Category: walking

Six hours in Edinburgh

My wife and I went on a ten-day cruise around the UK in late spring 2023, with stops in Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England. Whenever I could, I tried to explore on foot. On our first stop, I did a nice urban hike around Edinburgh, Scotland. My last visit to the city was back in 2006. I wanted to visit Arthur’s Seat and the Royal Mile. I also had a mission to get my wife a new folding cane; I forgot her cane when we left home zero dark early for the airport. Well, at least we remembered our passports!

The day started with dismal weather; I was glad for a rain jacket and wool gloves. I caught a tender from the boat into the harbor and a bus from the cruise ship terminal into the city. In hindsight, I should have walked from the pier and skipped the expensive bus ride offered by the cruise line. Oh well, another lesson learned.

I started from Queen Charlotte Square, intending to wander over to Arthur’s Seat. The city was hectic, but I got off the beaten path quickly. I navigated using the Gaia mapping app; it worked well for the entire trip. My first stop was Greyfriars Kirkyard Cemetery; I found the design of the old gravestones interesting.

I spent ten minutes exploring. I realized I needed a second breakfast and a toilet. The University of Edinburgh was close, so that would be my next stop. I found respite at Levels Cafe; it made for a nice break. It’s part of the University of Edinburgh; there was an excellent food selection and good coffee. I had a touch of jet lag; a large Americano cleared my head. I mainly eat a plant-based diet but I couldn’t resist an almond croissant this morning. I’m a flexitarian when it comes to sweets.

Suitably fortified, I was off to Holyrood Park and Arthur’s Seat. It’s pretty easy to spot.

Holyrood Park, the way to Arthur's Seat (and a good spot for running) — Holyrood Park, the way to Arthur’s Seat (and a good spot for running)

There are multiple approaches to Arthur’s Seat as seen on my Gaia map.

I went about halfway around the circumference of the park and then started up just past Raven’s Rock. I missed stopping at Hutton’s Section, an area I had explored back in 2006. I’m not certain but I think the trail was closed here. I took a reasonably direct ascent via rough steps on the way up. I took a much gentler path on the descent.

Scottish Slot Canyon - most of the path up was better than this! — Scottish Slot Canyon – most of the path up was better than this!

On top of Arthur's Seat — On top of Arthur’s Seat

I like exploring volcanic areas; Arthur’s Seat is the remnant of a volcano from 330 million years ago. Scottish geologist James Hutton used the rock in this area to support his theory that we can infer ancient geology from modern rocks. I focused on geology on my first trip here in 2006. Today my goal was a walk in the park, hoping to get an overview of the city. Sadly, the weather didn’t cooperate. Still, it was a worthwhile urban hike.

Descent from Arthur's Seat — Descent from Arthur’s Seat

Next, I headed to Edinburgh City Center. I walked up and down the Royal Mile with a side trip to a Boots pharmacy at the train station to see if I could find a cane. No cane but I found out that I needed a medical mobility shop, and I located a shop that was on my way back to the ship. An unintended benefit, I saw the Azuma or British Rail Class 800 high speed train that travels between London and Edinburgh as part of the London North Eastern Railway. It can travel up to 200 km/hour.

I headed back up to the Royal Mile via one of the many alleys of Edinburgh. These are convenient connectors that I enjoyed exploring, I wan’t always sure where I would pop out.

I stopped at a statue of Adam Smith, an economist I can understand. Perhaps the only economist I can understand.

Nearby is a statue of philosopher David Hume. Hutton, Smith, and Hume were three significant contributors to the Scottish Enlightenment – an 18th-century group that advocated for rational thinking. Here’s a better description from Wikipedia:

“…. the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment asserted the importance of human reason combined with a rejection of any authority that could not be justified by reason. In Scotland, the Enlightenment was characterized by a thoroughgoing empiricism and practicality where the chief values were improvement, virtue, and practical benefit for the individual and society as a whole.”

Central Edinburgh is a busy place. I was impressed with the number of bicyclists I saw on the major roads such as this intrepid soul:

Back to reality, it was time to head back towards my ship. One doesn’t want to be left behind in Edinburgh. So, I beat feet on a brisk walk to obtain a cane. On the way, I came across some giraffe statues, I felt as if I was back in Tanzania.

I made it to Edinburgh Mobility Solutions, they were great. After I got Mary Ellen a nice folding cane, I sat right down and wrote a review of this helpful business. I don’t know about you but for me it’s now or never when it comes to writing a review.

Next, I headed towards the water on a random walk. Along the way, I happened upon Edinburgh Community Bookshop. Yes, I did buy two books and a map of greater New York, circa 1964.

Next, it was time to head to the harbor. But, slight problem, I wasn’t certain exactly where I came to shore. So, I made my way towards the Leith harbor area where the retired royal yacht Britannia resides. There were a few other interesting ships docked here. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the place where I started. Fortunately, I didn’t have far to go.

Pipe laying construction ship Apache II, Leith Harbor

After a twenty minute walk, I was back to the tender embarkation point for the 15 minute trip back to the ship. It was a satisfying urban hike covering about 12 miles (20 km). Next, I’ll cover a walk in Invergarden, Scotland.

View of Edinburgh, Arthur's Seat on the left — View of Edinburgh, Arthur’s Seat on the left

Ten Years of Walking

“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.”
Warren Buffett

I’ve got a habit. I walk, hike and run a fair amount every day. Perhaps my favorite activity is to hike – at some speed between a trot and a gallop. I also love numbers and have used a pedometer to keep track of my miles walked each day for the last ten years: 2012 to 2021. I made spreadsheets each year and have looked at the data trends over each week and each month of a year. This is an update from my previous post Quantifying Hiking and Running Part 1 with eight years of data.

Thus, I have now accumulated ten years of walking data:

Table 1: Yearly Mileage
Year	Miles	Age
2021	3001	63
2020	4347	62
2019	3174	61
2018	3387	60
2017	3286	59
2016	2754	58
2015	3117	57
2014	3008	56
2013	2634	55
2012	2470	54

Table 1 shows the sum of my walking (in miles) for each month of the last ten years:

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year Total
2021	259	233	280	227	241	342	238	259	236	240	212	234	3001
2020	235	220	261	283	490	589	580	607	263	251	268	300	4347
2019	301	241	289	242	238	250	273	269	276	280	274	242	3175
2018	318	271	315	252	304	315	272	338	229	301	240	232	3387
2017	256	296	298	259	286	295	288	283	214	291	281	240	3287
2016	187	188	193	215	206	225	238	267	267	305	269	194	2754
2015	245	258	260	244	266	281	247	306	255	250	237	269	3118
2014	224	211	239	206	212	253	282	302	265	267	275	273	3009
2013	210	190	208	229	243	238	256	220	221	209	199	211	2634
2012	147	201	184	192	242	238	245	190	200	213	202	214	2470
Average	238	231	253	235	273	303	292	304	243	261	246	241	3118

Table 1: Miles walked per month, 2012 to 2021

I also like to see the cumulative amount I have walked each month over the course of a year. Table 2 summarizes my walking progress each month over the course of a year:

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2021	259	492	772	999	1240	1582	1820	2079	2315	2555	2767	3001
2020	235	455	716	999	1489	2078	2658	3265	3528	3779	4047	4347
2019	301	542	831	1073	1311	1561	1834	2103	2379	2659	2933	3175
2018	318	589	904	1156	1460	1775	2047	2385	2614	2915	3155	3387
2017	256	552	850	1109	1395	1690	1978	2261	2475	2766	3047	3287
2016	187	375	568	783	989	1214	1452	1719	1986	2291	2560	2754
2015	245	503	763	1007	1273	1554	1801	2107	2362	2612	2849	3118
2014	224	435	674	880	1092	1345	1627	1929	2194	2461	2736	3009
2013	210	400	608	837	1080	1318	1574	1794	2015	2224	2423	2634
2012	147	348	532	724	966	1205	1450	1640	1840	2053	2255	2470
												31182	Total

Table 2: Cumulative Miles Walked per Month, 2012 to 2021

The total over ten years is 31,182 miles or 50,186 km. That’s an average of 260 miles or 418 km a month.

A few things worth pointing out:

First, I had my biggest walking year in 2020 – during the COVID pandemic I walked 4347 miles (6996 km). The reason for this high mileage was I entered the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 1000K race. In this four month long virtual race, I covered 1907 miles ( 3069 km) from May through August. Another way I covered miles in 2020 was by walking and running every street in my town. One reason I covered many miles was to see what it would be like to hike the Appalachian Trail – a goal of mine that I thought I might do in 2020 or 2021.

Next, for six years I covered was in the 3000 mile (3001-3387 mi; 4829-5451 km) range. I first broke 3000 miles in 2014 and again in 2015. I was able to cover more than 3000 miles again from 2017 to the present. I started trail running in 2017. I was able to complete the Badger Mountain 50 mile race; it was slow and steady. Another 2017 challenge was finishing the Issy Alps 50k, that was far tougher than the Badger Mountain race for me.

In 2018, I tried twice to run 100 mile races: Badger Mountain 100 (69 miles) and Bryce Canyon 100 (81 miles). While I didn’t complete them, I learned much. I still think I may do a 100 mile distance,, however, my current thought would be to walk rather than run. From 2017 to the present, I have had some great hiking, fastpacking and backpacking adventures with my friends.

My favorite year was 2015. I achieved no major milestones in running, backpacking or hiking. What I did accomplish was to recover from surgery on my esophagus to treat achalasia, a rare disease that I have. Achalasia has been a challenge for me. There is no cure or much known about the disease. Thanks to the work of my medical team, lead by thoracic surgeon Dr. Brian Louie, I was able to return to a vigorous life. My view going forward after my January, 2015 surgery has been “carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” (“Seize the day, put very little trust in the future.”) As an achalasia patient, I am grateful to be able to explore the world by covering as many miles as I can.

I had some low mile years. Why? For 2012 and 2013, the answer was full-time work got in the way of walking. I was able to retire from full-time work in September, 2013. I did some part-time work in 2014 and 2015 as well as attending college to learn biology, From 2016 to the present, I have been active in volunteer work at some non-profits but have much more time to spend outdoors.

My worst year was 2016. It wasn’t the lowest mile year but it was the most annoying. I kept injuring my right knee, then my right hip, then my left knee, then my right knee. I think there were two things that caused these problems. I was running a lot on hard surfaces ( I was training to run the Philadelphia Marathon with my brother). More important, the muscles of my right knee were much weaker than my left knee – which I figured out with the help of my doctor in December, 2016. So, after 2016 I minimized running on hard surfaces, started strength training and switched from cushioned shoes to zero drop trail running shoes. The important lesson for me: Avoid injuries if you want to cover miles.

Figure 1: Cumulative monthly miles for selected years 2012, and 2018 to 2021

Figure 1 illustrates how I’ve done over the last ten years. The bottom set of points are from 2012; my lowest mileage year. The top set of points are for 2020; my highest mileage year. There are three sets of data in a range in between the lowest and highest. These are years 2018, 2019, and 2020.

I want to write in the future about my daily tracking methods – many times the fact that I was behind my goal got me motivated to do more miles. What I do every single day is how I cover many miles in a year. Another useful topic is how walking has affected my health; in general it’s been very positive but I ought to write my lessons learned.

Let me close by thanking all my friends and family who have put in miles with me. I always enjoy the company; hopefully you do as well. Of course, sometimes I have an excessive number of words per mile! Well, I have to dash off now; got a few miles to cover today.

Running my town

I did an interesting project in April, 2020 to keep in shape while staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. I ran and walked every street and a few trails in my town of Lake Forest Park, Washington.

I ended up doing 15 runs over 22 days for a total of 159.8 miles. My shortest run was 4 miles and the longest was over 21 miles. The average was about 7.2 miles. Our town has a few hills; my elevation gain was 10,730 feet (about the height of Mount Baker). For every run, I knew the area I wanted to explore but not the detailed path. The first thing I had to do was hike up the hill of our street and decide whether to go right or left?

Along the way, I discovered lots of interesting places in my town and visited areas I’d never been to. I talked to a number of great people (from a distance), discovered some great views, enjoyed the spring beauty and had a lot of fun. Here’s a few images, there are more in my Run LFP 2020 album on Flickr.