Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with walk

How far should I walk my dog?

mola — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:09:54 -0800

How far should I walk my dog? He is a hound mix, 1-year-old, essentially full-grown at about 50 pounds.

Help Tesla walk.

wandering steve — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:04:39 -0800

Help me get my dog to walk again. Tesla is a ~9-month old Golden Retriever, and generally a totally awesome dog. She's quite submissive, and lays down for any approaching dog or human.

Lately, though, she's become a real hassle on walks. She'll go anywhere from a couple of feet to 20 or so, wet, and then stop dead. She simply sits down and kinda grins at whoever is walking her. If you try to give the leash a friendly tug, she lays down. Usually she'll get back up if you head home, but not 100% of the time -- sometimes she'll just stay laying down for a bit. I don't think she's been around the block even in a few weeks now.

On the other hand, if she has 2 people walking with her, she's back to her old, happily-walking self, and goes on her normal-length walks without any real problem.

Extraneous details: she really doesn't love the muggy Wisconsin heat she finds herself in now -- she's much more of a fall/ winter dog. And I can't think of any kind of traumatic encounter she's had that might have caused her to fear walking, so I don't think it's that.

Thinking about nothing in particular...

acidic — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:30:23 -0800

I´m a week into a monthlong solo walk, and I´m consequently spending a lot of time thinking. I´m looking for some interesting ways to structure this thinking... meditation, thought problems, etc. Any suggestions? I´m open to anything, the only constraint being that I don´t have a lot of time to spend on the internet researching mantras or things like that! Im trying to push myself mentally and spiritually and having a difficult time doing that... I seem to dwell on really everyday topics for hours at a time. Thank you!

Is it possible to walk 1,000,000 miles in one's lifetime?

40 Watt — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:46:20 -0800

Is it hypothetically possible for a human to walk one million miles over the course of their lifetime? I've read that the average person walks around 115,000 miles over their lifespan. At a recent birthday party, two of my friends got into a playful debate as to the possibility of walking 1,000,000 or more miles. Is this even possible? Assuming you did nothing but walk from the day you learned how, could you do it?

Walk-in tub recommendations

Thrillhouse — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:19:38 -0800

What is the best option for walk-in tub for elderly neighbor? I have an elderly neighbor who has decided it is in her best interest to invest in a walk-in tub. I told her I'd look into it for her. So far she has seen the Ed McMahon commercials for Premier Walk-In and has called them but they're VERY expensive and in my opinion anyone that advertises by infomercial is always WAAAY overpriced and lacking in quality.

I can't seem to find any reviews online that don't like they were written by the manufacturer.

Does anybody have any experience with these things and/or recommendations?

Am I doing it wrong?

prefpara — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:23:29 -0800

Help me trip less. Maybe it's nothing, but I think there might be something weird going on with the way I walk. Most of the time, I walk normally. However, every now and again, I will take one step in an unremarkable series of steps and land on the outside of my foot (on the ankle). This causes me to look really stupid as I lurch forward, which I don't care about, and sometimes it really hurts, which I do care about. It happened yesterday, and I nearly fell down a flight of stairs. It doesn't seem to be connected to how quickly I'm walking or what shoes I'm wearing.

Is this just something that happens to everyone, or do I need to learn how to walk properly? Or do I just have weak ankles?

Help me with my husband, the Sleepwalking Zombie

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:53:59 -0800

What do I do about a sleepwalking partner? My new husband has started sleepwalking again. He's done it before (at his parents' and at his friends' places). I have to admit that when he told me about the other incidents I found them somewhat amusing (urinating on the wall of the hallway at a friend's house, walking stark naked into his parents' bedroom and explaining HTTP protocols to his rather shocked mother), but now that it's happened to me, I find it really frightening. We've been married four months, and it's happened twice in two weeks.

The first incident was a couple of weeks ago, when he got up and tried opening the sliding glass doors that lead to our patio. At first I thought he was warm and just wanted to open the doors to let the air in, but when I noticed that he didn't seem to know that the doors were locked, I realized that he was sleepwalking. I managed to cajole him back into bed, which took some doing.

The second incident happened on Monday, when he got up and rather roughly threw open the doors to our closet (in this case, these are mirrored sliding glass). He made a lot of noise, and I was worried that he'd break the glass. I asked him what he was doing, he mumbled something, then he wandered into the bathroom, didn't relieve himself but crashed into something else. Then I heard him say "Ow! Ow! Ow!" but he came out of the bathroom, none the worse for wear (although he managed to break the toilet seat).

Of course, in the morning, he remembers nothing, but apologizes when I tell him of his nocturnal adventures.

He just turned 35, and my Googling seems to indicate that he's kinda old to be sleepwalking. What can I do to make sure he doesn't hurt himself? I noticed that I have to call him by his full first name to get his attention (pet names or nicknames don't work).

I can't get rid of the mirrored stuff -- we're renting. I don't want him to dose up on sleeping bills or any of that.

Any suggestions on how to cope with my new Semi-Lucid Zombie Guy? What works for the sleepwalkers -- and their partners -- out in MefiLand?

I'd like to know when it is safe to walk on Park Ave.

nomad73 — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:12:46 -0800

Why are there certain intersections in Manhattan that do not have "Walk/Don't Walk" signs? Virtually every intersection in NYC has the Walk/Don't Walk signs which tell pedestrians when it is and when it is not safe to cross. However, there is a stretch of Park Avenue, roughly between 47th and 58th streets, that do not have these signs. And being that Park Avenue is very wide, it would seem a weird place to omit them. Is it for aesthetic reasons? That section of Park is mostly office buildings and few (if any) ritzy residences that might shun such lights.

Does anyone know why these lights are absent on this section of Park Ave?

Actress in Walk Hard?

null terminated — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 18:44:15 -0800

Who is the woman in this red band Walk Hard clip? She's wearing blue and says "Come on Dewey, join the party" about 17 seconds in. IMDB didn't turn up anything.

Photos from A Walk in the Woods?

jclovebrew — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:07:22 -0800

Did Bill Bryson and/or Stephen Katz take any photos during their Walk in the Woods? Are they online anywhere? I'd love to see them.

Please help me learn to run.

sequential — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:13:00 -0800

Please help me learn to run. For starters, I am built like a sprinter: big, muscular legs. I have never been a particularly good distance runner.

Next, I have a variety of foot related issues, mostly corrected through the use of the proper footwear and foot care. I have wide feet (EEEE). I over pronate. I have a history of blisters and calluses.

As part of my weight loss efforts, I began walking. Now I can walk at 4.4+ miles per hour, at steep inclines, for very long periods of time. I can fast walk at about 5 miles per hour, though I struggle to maintain speed at steeper inclines. Though I continue to train for fast walking, it's particularly stressful on my hip flexors.

Because of my schedule, I primarily workout on a treadmill. It is not clear to me if this is causing any issues.

I've tried adding running into my routine at various times, but within 30 to 60 seconds, no matter how much I warm up or stretch, either my shin splints act up (most common) or my hip flexors act up (less common). Though I have run a mile once since March (at 10'49") and a quarter mile (at 2'15"), I have not been able to repeat either performance.

After nearly six months of struggling to start running, it struck me: I don't know how to run. I am strong cardiovascularly (VO2max of 61) and have an abundance of endurance. How would you suggest I go about learning to run? I have looked into couch-to-5k programs, but none of them specifically address the fact that running is physically painful to me.

I am open to the idea of hiring a running coach, but wouldn't begin to know where to look or what to look for. I have hired a personal trainer to work on, for lack of a better phrase, my "smaller muscles"; think core muscles and secondary muscle groups that aren't part of the mirror or vanity muscles many people work on (hip flexors chief among them). I would love a specific training program that includes resistance training, stretches, warm up, cool down, and a variety of routines to choose from. (By variety, I mean a short work out, a long work out, and some flexibility to do HIIT or other types of work outs.) Most of all, though, I need to learn to the proper form.

For what it's worth, I am medically cleared to run by my physical therapist and my primary care physician.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Pain under foot when waklking.

PowerCat — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:14:30 -0800

Yesterday I started feeling pain when I walk. It happens when my foot is bent upwards, before taking your foot off the surface. The pain happens right in the middle of 4 and 5 on this picture : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Foot.png

What could it be? Should I see a physiotherapist?

I like to walk when I think, but this frequently leads to distractions. What to do?

sid — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 17:44:12 -0800

I like to walk when I think, but this activity frequently leads to distractions. What to do? Whenever a new idea or revelation strikes me, I get the impulse to go for a little stroll. Moving seems to stimulate my brain and lead to fresh mindstorms. However, I am an easy to distract person and walking about frequently leads to a lengthy diversion. Also, I get strange looks at work when I go for aimless jaunts through the cubicles, or get drawn into pointless conversations with colleagues. How can I scratch my locomotory itch (and presumably give my mind the stimulation it seemingly gets from my body's motility) without actually walking about?

How should a walkout be handled?

stormygrey — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 05:00:36 -0800

What should happen when a customer maliciously walks out on his bill? I continue to work in the service industry in Atlanta. Blech. Anyhow, it is current practice almost everywhere that if a customer leaves without paying the server has to cover the tab.

Now, upon thought, this seems very wrong. The rest. picks up all kinds of loss, the kitchen burns food, customers decide they don't like something, beer gets spilled. As a buisness loss is built into the budget, so why does the particular loss get turned into something else? Now, I guess you could say its because the server shouldn't let them leave, but first if someone is determined to leave, they are going to leave, second do we convince our table to really like their overdone hamburger?

If you work in a retail store and someone shoplifts, it isn't taken out of your paycheck (is it?). It just seems illegal to me, especially since its one of those unwritten rules that never shows up in personnell manual's, its just not in the employment contract that a wage earning employee would share in the losses when we don't precisely share in the profits.

What do you think?

"Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time"

Memo — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 17:02:10 -0800

How do I walk 25 kilometers and survive? There's I've been invited by a friend to an event that includes a religious procession at the start of it. I'm no religious man but it's really cheap and I get to visit lots of places after the procession.

The procession is supossed to be 25 Km long and includes uphill paths.

The problem is, I'm really out of shape. While no overweight, I've neglected doing any kind of exercise for years. I'm somewhat scared of suddenly fainting or being completely unable to reach the end of the journey.

Any advice for surviving this?

How long can food be unrefrigerated during a walk home from the grocery store?

mrkohrea — Sun, 28 May 2006 14:11:02 -0800

I have this idea that I want to walk to and from the grocery store to have an excuse to take a long walk (perhaps as long as an hour each way). How long can the walk be before the food becomes unsafe to eat? I assume that refrigerated proteins have the shortest walk time (fish, eggs, chicken, beef). What about frozen foods? In addition to safety, how about taste? For example, I believe that orange juice tastes worse when exposed to heat. How does the outside temperature affect the walk time? Would buying some kind of insulated bag extend the walk time significantly?

How serious is a 40 mile walk?

Acey — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 14:06:36 -0800

My friends and I are considering participating in the Keswick to Barrow 40 mile scenic walk (for charity). We are in varying states of fitness. Are we insane? We are all around 19 years old. Some people smoke a lot and get no exercise, some (like me) are non-smokers and walk for 30 mins to an hour a day but otherwise are just as unfit, and some are in a fairly good level of fitness. On top of that, I have 4 exams in the two weeks following the walk, the first is 2 days after the event. The walk itself is detailed on the website: it is 40 miles in one day across some pretty hilly landscape.

I am of the opinion that there is no way this is going to work, and that the unfit friends of mine are naive to even think they can do it. They think that trying is better than not, I'm not so sure. I'm all for the charity, but this is madness!

Where did you dig up that old fossil?

-harlequin- — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 19:47:31 -0800

Pint-size paleontology: Where in WA state (Seattle area), is a good place for an 8-year-old to be able to look for and (probably) find fossils? (And take some home) Mega bonus points for:
- Within an hour's drive of Seattle.
- A good chance of finding fossils that are recognisable as such, or large, or distinctive, (ie rather than indistinct specks).
- Within an hour's walk from the road
- No permission needed, or very straightforward/easy to get permission.
- Being allowed to take some home.
- Nice wilderness / nature area

Does such a place exist? Any recommendations?

Looking for ideas for a day-trip to NYC

dicaxpuella — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 09:24:01 -0800

Looking for ideas for a day-trip to NYC (more inside) I'm looking for a good route for a sorta "walking tour" where I can just park the car and spend the day wandering around Manhattan. I'll be driving into the city from PA with my mom and aunt (two hip ladies) and we just wanted to have a little fun day in the city, absorbing some food/culture/shopping. I do realize that we can probably see and do less than 1% of what's there, but I'm relatively unfamiliar with NYC, so I wanted to just get a good taste. Also, I have no pretentions, we'll do touristy and non-touristy stuff alike. Thanks.