IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is an extremely popular and clever children's book written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond.  The book tells a story about what will happen if a  mouse is given a cookie. The story leads to a chain of events that eventually leads him back to requesting a cookie.  For example, If you give a mouse a cookie, he will probably ask for a glass of milk.  If you give a mouse a glass of milk he will probably ask for a straw and so it goes....

I experienced a chain of events today which made me think about this book.

If a salesman calls on a customer, he will probably get a local recommendation about where to eat lunch.
If a salesman acts on the suggestion on where to eat lunch, he might discover a nearby bike shop to browse in.
If a salesman accidentally discovers a bike shop, he might discover a booklet highlighting all the trails (bicycle/hiking) in the state.
If a salesman learns about a nearby trail, he might walk 5 miles to get to that trail from his hotel.
If a salesman walks 5 miles to the trail, he might just stretch out that walk to twenty miles throughout the Kalamazoo area.
If a salesman walks twenty miles at a brisk pace, he just might burn more than 3000 calories.
If a salesman burns 3000+ calories on a Wednesday afternoon, he just might find a very promising weigh-in awaits him on Saturday.

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It seems like each day brings a new discovery about the type of information recorded by MayMyWalk Application.  Just before I published this blog entry, I discovered that the application records the relative elevation during the entire workout.  If I understand this chart correctly, the minimum elevation that I travelled yesterday was 755 feet above sea level and the maximum was 971 feet.  I am guessing that the 663 feet gain is meant to be the aggregate amount that I walked 'uphill' over the course of 20 miles.

beautiful paved trail discovered in Kalamazoo, Michigan

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 Wednesday MENU

breakfast   Quaker Instant Oatmeal Apple & Cinnamon                     800 calories
lunch         Trail Head Restaurant BLT half sandwich, chicken soup  660 calories
dinner        SUBWAY 9-Grain Wheat Bread Roast Beef Foot Long   640 calories
SNACK     QUAKER OATS chocolate chip granola bars (five)         500 calories

TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED 2600 CALORIES
                        

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CALORIES BURNED

20 MILE WALK, KALAMAZOO, 284 minutes
VERY BRISK PACE                                         3607 CALORIES


Wednesday NET CALORIES 1007 DEFECIT

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fitbit day 35

 40247 STEPS

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A final word

Today, Thursday, October 8,  marks just seven days since I completed the epic day hike to the top of Half Dome.  That I successfully completed this hike has affected me in ways that I cannot quite express completely.  One thing is has done, is given me confidence in my physical abilities. Yesterday when I wanted to check out a local trail in Kalamazoo - I discovered the the trail head was five miles from my hotel.  So, naturally, I walked there.  This would not have been my idea just a few weeks ago. One climb up and down Half Dome can add a lot of confidence to a person - it sure did for me.