Pounding the Pavement

Glendale's own Franklin Avenue has rounded up a list of big walks that are coming up over the next few weeks.

Forthcoming walks include:

• This weekend's 26 mile walk down Western Avenue with Metroblogging's Will Campbell and Julia Frey (October 18th).
• The Location Managers Guild of America's Route 66 Project (beginning November 9th)
  
• The Verdugo Hills Community Hike and Trail Run (November 8th)
  
• And last but not least, Franklin Avenue's own Great Los Angeles Walk, which I've had a great time participating in for the last two years. No word on what this year's street is. Two years ago we walked the length of Wilshire and last year we tackled Pico. (November 22nd)
  

If you plan on doing any of these walks, start by doing shorter walks now and building up your endurance. When I first walked Wilshire two years ago (with no preparation), I did fine until mile 10-- after that I was really in pain, and very sore for a week afterwards. During last year's Pico walk I was in much better shape generally and better prepared, and completed the 16 mile trek without any problems.

One of the best ways to start building your endurance is to join the Sierra Club on a free night hike in Griffith Park. Multiple group hikes from beginner to advanced skill levels depart from the upper merry-go-round parking lot every Tuesday and Thursday night at 7pm.

Also, and I can't emphasize this enough: buy really nice socks. I'm partial to double-layer WrightSocks, which I buy on clearance from REI Outlet.

This weekend I'll be doing some urban walking of my own: I'm driving to Nevada to canvass for Obama. I went to Nevada in 2004 for Kerry and found that pounding the pavement is much more rewarding than sitting at home stewing in anger at the news.