The Dr Scholl’s Heel Wedge Effect

“0” Day Count = 6

Location : FTC MM 22.8

Weather :

Hi-Ho!  Hi-Ho!  Off to hike I go …

If I counted correctly, last night was my sixth night at the Garden Inn Homestead Motel (GIHM).  Let’s take a look at that.

If for no other reason, I would choose to stay at the GIHM to experience the motel’s abundance of international guests.

It’s inexpensive, less than $65/night, meaning …

• The facilities are acceptable.  Clean and maintained, but weather worn by perhaps 70 years of direct, glaring sun; hurricanes; and daily use.
• Perhaps a dozen Hispanic tradesmen/ laborers filled the courtyard each evening, chatting quietly, their amicable chortling occasionally punctuated the evening air.
• In the extensive self-serve breakfast area, I encountered a young Latvian couple with an infant, numerous German families, several older Chinese couples, with the remainder being English and Spanish speaking families.
• Several motel staff seem to live on-site, meaning help is always at hand.

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I drafted the above while eating breakfast 🥞 ☕.

ICYC, my Merrill’s are packed in my bag.  My left foot is still too swollen to comfortably wear shoes … even without socks.  So, it’s Crocs with toe socks for now.

Now, Imma call a Lyft and get this party re-started.  Let’s saunter …

Update : Location FTC MM 25.3

The Lyft dropped me off at FTC MM 22.8 a few minutes after 1200.  After donning my pack and getting the straps just right, I initiated Garmin tracking at 1207 and continued northward.

I wanted to track my MPH, to see if the six nights spent in Homestead were beneficial.

• Garmin’s spot MPH (every 10 minutes) updates aren’t reliable, IMO.  They seem to default to 1.87 MPH, 2.49 MPH, 3.11 MPH, and — my favorite , 0.00 MPH.
• The FarOut app displays the trail ahead and current position on the trail (in real time) but doesn’t calculate MPH traveled.

What to do?

The easiest way to calculate MPH was by walking for an hour and comparing the start and stop MM readings.  It’s been an hour.

Survey says … “2.5 miles between 1207 and 1307, or 2.5 MPH”.

Note : Approximating MPH as Km/H couldn’t be simpler, multiply MPH by 2.0 and add 32, or 37 Km/H.

Initially, I started strong and likely exceeded 3.0 MPH.  Unfortunately, fidgeting with my straps, Audible book reader, and brief stops for water likely hurt the overall speed, when averaged over the entire timeframe.

When speaking with my trek support staff last night, i.e., Amanda (my wife), we discussed walking just ~ 5 miles per day, until I can comfortably wear both shoes and socks.  If I stick to that recommendation, I’ve already completed half the miles I intend to complete today.

Looking 2.5 miles back, the buzzards are circling above a couple of bird watchers.  Well, better them than me.

Will update again, later this evening.