The Major’s Walk-A-Thon

Date: Wednesday December 05TH 2018
Time (EST): 8:15 AM – 9:06 AM
Sky: Mostly Cloudy
Temperature: 67°F
Dewpoint: 58°F
Relative Humidity: 71%
Winds: NW 15 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 30.08″ Rising

On a cool and crisp morning of a federal holiday (“National Day Of Mourning” for President George H. W. Bush) I decided that it was the perfect time to kickoff the 12TH season of “The Major’s Walk-A-Thon” yesterday morning. I did so with a 2.88-mile power-walk in 51 minutes and 13 seconds.

I’ve been blogging about my personal fitness program since I started it 11 years ago this Christmas. It was inspired by a guy I never met – the younger brother of my Executive Pastor at the time. He walked around his neighborhood some 1,000 miles away, and he prayed for everyone. When he returned home he blogged about it. That inspired me to do the same. I intentionally walked my neighborhood for the first time in my life at high noon on Christmas Eve of 2007 to spend time with God, to pray for my neighbors, and to get fit. I had quit drinking alcohol nearly two months prior to that, and I would soon quit smoking cigarettes forever (after 30 years) about 4 months later.

So here it is – Season 12. This walk is seasonal. It generally starts in October or November and ends in April or May. I only walk in the Fall, Winter, and Spring – because I live in South Florida – where it’s unbearably hot, humid, wet, and buggy for about 6 months out of the year. Last season (11) was a bust. I only walked 6 times for a total of 15.12 miles. That was way down from the previous two seasons when I walked between 45 and 50 miles per year. Season 8 was the best. I walked over 73 miles !

Peppered all throughout the 11-year history of this blog you’ll see historical accounts of “The Major’s Walk-A-Thon”. When this blog was dark for more than half of this current decade I blogged about my walks over on Facebook. Sometimes I tweet about them. I won’t blog about my walks on every occasion, but I’ll keep you updated throughout the season as to my progress.

Finally I dedicate “The Major’s Walk-A-Thon” to my dad – William Lesley Day (1941-2010). He developed ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) – “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” – in 2006. He lost the ability to walk on his own shortly after that. God encouraged me to walk for my dad, and follow Him. I believe that my dad is cheering me on now from Heaven.