Shadow's tenth winter

It's a marshmallow world out there, and Shadow-dog is not impressed. It's his tenth-eleventh winter already (well, he'll be ten years old at the end of January) and he's never liked snow much, being more like a cat than a dog in many ways. Cuddling is cool, cold weather is not!

Trying to get him to go for a winter walk can be a challenge, especially on grey days. And it's something of an effort, too -- first, to get him to come out of his cosy bed and make his way to the back door (liver treats sometimes help), then to get him into his boots, leash harness, and winter coat (over his cozy blue sweater). 

Then he stands there looking like he wishes he was back in the land of his ancestors (Havanese are descendants of the dogs that once belonged to Cuban royalty), and who can blame him? If I could teleport to a beach near Havana, I probably would.

Considering dog years, he's officially been a senior citizen for quite some time already, and honestly, there are days I can relate. His back end isn't as perky as it used to be when getting up off the couch, and I did something to my hip this morning while running to the bus. Ouch.

It's been quite a while since I've taken Shadow on a 5 km walk, as it's probably time to have mercy on his (probably) achy little body. But it's just not the same walking without him -- he's motivated me to get out and go for the past almost ten years. Suddenly my own walks are shorter to accommodate him. And would I go for a long walk without him? Only with a friend. Or maybe I need to start listening to Ebooks/podcasts to make solitary walks more interesting?

Shadow is less of a walking companion now, and more of a meditation buddy. He climbs out of bed to come snuggle with me every morning as I settle in for tea and prayer time. And perhaps that's actually more important at this stage... we're both getting older, moving toward the winter of life, Shadow and I. But we're still doing things together.

3223.3 kilometers

As I've moodled before, I wear a pedometer almost every day to motivate me to get enough exercise. I've been finding that, as I approach menopause, my weight is creeping up, so I really need inspiration to keep my exercise levels up. Shadow dog and I are both middle-aged, pretty good walking companions, and the pedometer is just more encouragement to get out and get some steps.

My pedometer isn't one of these fancy fit-bit wrist strappy things. A few people I know have had problems with those conking out on them. A friend of mine has a cool phone app to track her walk, but the one I have is a really basic $15 Piezo version I got through uwalk a few years back. It has a little 1.55 V battery that bounces against an internal receptor as I walk, clicking up the count with every movement of my hips, and a reset button -- that's it. I've paced around a few times to see if it's accurate, and my counted steps seem to match the ones it counts up on its little face.

I've also connected to uwalk.ca to help me track my steps, and every evening I log on and punch in my numbers. A bit primitive, as many hi-tech pedometers do the logging for their users, but I kind of like keeping track myself. Last year, I joined a "Walk 1000 km in 2019" uwalk challenge, to see an approximation of how many km I travel in a year. Generally, I aim for about 10,000 steps a day, which I think equals about 6 km per day, though I'm not 100% sure how the uwalk app calculates distance. All I know is that it tells me that in 2019, I walked 3,223.3 km -- which was more than I expected.

So I've signed up for the 2020 1,000 km challenge -- just to see if I can beat my 2019 record. And I'd like to invite you to join me if you're so inclined. Uwalk pedometers can be had for free through the Edmonton Public Library for three weeks, thanks to an Alberta Health Services research program. If you log your info with uwalk, which is a health tracking site affiliated with the UofA, they might even send you a free pedometer once your three week session is up. That's what happened with me, and I don't mind sharing my fitness with a research program in exchange for a pedometer and the health benefits it has brought me.

If you're interested in forming a walking group, the uwalk site offers that option, too. So we could be walking buddies if you're interested. Just fire me an email (e-address under my profile on the sidebar) and we can make a team, just for the health of it!