up where I'd end up kicking a pole. Sometimes I'd somehow miss landing the pole and I'd push back on the arm and there was nothing there, the end of the pole just kind of glanced off the pavement.

So, how did it go overall?

Well, the first mile was slower than the two days previous by a few seconds. That was because I had to stop and adjust the height of the poles. The second mile was 11 seconds faster than the fastest second mile of the two preceding. The third mile was in the middle of the two preceding walks, which seems odd. The final quarter mile was 2 seconds faster than the fastest of the two preceding. Overall, the average pace was kind of in the middle of the two preceding: 16:38 on Wednesday, 16:41 on Thursday and 16:39 today.

Really, those numbers, while "precise" to the second, probably aren't accurate to that degree of precision. Essentially, I think it's basically the same pace overall. That may change as I get more accustomed to using the poles.

That said, much larger difference in caloric expenditure and average heart rate. Wednesday and Thursday were about 432 calories (431 and 433), while this morning the watch reported 524 calories expended. Average heart rate for Wednesday and Thursday was 128/129, while this morning it was 138.

In my ignorance, I hadn't removed the rubber feet when we were hiking the gorges at first. I'd ended up wearing a hole through one of them before I learned that you're supposed to remove them on a trail. Much of the gorge trails are paved, sort of, so I'm not sure what the right answer is there. Anyway, I put them on for this walk and the one with the hole in it made a noisy *tink* every time it landed. I've ordered replacements.

I need to get a headband or something, to keep the sweat out of my eyes. I had to stop at one point just before finishing mile 2 to wipe the sweat from my eyes. My shirt was soaked, far more than yesterday. That's a bit of positive feedback, as it's what I was accustomed to seeing coming in from a run and seldom see on any of my walks around here.

My "simulated" arm movements in no way resembled what I did with the poles. So the data point there is that you can walk at a faster pace pumping your arms with your elbows bent, rather than just swinging them from your shoulders.

I can feel it in my triceps a little, but mostly in my wrists, probably because I was gripping the poles. I'll try and adjust the straps tomorrow before I start and see if I can relax my grip. At some point, I may just get poles with the gloves attached.

I hit the road at 0500, so I encountered no one on my walk. I like it that way, because I'd be annoyed if someone was overtaking me with a noisy trekking pole *tinking* every second or so. Plus, I probably looked pretty stupid, old fat guy out walking with sticks.

What do I care though?

Anyway, I'll practice some more until I think I've got this down enough where I'm not kicking sticks or missing the landing, gripping to fatigue or getting out of step with the poles. Then I think I'll add a little backpack and some weight in it. See how that feels.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 08:11 Friday, 26 July 2024