Walking things

[ladyofastolat]

- I've been recording my walking with MapMyWalk on my phone. Any user of the site can designate a stretch of A to B as a "course." There are no courses at all on most of my longer walks, but my regular seafront circuit includes two. What this means is that anyone whose walk includes this "course" gets their time recorded and put on a league table. However, league table ranking makes no sense at all. I always seem to get 10 points whenever I walk a course, regardless of time. A couple of weeks ago, when looking at my walk data, I noticed that I held "fastest time" and "most consistent" on one of these courses, and also had "Women's leader overall," with 31 points, despite the fact that points always come in 10s. A few days later, although I still held the other awards, someone else was now women's leader with 43 points, despite their fastest time (the only one recorded on the league table) being considerably slower than me.

I'm not bothered by being beaten - honest! - but I am bothered by the fact that I cannot understand the points system. It makes no sense at all! (And, yes, I did make the same complaint even when I was winning.) I think the site was invented by someone who has a vivid understanding of how the minds of points-oriented people work, and has deliberately worked to mess with those minds, no doubt cackling evilly as they do so.

I should add here that of course the fact that my seafront circuit contains 2 courses does not at all cause me to pick up the pace when I get to them, to try to earn a personal record. Neither has it caused me to alter my default route so that it always contains the Steps of Death, which I previously only went on when doing my shortest circuits. Neither do I charge up the Steps of Death as fast as I can, risking utter doom. Of course I would never do such things.



- I am always amused by the fact that whenever it is possible to cut a corner on a country walk, even if by doing so you save mere inches, people will do so. You can be on a path literally miles from any vehicular access, where the only people who ever go there are people specifically out to Do A Walk - i.e. to cover lots of miles merely for pleasure. Even so, whenever the marked path turns a sharp corner, you'll find a well-worn shortcut cutting that corner, as people try to take 3 steps off their 12 mile walk. And, yes, I do exactly the same.

- The black ladrador thing started as a bit of a joke, but it's true! It really is! The coastal path really is dominated by black labradoids, in a way that other island footpaths are not. Yesterday, I was walking in Ryde during my lunch break: many and varied dogs in the backstreets; black labradoids and nothing but black labradoids when my path took me along the coastal path. The Ridgeway, in contrast, was markedly free of the things, but riddled with golden labradoids, a being I've hardly ever seen on island paths. I have also noticed that sighthounds always come in twos - I have no seldom seen one alone that I will claim 30 points when I finally see one - as do Cavalier King Charles spaniels. All other spaniels always come alone.

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

If I ran MapMyWalk, that's *exactly* how I would run the points system. And I would run devilish experiments to find out how fast I could get people to zoom around my mazes by leaving cheese points for them at specified locations...

My Mum has a single sighthound (Flash, the ancient bossy chocoholic whippet) but she's the only one-sighthound person I know, I think. Most people have at least two. You can get t-shirts : 'greyhounds: one is never enough'...

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I am now Suspicious. I did jokingly say that I suspected Pellinor of being behind a points system, which he had designed purely to provoke me, but you're a much more likely candidate, given your line of work. *narrows eyes suspiciously*

[girlspell.livejournal.com]

I'm a walker too! I live 2 miles from the university (my job). So I walk to work. Round trip everyday. That's 4 miles I walk daily! Going to work is harder. It's mostly uphill. Going home is easy...downhill all the way. It's much faster to go home. Weekends rest, LOL. I thought, since I don't belong to a gym, and walking on a treadmill is god-awful. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Keep in shape and get to work.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

My walk to work is only .75 miles, but I either do a walk at lunch time or take a circuitous route back home to try to get it up to 3 miles on a working day. I do most of my walking at weekends, though. The goal I've set on MapMyWalk is to do 1000 miles in 2014, but since I'm at 390 already, I doubt that'll be a problem. It's such an enjoyable - and free! - way to get exercise. I've now taken to deliberately walking several extra miles if I intend to have a higher calorie dinner than normal, or drink wine that evening. It just makes me feel less guilty. :-)

[girlspell.livejournal.com]

I agree. Walking clears your head. I used to listen to music on my walk, but my husband talked me out of it. It's kind of dangerous. You have to be able to hear traffic and be aware. Remember, you're a lone women walking. Also I no longer walk in really bad weather. This past winter was the snowiest on record for where I live. Those days (to avoid ice) I would take the university shuttle.

[leesa_perrie]

The points system sounds very suspect!! And of COURSE you don't go faster on the courses or climb those steps quickly either - that would be pure madness!! :) :) :)

I wonder if the dog community got together and designated various areas as 'only this type of dog' for aesthetic reasons?

I also know of a person with just one greyhound, though some people who live nearby have two lurchers. They did start with just one, but then after a while a second turned up!! Actually, back in the day when they only had one, the lady was taking it for a walk around the block on a really cold and icy day. The dog kept pulling back towards the house - and when they reappeared after having been round the block, the dog was pulling towards the house! Sensible dog!! :)

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

No, of course I don't! ;-) But at least I can console myself with the fact that while I wouldn't do such a thing, I definitely wouldn't do what Pellinor did last week, and virtually kill himself by charging up the steepest hill known to man just because he'd overheard a child challenging her dad to a race up it. (Pellinor won, Dad second, child left trailing miles behind, a dwindling sobbing voice fast fading into nothingness.)

In the past, I have had Theories (http://ladyofastolat.livejournal.com/349122.html) about dog zoning on the Isle of Wight. :-)

[leesa_perrie]

LOL! Ah, men, can't resist a challenge!! Not like us women of course, we're much too demure for that nonsense!! :D

And lol at the theories!! There must be some reason, and any of them could be it! :D

[kargicq.livejournal.com]

Ooh, incomprehensipoints! A sure way to get you to walk more and more while trying to figure out the system. Cunning.

I'm sticking to running away from zombies. I understand how that one works!