ToddlingAroundTheWorld

The Walkingspree challenge my work is putting on is aspiring me even higher. 

This is my new monniker: #LimpingAroundTheWorld One of the most challenging walking days so far. My left knee has been aggravated and in pain for the past week at least. I keep hoping the swelling will go down and it will just get better, but it hasnt. It doesnt hurt too bad while I am sitting down at work. I do need to get up occasionally to give it some physical therapy and make sure it doesnt lock up too bad, but it has given me a pretty good limp. When I hit the mall on this day, it was pretty bad. I noticeably was limping and going much slower than my usual 4MPH pace, but I persevered through the pain and kept limping along. Sometimes it would feel a bit better, but mostly it was bad. Every other step was painful, but I ended up getting almost 8 miles through the day. Then I rested it for a few hours at home before trying again on the treadmill. Seemed a bit better in the evening. Completed 12 miles for the day on that gimpy leg.

You can call me Todd Mallwalker. 9.5 miles today after going to the mall with LeAnn for a bit after we went to a ward potluck.  There is a sister missionary, sister Bak, who is serving in our ward and is from Korea. I told her that I had been to Seoul once when I was working over in Japan after my mission. (This was 28 years ago now!) The company I was working for, Seimei Gakushu Juku had not sponsored me with a working visa. (I didnt realize that this was a big deal) They were planning on sending me out of the country every three months to go out and come back to renew my tourist visa for three more months. So, after 3 months, then sent me to Korea. It was cool being in a whole new country, but strange to not be able to communicate once again. Felt just like a greenbean missionary - a stranger in a strange land. While I was there for a few days, I decided to go see some of the sites. I got a map and started working my way up to the Seoul Tower. It was a cool site from down below a...

I have started listening to some different Podcasts on my morning walks. I am looking for uplifting, thoughtful media that will inspire me higher. I found one that I love. It is called 'Finding Fred'. It is about the ways that Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) impacted people through the show that he had- Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. I loved this show when I was young, and Im sure I would still love it even now. I will need to see if I can find some re-runs. It is surely inspiring the way that he led his life and how he interacted with children to make them feel special. This is something each of us can strive to do - strive to help everyone you meet be glad to have met you, and come away with a smile.  The treadmill my sister Kelly gave us, had a crack in the cover that goes over the motor. The other night, it was making this grinding noise, so I grabbed the plastic cover and lifted it up as it was vibrating against the tread.I couldnt get it to stop, so I lifted it up a bit and the whole ...

A letter I sent to Austin this week: Dear Austin,  this picture is up on the wall of the bishops office. It is meaningful to me because of this Japanese origin. It is also profound To realize it’s deeper meaning. Do you think that something can be more beautiful after it is broken it is important for us to remember. Every person on the earth has their flaws and the only perfect one is Jesus Christ, after Who we try to emulate them become like him. But the only way that we can do that is to try and mend our floors and become better people each day. Essentially our weaknesses will make us stronger as we overcome them. I can see you this afternoon with you as you strive to become better as a missionary, As a person and in striving to teach others how they too can repent and become perfected through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Think about how beautiful those people that you work with become after excepting the joy of the gospel. You are helping to have a hand in helping them to beco...

Had a bit of time before my meeting with the bishop. Drove with LeAnn to church as she was going to Ward Conferences. I then walked down and around Lake Killarney. I will walk whenever I get a moment. Every step is critical in reaching my goal of walking to Argentina and around the world. I often think about how every mile I walk, the closer it brings me to Austin and being able to see him again. It is those thoughts which drive me each and every day to keep on keepin on. The only way I am going to make it there- through consistency and dedication. I will make it. There is no other option.  

I love spending a bit of time at the aquarium on Saturdays. The best thing is being with the animals and learning from the other workers there about some of the nuances of the zoo and aquarium. Today, I was talking to Kat in the aquarium food prep area when she showed me some shark eggs. They were fascinating to see. They are in these little pouches and are also known as Mermaids Purse.  She works with some of the smaller sharks and Rays that are in and area called the lagoon. She told me that they just have female sharks in there, so the eggs are never fertilized. She said I could keep one of the eggs, so I brought one home and will let it dry out and see how that turns out.  I was able to get a walk in around Point defiance during the break between finishing the food prep and the Shark feeding. Decent weather out there today. Then After returning home, I walked down the Jovita trail and over to Walgreens to pick up a prescription.  Finished the day by going out to eat a...

The left knee is still having troubles. It has been swelling up and hurts pretty bad. Ironically, it often gets better when I walk. It still hurts every other step, but I walk through the pain and then I don’t think much about it after going for a while. Then m, when I get to my desk, it will hurt some more and I will have to go limp it off every hour or so to keep the blood flowing and stretch it out. I skipped the treadmill tonight just to give it a break. Still got 10.1 miles in though.  After work, I met LeAnn at Deseret Book to get some garments. From there, she was meeting Tammy, a friend from high school for dinner. While she was out, I drove home through Issaquah just to get off the 405 mess. I stopped at this old-time burger joint straight out of Happy Days called XXX Rootbeer.  I should have actually got the root beer. The eclectic collection of stuff they have inside gave a sensory overload. The burger and shake I had were great too. Fun place!

Incessant rain. Got wet on the hike from the car to T-MOBILE. Lunch walk was in the parking garage taking laps. .75 miles each way.  4.2 on the treadmill = 14.2 for the day. 

Not sure why, but my left knee was swollen when I started walking this morning. I limped for a good half hour, but kept trudging on. Hot my four mall miles and snapped this pic with Russell Wilson at the Nike store  After getting to work and settling at my desk, I could feel the knee swelling up even more. When I got up fora bio break, I could barely walk for a bit. I kept at it and walked it off. I sure hope this knee holds up for another 17 months. I decided to limp down to the store at lunch to get some Aleve to help with the swelling. Continued over to the mall after that to grab a gyro and then walked back up through the parking garage a fewlevels because it was raining pretty hard. The knee was still hurting pretty bad, but I think the Aleve startedworking as it wasn’t quite as bad later in the afternoon. Walked back to the car and after another nasty hour and a half commute for 27 miles, made it home. 4 more on the treadmill and finished with 13.1 for the day.Not too shabby ...

It was a bit rough getting up at 4:30 again, but gotta get those miles in!  Was. I’ve to have had Monday off and begin the short work week. Back to Factoria mall and four morning miles. Then parked up by Tyler MS and through the woods back to work again. A bit wet,but here is a bit of the Sunset Ravine Trail.  Did the Newport loop at lunch and then back to the car after wor, so was up to around 9. Miles. It was a rough commute home. Took a good hour and a half dueto rain on the brain of the commuters. 

I got up in the morning and went on a hunt to find some fruit for breakfast, per LeAnns request. None of the nearby stores were open at 7:30, so I walked. Of course I walked! Its what I do! I saw a bit more of the city this way, and then got back to a market that was supposed to open at 8:00 but there was no one there. Thought it might be closed because of the holiday, so ventured over to China Town again to find a store that was open. When I did finally find one, it turned out that the only fruit that they had was some that was being sacrificed to their ancestors! After getting everyone up and ready, we walked over to where there was a cable car stop. We took that through San Francisco up to the top of Lombardi Street, where we decided to get off and walk down the 'Crookedest Street in the world'.  Then, as we were winding our way down, we got our weekly call from Austin! What a great surprise! We could take him with us on our journey around SFO and enjoy a nice visit. We tal...

Sunday in Sacramento. We had a bit of a crazy night last night. At about 1:30 a.m. we heard a bunch of yelling in the hotel courtyard. I didnt budge, but LeAnn and Jaylin got up to look outside. They saw a big fight erupting with about 20 people involved. It was super loud! LeAnn called the front desk and they said that the police were on their way. About 5 minutes later, we hear a siren and then, as LeAnn was watching, someone yelled: 'ITS THE PO PO!' and a bunch of them scattered. After that, things calmed down a bit, but it was a bit disconcerting. I talked to the office about it later and they ended up giving us the points for our stay back. So that was nice. I went to the exercise room around 7 am, but there was someone in there, so I walked over to a Walgreens. It was chilly outside. Who said something about California ALWAYS being sunny? That was not the case while we were there. In the afternoon, the Millers (Everyone was there except Autumn and Austin) went to the Air...

Woke up at the jolted and got out to walk the mean streets of Sacramento. Was surprised at some of the areas and how dilapidated it was. It was also colder outside than you would expect in California. About 40 degrees. I was going to use the treadmill at the hotel,  it found someone else was already on it. When I got back from the two mile walk, it was open, so I did a couple more there. Saw Brian and his kids at the hotel and then Mark Hellewell’s wife, Kristen. Seems there were a bunch of family staying at the same place for grandmas birthday.  Got to the church for the celebration at breakfast timeIt was so fun to see cousins, uncles and Aunts that we haven’t seen for years and some for decades. Therewere 125 or grandmas posterity there. We had breakfast, and then the Millers set up some games. We did the donut eating contest and Hngy Hippos with furniture carts, laundry baskets and balloons. The kids love it. We had a bunch of slide shows for grandma and had lunch and then...

Worked from home in the morning as we were flying out to San Francisco  in the  afternoon to go to Grandmas 100th birthday celebration. Got a 3 mile walk in around lunchtime and then got packed up and ready to go. Got to the airport at  1:30 for our flight at three, got some airport miles in  in Seattle and then after arriving in San Francisco. Arrive around 5:30 and got our rental car. Then it was a short 80 miles to Sacramento- which took over 3 hours. Crazy bad traffic trying to get through San Francisco and over to the Bay Bridge. Finally made it to our hotel in Sacramento and thengot on a treadmill there at around 10:30 to finish up the day. 

This was Wednesday. The title is how you say Wednesday in Japanese. I stayed home again from work. Just in case it started snowing once again. The streets were a a bit icy too, so better safe than sorry. After working in the morning, I went out and walked the trail. There were a couple of others out there, and it was snowy and a bit slick. Made it down the trail and up through Edgewood and back home. Went to the commons mall in the evening after getting a haircut. Got aboutfour miles there and then four more on the treadmill atnight. 

This was Thursday, mokuyobi in Japanese. Got back to work as the snow has died down. Got my five miles in the morning at the mall and then parked up by the middle school and walked another mile down the woodsy trail back to work. I think I like that spot better than the freeway one as I don have to cross three traffic lights. Short walk at liunch up to Monica (they do our mobile app development for the visual voicemail app) , where I needed to had some SIM cards off to their QA guy. Then I got pork katsu curry for lunch. Headed home and finished up the days walking on the treadmill. 

I needed to come in a bit later today to help out with a test pass for one of the applications we are releasing at T-Mobile. I got to the Mall a bit later, then walked a bit longer. Think I was around 6 miles when I got into work. Then it was crazy busy, so didnt get a walk for lunch. Later, it started snowing a bit in Bellevue and I tried to get out before traffic got even crazier. Ended up walking another 5 miles on the treadmill in the evening.

Stayed home to work instead of dealing with the snowy chaos today. Didnt get out until later in the afternoon as work was so busy. I did the Jovita Trail Loop and it got dark as I was coming back. Then I walked the neighborhood to get up past 3 miles. Had a massage scheduled in the evening and then after that I went down to the Supermall and got 4 more miles in there. (The snow had cleared out a bit). Came home for a break and then got on the treadmill again and hit 12 miles for the day.

We are now starting our church block at 10:30, so it is nice to be able to sleep in a bit. I did go out and walk the neighborhood and then finished up the day with 5 miles on the treadmill.

Have started a Fitness challenge from work. They track your steps and then give out prizes at the end of the contest. I figured I would do well with the daily walking that I already do. I currently lead the company in miles and steps over the course of the year. I guess there is not anyone else out there that is quite as crazy as me. Although the person in second place is not far off. I wonder what she is doing to get all those steps in. Im sure others are wondering what I am doing to get all of mine!

Yay for not raining!  Went back after my walk to feed the sharks. Here are a few of my friends. 

Walked 8 miles in Bellevue. Was very tired when I got home from work. LeAnn was out with her sister Leslee, who had come in for a conference in Seattle, and her brother, Matthew. They met in Seattle for dinner. Jaylin was napping when I got home. I started watching the UW/ Stanford basketball game, and they were doing well and up by 12. Then I passed out. I woke to see the last couple of minute of the game when Stanford raged back for the win at the end. Bummer. Then walked another 4 miles on the treadmill at about 9:30 pm.

Sometimes when I walk, it hurts bad. My knees have been really sore and so I limp along. After a while, the pain just becomes dull. Walked the mall and then hit the treadmill at night. Today was the most rainy day that the Seattle area has had in 10 years. It was torrential.

Long route into work today. I took the bus up to Bellevue city center and then walked the four miles from there to work. There arent any good direct bus routes so I ended up going to the Auburn Transit Center, parking there and then up to Bellevue for the direct route. It was a good walk. Cold, but a nice change of pace over the mall. I saw a couple of cool buildings along the Mercer Slough, as I hadnt walked the trails that far north. After work, LeAnn picked me up as my work provided tickets to the new Star Wars movie where they had bought out a theater in Issaquah. It was fun to go with LeAnn and see 'The Rise of Skywalker'. Im thinking of starting to call myself, 'Todd Mallwalker'

Lotsa walking. I was trying to get over 30,000 steps for the day. I had completed over 10 miles around the workday (Morning mall, lunch walk, and stopped by Gene Coulon Beach on the way home) Then finished up with 5 miles on the treadmill. That was the most miles in a day in a loooooooooong time!

Addicted to this show on Netflix.I have been watching this a lot while walking on the treadmill at night. It is a Japanese Anime about a high school volleyball team in Miyagi. Miyagi prefecture is where Sendai is located in the Tohoku region where I served as a missionary. So that is cool.

Leavenworth

Autumn picked up her boyfriend, Clay, from the airport early this morning. He was coming in for a few days to meet us and he had some other special tasks he wanted to take care of. I stayed home from work so I could meet him and take care of some matters. (He got in from the airport at 1:00 a.m., and stayed in Austins room.) I was working downstairs at 8 am when he came down and introduced himself. (We had spoken a number of times on Facetime prior to this.) I appreciated that he came directly to me and introduced himself. That took some courage, so knew he has some strong traits. We then talked for a little bit and got to know each other better. A bit later that morning, Autumn came down and we all went on a walk together down and back on the Jovita trail. So it was nice to see how they interact together and talk with them both a bit along the walk. I knew that they are serious about getting married, and he ended up coming into my office a bit later that day as he wanted to talk to m...

There is a art shop in the Factoria Mall that has some beautiful pieces. As I walk by for each of the seven laps I do toward my 4 mile goal, I am often distracted by the artwork. There was this new one up that has a big Mohammed Ali portrait.  It says: ‘I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room went dark’. So cool. That we all can have that type of confidence in our abilities. 

Nice to have a real day off. Slept in a little bit, though it is hard to really crash. Didn’t end up staying up til midnight, that is for the youngsters. :) Got a few things done in the morning, put away the Christmas tree (artificial) and then chopped our beautiful noble in half and put out with the yard waste.  Watches a couple of shows on Netflix and then went for my morning walk. Took Flash out for the first time in a while, so he was excited about that. Then called dad and walked and talked while finishing my five miles. Around 12, got a call from Austin! Totally forgot he could call on the holidays, so that was a nice surprise! Walked a couple miles around the neighborhood in the afternoon and then another 4 on the treadmill in the evening. Had a good, 13 mile day