The Wide World of Walking Equipment

Walking Safety is really three separate and somewhat diverse subjects. There is personal safety, how to stay out of or handle any security issues you may encounter on your walk. The second, injury prevention, how to avoid exercise related physical difficulties. Finally traffic safety, how to avert a potentially painful encounter with a motor vehicle. Each has it’s own rules and procedures as well as it’s own list of equipment requirements. I’ll cover the other two in the coming months but for today’s post I’ll focus on the traffic issue.

The Problem

What’s at stake here? Simply put, pedestrian/motor vehicle accidents are a significant problem . When a car and a pedestrian collide, there is high probability of serious injury and death. The United States alone has nearly 5,000 pedestrian/car related deaths (700 of them childern) and another 64,000 injuries each and every year.

Some other sobering statistics from the National Highway Traffic Association and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

- On average, a pedestrian is injured in a traffic accident every 8  minutes.
- On average, a pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident every 111 minutes.
- In 2005, the per capita pedestrian death rate was 1.6 per 100,000 people.

- 85.7 % of all non-fatal pedestrian accidents and 72 percent of pedestrian deaths occurred in urban settings

-The vast majority of fatal pedestrian/motor vehicle collisions occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in later evening or twilight hours.

Clearly this is an issue that requires a bit of a walker’s time and attention.

The Solution

When these accidents occur, the motorist is often at fault yet the walker too must bear some responsibility for doing his or her utmost in preventing a mishap. That responsibility is – to stay alert at all times and make yourself as visible, as conspicuous as possible. By that I mean paying attention to where we walk, when we walk, how we walk and how we dress.

Tips

The following are some walking tips and equipment guides to help insure that you have a high visibility quotient during your walking routine.

-Walk on sidewalks where ever available.

-Walk on the left side of the road, facing traffic. You’ll be in a better position to anticipate and react to oncoming vehicles. Especially important when you’re physically on a road rather than a sidewalk.

-Be alert at all times and be aware of factors that might impact motorist visibility or ability to stop. For example sun, ice, rain, snow or fog.

-Be exceptionally cautious when approaching blind curves where you may not be visible to oncoming traffic.

-Walk on roads with wide shoulders.

-Anticipate potentially dangerous situations and be ready to take action if necessary. Don’t assume that the car will avoid you.

-Cross a street only at an intersections and always yield the right-of-way to vehicles. Right on red rules can be a real problem for the walker. So stay alert and pay attention to cars in the curb lane.

-Obey all traffic rules and signals.

- If you’re using a radio or Ipod use only one ear bud. Use the open ear to listen to what’s going on around you.

- When crossing a street come to a complete stop and look left, right, and then left again

- Make eye contact with waiting drivers when crossing a busy street

- When walking at night chose a well lit route

From an walking equipment perspective:

- Wear reflective clothing or accessories at dawn, dusk, or nighttime and bright, visible clothing at other times.

- Carry a flashlight when walking in the dark. Swing it side to side when a car approaches. Front to back swinging may cause glare and create confusion with the driver.

Oh, and one final tip, there is one thing you should always assume…that the other guy isn’t paying attention.

Cars and walkers frequently share the same resource. Mutual respect and awareness is the key to a safe coexistence. The walker however is at a distinct disadvantage in any sort of “confrontation” and needs to take extra precautions to avoid them at all costs. Walking safety is visibility and awareness.

Follow the rules and stay safe and secure .

Technorati Tags: flashlight, pedestrian, safety. reflective clothing, traffic safety, walking, walking at night, walking safely, Walking Safety

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Before you know it old man winter will be literally breathing down our necks. Cold weather can be a real impediment to a walking routines. Who after all wants to get out of a nice warm bed and take a walk on a cold frigid morning. So staying reasonably warm and comfortable is important to staying active during the cold winter months. What sort of walking equipment should we be looking for to help keep us reasonably warm and comfortable? Each body part has different heat retention and moisture wicking requirements and needs to be addressed separately. So one by one we’ll give you the low down on the things you should consider when you gearing up for a winter walk.

Upper Torso

An key to keeping your upper body warm is to layer your clothing. It’s important not only to keep your upper body insulated from the cold but you’ll need to deal with moisture (sweat) issues as well. The best approach for the upper body is to use three layers of clothing: a moisture wicking layer, an insulation layer and a waterproof/windproof layer. The fist layer, the one next to your skin, should me made of materials that draws moisture away. With the exception of silk, synthetic materials perform the wicking function better than natural. Look for garments that contain a high percentage of acrylics or polypropylene. These materials have excellent wicking properties. There are trade names that you can look for: Themax, Thinsulate and Themion for examaple. Surprisingly to some I ‘m sure, cotton is not a good wicking material and should typically be avoided for this application. The next layer’s function is to keep the body heat where it belongs, next to you. Here natural fibers are king. Wool, fleece or down work best. Finally comes the waterproof/windproof layer. Here again look for synthetic materials, nylon being the most prevalent. Heavy duty “rubberized” rain gear is not recommended. The materiel is typically not “breathable” and will trap too much heat and moisture, making it difficult for the insulation and wicking layers to keep things in balance.

Legs

Two layers should be sufficient to keep the legs warm and dry. A wicking inner layer of the above mentioned synthetics materials plus a nylon outer shell will do the trick.

Head

A hat and or ear protecting headband is a “must have” to stay warm and dry. If you go the hat route it’s a good idea to get a ski cap style or one with a neck drawstring to keep it in place during a sudden gust of wind. If you chose a headband or ski cap, it should be of a high wicking materials composition . A neck scarf should also considered, depending on the configuration of your other clothing.

Gloves.

Mittens work well, keeping the fingers a bit warmer by keeping them in close proximity to one another. But my favorite glove design is layered. An inner glove of wool with an leather or nylon outer layer.

Socks:

Here again insulation and moisture control is important when selecting the proper winter walking sock. For the right combination of wicking and warming, select a sock of wool blended with an acrylic or polypropylene.

Shoes or Boots.

Waterproof walking sneakers or boots are an absolute necessity during the winter. Even if you boots or sneakers claim to be waterproof, it’s best to apply additional waterproofing protection to insure that they provide the best possible protection and are able to stand up to rough conditions present during winter. Care should be taken that the shoes or boots have adequate tread to insure proper traction.. Should your shoes get soaked, stuff them with paper or a cedar shoe trees and let them air dry. Never put them in the dryer or near any heat source,

Extras: 

A cheap thin plastic hooded rain poncho and a change of socks would be good extras to keep in your fanny pack during the winter months.

As with all things common sense should reign supreme. Match the layering to the temperature and weather conditions and don’t get overheated. If you get uncomfortable, remove a layer. The insulating one would be best. Just tie it around your waist. The walking equipment and clothing selected should not interfere with your walking motion and provide for a full range of arm and leg movement. They should be relatively light and loose fitting. No need to layer like Ralpy’s brother in the movie “Christmas Story”.

Proper layering is the key to keeping you reasonably dry and warm during your walk and that’s the key to keeping you active during the cold winter months. Take the time to match your walking equipment to the conditions on the road and it will be spring before you know it.

Technorati Tags: hiking, walking, warm clothing, winter, winter clothing, winter exercising, winter hiking, winter hiking clothing, winter walking

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While doing research for The Wide World of Walking Equipment blog posts once in a while I come across a piece of walking related gear that gives me pause. I kinda go Huh? what’s this all about. I thought that it might be fun to take a look a some that seem, what shall we say, a bit strange. Now I must confess to being a bit “old school” when it come to walking and hiking. A good deal of its’ allure is getting away from all the hustle and bustle of our electronic age. My motto “The more basic the better”. I sure that there are many situations where these products might prove useful. But to me, I just scratch my head in wonder.

Bird Cage Backpack

You really have to have a special relationship with your bird to spend $129 on this little gem. Known as the “Pak o Bird” it comes in three sizes which should fit most sized pet birds, unless your into domesticating raptors. The backpack is fully features with a privacy curtain, adjustable food cup and a durable dragonwood perch. The mesh is see-through but bite-proof to prevent any escape attempts while you and Tweetie are out and about.

Heated Hiking Boots

From the “If your not warm, your not walking fast enough” Department, Columbia has a line of boots that have dual heaters built into them . They have three temperature settings and powered by rechargeable lithium polymer batteries that runs for 3 to 8 hours before requiring a recharge. No clue as to where your going to get that recharge while you’re out hiking, perhaps a long extension cord. Oh and they have a LED display which gives you an actual read out of how warm your feet are. Just in case you couldn’t figure it out on your own. Yours for just $250.

Electricity Generating Backpack

Lightning Packs developed a backpack called the Suspended Load Backpack that actually generates electricity. As the user walks, the spring-mounted backpack bounces slightly, turning a gear on a generator creating power . It can generate up to 7.4 watts, enough power an MP3 player, a LED headlamp, a PDA, a hand held GPS, a cell phone and who knows what else, all at the same time. Now I know where you can get a recharge for your heated hiking boots.

Glove Shoe

FiveFingers are thin, rubber foot gloves made by Vibram, an Italian company…and I always though Italians had a sense of fashion. Their design is based on a theory that all the cushioning typically found in athletic shoes is bad for you and that the only “natural” way to walk or run is barefooted. I tell you what, I don’t care how good they are, I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing these things in public. They cost $75 to $85 a pair.  Why they aren’t call FiveToes is beyond me.

So there we have a couple of real beauties that can be truly classified in the “What were they thinking” category of walking equipment. If you’ve come across any other walking gear that meet the exacting standards of Wacky Walking Equipment send me an email and I’ll be sure to include them in the next installment.

Technorati Tags: backpacks, hiking boots, walking sneakers

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Received a couple of emails regarding the post on tips and tricks to help keep you motivated. In it I mentioned that an Ipod or MP3 player is an excellent addition to your walking equipment assortment. It helps you pass the time and maintain your walking pace . A couple of readers ask how or where they could find the BPM for their music collection since most of the popular music services (Itunes or Winamp for example) don’t automatically provide this bit of information. The following is the results of some research looking into what third party applications are available to analyze your song list and provide the BPM data. I personally have used only one on this list (beaTunes) so I’m not certain how effective the others may be or what limitations they may have..

How to Find the BPM for Your Music File

The following third party applications actually listens to each individual song on your list and calculates its’ BPM. They then automatically write that info into your desktop music file:

beaTunes — This is the one I’ve used and found that it works reasonably well. beaTunes is specifically designed for the Itunes application. You start the process by downloading the software from the home page and then syncing it with your Itunes music library. Once that is done simply hit the analyze button. It does the rest, calculating the BPM of each song and adding that info to your desktop music file. Unfortunately it’s not free. A license costs $31.95. However they do have a two week trial offer. so you can get your existing music file analyzed at no cost. Since it listens to each song, if you collection is extensive, it can take a while to get everything coded. The software does however have an accuracy/speed adjustment that can hurry things along if needed. Both Mac and PC compatible.

Tangerine –(Mac only) This is another Itunes based application. Haven’t used it but I assume that it works similar to beaTunes. It too isn’t free. A license is $24.95. It has a 15 day trial period but with a nasty limitation. The BPM export feature is not available during the trial. Which means that you’ll have to manually add the BPM information to your file song by song. Not good.

MixMeister – (PC and Mac)Here we have good news and bad news. The good news is that it’s freeware. The bad new is that it doesn’t work with Itunes, just MP3 and WAV formats. Now I suppose that you could convert your Tunes to MP3, run it through MixMeister and then reconvert it to Itunes and perhaps the the BPM info would transfer as well. I’ll leave that to the more adventurous of you. If anyone tries this let us know in the comments section.

How to Put Together a Motivational Song List

A bit more on assembling a motivating music list. The following BPM numbers should be considered as a starting point, assisting you in aggregating a suitable music assortment. Remember, everyone’s walking pace is different. You’ll have to play around with your list’s BPM structure until you figure out what’s right for you. Simply use these numbers as a reference.

Walking Style                                                              BPM

Recreational walking and /or                                       115

warm up/cool down period

Fitness walking                                                          120-130

Power Walking                                                              130+

Establish BPM levels that are a bit of a stretch, but yet you find reasonably comfortable. . Once you’ve found your personal BPM ranges customize your music list to your taste and workout needs. Consider varying the rates to motivate you to walk faster or slower. Incorporate warm up and cool down periods in your walking and music routine. For example, play songs at 115 BPM for the first 5 minutes, ramp it up to 125 for 50 minutes and then back it down to 115 at the end of your walk. You may want to create more than one list to account for variations in time spent walking and workout intensity. Don’t get too comfortable with your music list, create a new one to push yourself to increase speed. Occasionally change some of the songs to maintain variety. It’s up to you to make it work.

Music appeals to us on a subliminal, emotional level and is hard wired into our psyche. It works well as an exercise motivation tool. We enjoy keeping beat with music and that manifests itself by our tendency to walk at a pace that does just that, keeps the beat. An Ipod or MP3 player is a worthwhile walking gear investment that will help keep your pace where you want and need it to be.

If anyone knows of other applications leave a note in the comments section.

Technorati Tags: beats per minute, BPM, Ipod, motivation, music list, walking, walking exercise, walking music

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Water, you simply can’t live without it and you shouldn’t walk without it either. You wouldn’t start your walk without lacing your shoes and you shouldn’t start your walk without considering your hydration needs. Why the fuss? As you walk your body heats up and, in an effort to regulate this heat build up, it releases moisture in the form of sweat. Sweat is composed of water, salts and minerals all critical component to our health and well being. .Depending upon weather conditions, a brisk walk will generate up to 16 ounces of sweat, the equivalent to a pound of water, If you’re not carrying the proper walking equipment and the water loss becomes serious, muscle cramps, nausea, heart palpitations and lightheadness may result. In the case of sever dehydration, serious conditions such as confusion, weakness and even coma and organ failure can occur. Obviously it’s critically important to store and replenish the water lost during our walking activities.

Why Drink Water?

Taking care of your hydration needs begins before your walk begins. Drink 8 to 16 ounces water before you start. Don’t drink too much beforehand, it may cause nausea problems while you’re on the road. As you walk take brief sips every 15 minutes even though you many not feel thirsty. You should always error on the side of over rather than under hydration. So no matter what the time, if you feel thirsty, drink. When you’ve completed your walk, resist the temptation to drain a gallon of ice water . Just drink about a pint and sip some more a bit later. If after about 15 or 20 minutes if you’re still feeling thirsty, drink another tall glass of water. That should do the trick.

How Much Water?

How much should I drink while I walk? Well it depends on several factors: How fast you walk? How long you plan to walk? How much you typically sweat? How hot it is the day you walk? As a general rule, taking a recreational walk, a nice and easy stroll about the neighborhood, you will cover about 3 miles per hour, give or take. If you are fitness walking at brisk pace, four miles per hour would be a good rule of thumb. Power walking figure 5 miles per hour. These distances will of course vary depending upon your level of conditioning. If in doubt, measure your walk distance with a pedometer or calculate your mileage with a route map. Once you’ve estimated how far you plan to walk the rest is just a little bit of math. The International Marathon Medical Director’s Association 2006 guidelines for walkers is 3 to 6 ounces of water per mile. Using this as a benchmark you can guesstimate your own water replacement needs. If for example you are planning a recreational walk of 1 hour, your mileage should be somewhere in the 3 mile range.(if a half an hour 1 1/2 miles). Based on one hour/3 mile estimate, 9 ounces (3 miles X 3 ounces) of water should be a good minimum water quantity to carry with you. However if you’re a prolific sweater or it’s exceptionally hot and humid that day, you should consider the top range of 6 oz per miles for a total 18 oz (3 miles X 6 ounces). Conversely if you are covering 4 miles during your 1 hour fitness walk, you should carry a minimum of 12 ounces (4 miles X 3 ounces) and 24 ounces (4 miles X 6 ounces) on a hot day.

Walking Equipment Requirements

What should you drink? If you’re recreational or fitness walking for an hour or less plain water should do the trick. If you’re power walking or walking for more than an hour a sports drink would be the most appropriate. What type of walking equipment is best for carrying water? For most applications a simple plastic water bottle is sufficient. I’d recommend one with a strap or conversely wear a fanny pack with a bottle holder. This just to keep your hands free while you walk. There are a variety of hydration packs on the market for those instances where walking distances are significant. Its always a good idea to carry a couple of dollars with you as you walk. You might underestimate you water requirements and need to purchase more along your route.

Walking and water go hand in hand. Even for the most casual of walkers taking the shortest of walks it’s always a good idea to carry a small bit of water along with you . And always remember you body is the best gauge of your hydration needs so listen to what it tells you.

Technorati Tags: dehydration, fitness walking, hydration, power walking, walking, water, water bottle

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In my last post I mentioned that boredom was the greatest single impediment to a successful walking routine, and it’s no wonder. You’re doing a repetitive activity, often, and for a not inconsequential length of time. One could compare it to working on an old fashioned assembly line where all you did all day was tighten a single bolt. Probably not quite that bad, but you get the idea. People need variety and change to make their activities compelling and keep them motivated and enthused. Last post I suggested that learning and applying new and different walking styles was one way to “change the dynamic” and add a bit of variety to your walking activity. But are there other ways to “spice things up”. The answer, “you bet there are, more than you would think”. We’ll discuss a few below. A word of caution before we begin, not everything listed will work for everyone. How people deal with and overcome boredom will vary. There’s no “one size fits all” here. You’ll probably have to experiment with these and others to find out what works for you and what doesn’t. Or you may have to come up with an approach all your own. Just be aware that after you’ve begun your walking routine you will at some point hit the wall of boredom. So think about and plan for it before it happens.

So what are some walking motivation tips, tricks and equipment.

Ipod/MP3 Player

Probably the greatest boon to walking since the walking shoe. Many walkers go it alone and listing to music, podcasts or audio books can melt the miles away. Which of these three you decide to use will depend greatly on your personality and objectives. If your trying to maintain or pick up your walking pace music is the best choice. As a benchmark. good walking music has 115 to 120 beats per minute. You can program your song selection to match a varied walking routine. If you walk for an hour you may want to start with a slower beat for 10 minutes to warm up, build the beat and your speed for 40 minutes or so and then slowing it down for the last 10 to you cool down. You’ll need to change the songs occasionally. If you are of a more cerebral bent, your favorite podcasts may be just the thing to keep you walking day after day. Audio books can be a great motivator. If you find a good read, or in this case a good listen, you’ll begin to look forward to you walks to catch the next installment. There are some safety concerns about the inability to hear cars and other potential dangers as you walk, so it’s probably advisable to wear only one ear bud.

Walk with Others

Many people enjoy social interaction while walking. It could be a friend, neighbor or family member. It’s important to select someone at your conditioning level, with the same walking style and pace. Consider varying your walking partner as well. Schedule a walk with someone different on the weekend. Instead of meeting for coffee or going out to eat, call up a friend and suggest a walk in a nearby park or mall. Finding a good walking partner or partners can be a real boon. There will be scheduling issues that may make things a bit more complex but the benefits of having someone to talk too and the additional motivation you’ll provide one another will more than tip the scales to the positive. Having two of you present, should any sort of problem arise, is a plus as well. If your having difficulty finding a partner you may want to consider calling or joining a local walking club.

Pedometer

For those of us who need to work toward a goal to stay motivated, a pedometer is an indispensable piece of walking gear. The process begins by setting goals for yourself. They can be in miles walked, calories burned, weight lost, steps taken, calculated by the day, month or year. These metrics can be monitored and measured by a pedometer. providing instant feed back on your performance against the goals you’ve set for yourself. The level of sophistication of these little gadgets is improving daily. An item call the Fibit was recently introduced. It clips onto your clothing and tracks all your movements all day and night, It uses the information it gathers a to help you determine in the aggregate how much exercise you’ve been getting and how many calories you’ve burnt. Enabling you to vary your food consumption and/or exercise routine in real time. All this data gets automatically synchronized to your computer and then the web through a wireless base station, Once synced, you can view your health dashboard online and get compensation suggestions to keep you in the trim or help you get there.. Cool, No? The fifth generation Ipod nano also incorporates a pedometer, killing two birds with one stone.

Vary your route

Seeing the same sites day in and day out is boring, no question about it. When planning a walking routine, one of your first tasks should be to take a look at Google maps and plot out as many routes as possible ( I’d suggest a minimum of 10) within a short drive distance from your home. You’ll notice I said drive distance. Yup that’s right. Who said that your starting point always has to be your home. Click here to see how the mapping is done. Try to set them up so the scenery is as different and varied as possible. You may also want to consider incorporating a difficulty level ( walking up hills) to a route or two to vary the impact of your walk. Mix the routes as much as possible during the week. Picking them out of a hat would be the best approach.

Bring a Camera Along

For those with an artistic streak, bring along a small digital camera. Commit to taking a minimum of one or two pictures during each walk. How does that help? Well once you start looking at your surroundings with the idea of taking a picture you begin to look at things differently, more intensely. You begin to find even the mundane interesting. You start to notice lighting and consider possible picture compositions, In general you become more aware of where you are and what’s happening around you. The walks fly by and you begin to look forward to the next outing . Keep a photo journal,. if you like,. as a record of you daily walks It helps with that sense of accomplishment that keeps us all motivated.

There are many, many others that I could list but these is just a few of the more interesting and widely effective . As with walking itself, staying motivated takes a bit of time and effort. Time to select the music and load the old Ipod, time to plot out the walking routes, buying the walking equipment but spending that time will pay dividends making your walking routine more pleasant… and who doesn’t want to do pleasant things.

I’d be interested in hearing from you regarding what tips, tricks and equipment you use to while away the hours during your walking excursions. Take a moment and share them in the comments section below..

Technorati Tags: digital camera, exercise motivation, google maps, Ipod, pedometer, walking, walking clubs

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