I can also pedal faster on my stationary bike than when on the road - no wind or other real time environmental influences...

Good on you! Building general fitness is a good thing, not only for surviving emergencies, but also for a long and healthy life.

I would suggest also working in some upper body and general strength exercise. Having some upper body muscle can be a good thing for getting out of trouble. When I need mental encouragement, I always think of those photos of the sinking cruise ship, and imagining what it would take to climb up, over, and out of it.

I live in a canyon/ravine here in SOCAL and the walk in any direction is uphill. In one direction it's 20 minutes to the top and then another 10 minutes to the shopping center. Roughly one hour round trip if I don't delay at the shopping center. That 20 minutes uphill gets my heart-rate way up and then another 40 minutes of cruising and cool-down.

Walking distance, even relatively short distances like 3 miles is great, but don't forget swimming. Knowing how to swim and being in good swimming condition lends a lot of confidence to many activities around water.

excellent idea on walking ...

and let me make this suggestion.

BUY a pedometer ... something that counts steps.
I know that at first glance the idea seems somewhat ridiculous. But I use one now - and have found it to be very effective. The REASON it works ... is that pretty soon you find yourself making a daily goal to do a certain number of steps (say 10,000 steps in a day, or 12,000). By the way, for average work days, its not so easy to get to 10,000 steps!!

anyway, the point is that the pedometer gives you an accurate number to work from. Pretty soon, you find yourself getting up off your office chair and walking around - just so you can increase your step count. After that, you start taking the LONG way to every conceivable destination ... just to increase the step count. And basically, you wind up with a whole lifestyle change where you are just doing MUCH more walking!!

cheers,
Pete

I set the treadmill for about 3.5% grade to account for the difference between the treadmill and "outside." The motor running the belt underfoot is equivalent to getting a downhill assist.

What I have learned so far
- prepare for the sun ( hat, sunglasses, sunscreen)
- carry water & food
- get better socks
- jacket/ umbrella

Great idea, Teacher!

Someone once said that it's hard not to be a good mood when you're in the woods, so I regularly hike the local trails for the same purposes - training - but also for good mental health. (It's awesome family time too!) For a couple of years, day hikes were a near daily routine for me, and I've never felt healthier - or more prepared. But the realities of work, raising two busy kids, blah, blah.... shifted my focus and I fell out of that routine. I really need to get back to it! Thanks for the reminder!

I take my day hike/get home bag with me most of the time. I like the added challenge of weight training and the slower pace, but also love the option of sitting down for a brew-up. You could call them mock bug-out hikes, but the truth is that I don't expect to ever have to bug out on foot. If we ever do though, it's nice to know that I can haul my gear all day in off-road and less than ideal conditions, even when I've got the two backpackiddos and their gear as well.

Not mention that actually taking my pack and using my gear along the way is a great way to shake down my gear! The added bonus is confidence and peace of mind!

lessons learned over multiple 6+ mile days: its slow, get good shoes and oh so much water.

It's interesting how the entire attitude toward walking and physical exertion in general differs between the West and developing countries. Like someone said before, our bodies were made to walk, yet us lucky folks living a sedentary lifestyle often struggle with that concept. I am continually amazed by people who'd rather drive to a grocery store just behind the corner than take a quick walk that probably takes less time than getting in and out of the car.

It has been a sobering experience to spend time with people in the less developed regions of the world who can't afford the privilege of a comfy modern life. Ordinary people who routinely walk 5, 10 miles to work every day. In heat, rain, cold, sandstorms, whatever. Frail old ladies carrying huge burdens that would break the back of any fitness buff working out at an air-conditioned gym.

I guess long distance walking is really more about the mental attitude than physical fitness alone. Unless you have some sort of disability you're probably capable of walking much, much farther than you may imagine. The chances are, you just don't know because you've never tried it.

Get in some basic shape to begin with, do some all-around cardio and strength training and 10 miles shouldn't be considered anything more than a casual stroll. Once you get the hang of it, why not try a proper day hike - 8 to 10 hours is perfectly manageable for any reasonably healthy individual. It is a great way to spend time outdoors and helps promote a healthy lifestyle that will reward you in many ways.

"It has been a sobering experience to spend time with people in the less developed regions of the world who can't afford the privilege of a comfy modern life. Ordinary people who routinely walk 5, 10 miles to work every day. In heat, rain, cold, sandstorms, whatever. Frail old ladies carrying huge burdens that would break the back of any fitness buff working out at an air-conditioned gym."

I AGREE with you 100% !!!!
It was a wake-up call for me when I saw how much WALKING people do in Africa. To discover that sick people were walking 10-15 miles just to get to a medical clinic ... it was one of those "life changing" experiences!! Especially when I realized that half the time when the sick people reached the clinic - there wasn't even any medicine for them.

We do tend to act as if "walking" is some kind of burden that is thrust upon us ... in the Western world. My own conclusion, from seeing people in the "underdeveloped countries" was that long-distance walking was the SINGLE BEST thing that they were doing ... to keep their bodies strong ... to eliminate a LOT of problems caused by dietary imbalances ... and to LENGTHEN their lifespans.

HOW ODD that we will pay large sums of money in America ... to buy extraneous fitness equipment (home gyms that we only use occasionally), OR join organizations like Jenny Craig, OR get medical treatments for illnesses caused by over-consumption of food.

All we need to do ... IS WALK!

Pete