Quick Hits

 When I travel, I often will forgo walking in the dark in a strange town. While staying at a hotel with a “fitness room” I will use the treadmill instead. My usual pace is almost exactly 3 mph, so that is typically the pace that I set the machine at.

Two nights ago I did so, and just before my one hour walk was over I placed both hands around the bars that measure the pulse, or heart rate, at which I was performing. 97, after nearly an hour. I doubt it, but I’ll take it.

Last night, in Vancouver, I did likewise. After nearly completing the hour of walking I placed my hands on the two bars, 127. Sounds a little closer to reality, but again, I accepted it as my reality.

Tonight, after a long day on the train, we ate dinner and returned to our room. I immediately changed clothes and headed to the fitness room.

Upon arrival, I started the treadmill up and, much to my chagrin, found that the units were being measured in the metric system. While stepping lively I began mentally adjusting the pace to what I thought would be close to the equivalent to 3 mph. Let’s see… 3/.62, carry the one, then divide that into 60… somewhere around 5km/h.

It didn’t feel that I was walking fast enough so I walked for only 1/2 a kilometer, then grabbed the pulse bars, 160! Great, I’m getting a readout in metric beats per minute, so I don’t even know if I’m tired!

I cranked the speed up to 5.3 km/h for the remainder of my hour routine.

When my kids were young I used to give them “word problems” while we drove around town. You know- Three men sat at the bus stop. How many shoes were there? As they got older the questions got more complicated- Three men, a woman and her dog waited at the bus stop. How many toe nails did the group have?

So now it’s the grandkids turn- (Without using a calculator) A 76 year old man walks on a treadmill for ten minutes at 5km/h, then increases the rate to 5.3km/h for 50 seconds. How many miles does he walk in 60 metric minutes if he wears size 12.5 shoes?

What the heck, my kids can answer too, but no calculators!

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