December 12, 2019

Date: Saturday December 07TH 2019
Time (EST): 7:00 AM – 7:58 AM
Sunrise (EST): 6:54 AM
Location: Homestead Florida
Sky: Sunny & Clear
Temperature: 58°F / 14°C
Dewpoint: 55°F / 13°C
Relative Humidity: 89% Falling
Winds: N 3 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 30.11″ Rising

It’s the long-awaited (for me anyway) Season 13 Premiere of my personal fitness program, and this appears to be the latest start on record – 2 days later than last season’s late start on December 05TH 2018.

Last season – Season 12 – started late and never really took off. I only power-walked on 4 occasions – barely surpassing a total of 10 miles. It was a far cry from Seasons 8, 9, and 10 – when I walked 73.27, 49.28, and 44.82 miles respectively.

My power-walks are purely seasonal due to the fact that I live in deep subtropical South Florida. My seasons coincide with our 7-month “dry” season that starts on or around October 15TH each year and ends on or around May 15TH each year.

It was another cool and crisp morning here in South Florida – our 5TH consecutive morning in the low-to-mid-50s – which is nearly unprecedented – even in early-December. That’s about 10° below normal for a sunrise temperature.

So I kicked-off Season 13 with a blast – a 3.24-mile power-walk in 57 minutes and 23 seconds. That’s a pace of 17 minutes and 43 seconds per mile. (I walked 3.39 MPH.) It was the longest walk to kick-off a new season ever – eclipsing my previous record set just last year with a 2.88-mile walk to kick-off Season 12. It was the longest walk in over 21 months – since my Season 11 finale walk of 3.59 miles.

Some Fitbit heart rate stats – 31 out of 58 minutes in “peak”; 19 out of 58 minutes in “cardio”; 160 BPM at peak; 139 BPM on average.

Walk-A-Thon 13-1

It felt really good to be out there again. As is the overall theme of “The Major’s Walk-A-Thon” since the very start (Christmas Eve 2007) I walked and prayed for my loved ones, for my coworkers, for those who were also walking on the track at the same time as me, and for my fellow citizens of Homestead and Miami-Dade County. I prayed for good health, increasing strength, wisdom from Christ, and peace in our time.

Finally “The Major’s Walk-A-Thon” is dedicated to my dear Dad in Heaven – William Lesley Day (1941-2010). He began to show the symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) – “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” – during the latter part of 2006. He lost the ability to walk on his own shortly after that. He would eventually succumb to the deadly disease 4 years later. God encouraged me to walk for my dad, and follow Christ. I believe that my dad is cheering me on now from Heaven.