This question came to my mind on August 16, 2003. I vividly remember this day and probably lot of Ontarians and Toronto guppies too wouldn’t forget this particular day.
The story goes like this. It was the nice summer afternoon when I was about to board TTC from Dundas. I found a huge, big crowd waiting. The subway was immersed in pitch dark. The TTC staff were announcing that the power had failed and they were not sure when it’d be restored. So I waited and waited and then finally went out and had some potato chips. There were lot of vendors selling these food stuffs and many people were eating and waiting for the power to restore. After one hour, it became clear that power may not come. So I again went inside and asked the TTC staff about the likelihood of power restoration. One guy told me that such thing had never happended since 1976 or 1978 (I don’t remember the year). Power failure was a very rare occurance and he wasn’t sure when it’d come.
The traffics were jammed, lot of padestrians from every corner of the city were flooding the road. No traffic signals were working. Lines of cars and no movement. So I finally realized that I’d no option but to walk.
My place was almost 10 K.M. away. So I started asking myself, whether I was really fit enough to walk for such a long distance. I decided to give it a try and embarked on my journey.
There were lot of padestarians , so I too joined them. After a couple of kilometers of walk, I found that lot of shopkeepers and volunteers were offering free water and free cold drink to Padestarians, so I grabbed some.
Eventually it took me almost two hours to reach my place. I was prespiring a lot but not so much tired. Now I had the most difficult task at hand. I had to climb to my 10 th floor apartment since lifts were not working. I just took a five to ten minutes of rest and then went up the stairs. Finally I made it and then immediately counted my pulses while gasping for breath. My heart was throttling at 164 pulses per minute. Still it was well below the maximum limit. I think I could have climbed another 5 to 10 floor before reaching my maximum limit.
On that day I realized that I was really fit to deal with such an unusual situation. When I shared my story to others then most couldn’t believe it. I’m sure most guppies would have similar reaction.
first of all, it was august 14, and not 16.. (the day power went out) it was 4:10pm for a peel-region shut down (we were last on the eastern sea-line to go down that day).
second, pretty fit .. i walked one time 6km in blazing heat with 14 pound weight on my back and safety boots ... made the journey in hour thirty minutes cuz i saw some old colleagues along the way..
i run 100m in 12 seconds, in slow running i can run 5 minute intervals at 4.5 to 5.0 mph, require 2-3 minutes break of briskwalking in middle and maximum of half hour.. (can do more if needed)
once in emergency i ran 2km in less than 12 minutes... (jaan/kuttay/goli ka khof BOHAT hota hay)
basically, i keep my body fit cuz when $hit occurs, it occurs from least-possible direction..
second, pretty fit .. i walked one time 6km in blazing heat with 14 pound weight on my back and safety boots ... made the journey in hour thirty minutes cuz i saw some old colleagues along the way..
i run 100m in 12 seconds, in slow running i can run 5 minute intervals at 4.5 to 5.0 mph, require 2-3 minutes break of briskwalking in middle and maximum of half hour.. (can do more if needed)
once in emergency i ran 2km in less than 12 minutes... (jaan/kuttay/goli ka khof BOHAT hota hay)
basically, i keep my body fit cuz when $hit occurs, it occurs from least-possible direction..
Nice to read your posting. Your memory seems to be sharper than mine. Yeah it was 14th Aug and not 16th. Actually I wrote above lines very quickly because somebody was calling me. Then I edited it again.
Not at all, especially with my heals, i would probably never make it home but you know its like you gotta do what you gotta do and I am sure if its an emergency anyone can do that.
ahh I remember that day. I had just gotten off the subway and was at Eaton Centre and on my way to Rye. My bro drove all the way down to come get me.... :)
^Mister Frad-dee-ya tuo kinaa set ay...
Mister Frad-dee-ya tuo kinaa fit ay...
Mister frad-dee-ya tuo kinaa hit ay...
Sal, maybe that was ur first hike. My record of a longest hike is 12 km. 6 km/ 90 mins uphill towards a mountain, 6km/50 mins downhill. That was back on 1st July 2000 in Banff.
And usual is 7 miles straight line in a stony terrain starting at age of 8 yrs old. My parents were keen on hiking and so were my uncles. U must be quite out of shape to have reached such a high heartbeat. Because my normal heartbeat is 94 per min (yeah i've got a high one) but a walk that long won't do that. Do u smoke? You should've rested in betweens dude. You better exercise cuz u're way outta shape if u're gasping for that much air after 10 km that too in a city.
I used to do a leisure stroll 2 KM back from the School to our farm, in my cow-town on a sunny day just to enjoy the weather. 30 mins were more than enuf for the time (including the stopping on way, smelling the sweet intoxicating flowers, watching the occassional gophers play etc). Man now that I think of it, half of my life I've spent walking, cuz I used to lurv it so much.
wanna know if ur really that FIT?
the following is the ranger standards for fitness:
Push ups: 80 in 2 minutes or less
Sit ups: 80 in 2 minutes
Chin ups: atleast 12 consecutive
2 Mile Run: 13 minutes or less
all of the above has to be completed in a minimum of 35 minutes
when i first took this test, i failed miserably. after working my butt off for the last 5 months, finally now i can pass this test comfortably.
go ahead people, try this test and see where you stand
I love walking, and running, i used to run 10 to 15 km every sunday...but i quit running because of pollution and asthma.
but still like to walk as much as i can...
usually in summer travelling by overheated dirty old paris subway is a nightmare and i prefer walking, i even crossed all paris from north to south, 12 km just for fun...
i love the freedom feeling I get from it, I can go wherever I want and depend on no one...i mean no electricity, no gas...just my llegs, allah ka shukar hai i can walk.
The day of the blackout, I had my very last exam at university before graduation. It was obviously cancelled, but I drove down anyway, just in case it wasn't .... tried calling to find out ahead of time but I got no answer.
For me 9/11 was more of a test as to how fit we really were. All of downtowon Toronto (financial district) was evacuated with rumours that a plane was on route to Toronto and it was absolute chaos outside. Couldn't find a cab anywhere. Those we could find were charging 10x the normal amount of money. So we walked from Front Street down to Ontario Place where we finally caught a cab. It was hard on the feet since we were in heels, and my legs were sore the next day cause at that time, I just wasn't as fit as I am now .... not that I am *that *fit now or anything.
Now, I go to the gym regularly and do various cardio classes. My strength and metabolism is increasing, slowly, but increasing nonetheless. I think I would be able to handle more in any similar situation as the black out or 9/11 day.
Sal, maybe that was ur first hike. My record of a longest hike is 12 km. 6 km/ 90 mins uphill towards a mountain, 6km/50 mins downhill. That was back on 1st July 2000 in Banff.
And usual is 7 miles straight line in a stony terrain starting at age of 8 yrs old. My parents were keen on hiking and so were my uncles. U must be quite out of shape to have reached such a high heartbeat. Because my normal heartbeat is 94 per min (yeah i've got a high one) but a walk that long won't do that. Do u smoke? You should've rested in betweens dude. You better exercise cuz u're way outta shape if u're gasping for that much air after 10 km that too in a city.
I used to do a leisure stroll 2 KM back from the School to our farm, in my cow-town on a sunny day just to enjoy the weather. 30 mins were more than enuf for the time (including the stopping on way, smelling the sweet intoxicating flowers, watching the occassional gophers play etc). Man now that I think of it, half of my life I've spent walking, cuz I used to lurv it so much.
My heartbit reached 164 pulse only after 10 K.M. walk and subsequent 10 th floor climb to reach my apartment. I think that's normal. I rapidly climbed to the 10th floor and that's why it peaked to that level. I think it's normal. 10 K.M. walk may be easy but 10th floor climb at a rapid pace is not that easy. In fact, last week when I was in Winnipeg, my hotel room happened to be on 6th floor and I rarely used lift to get to my hotel room. I was always using staircase.
Walking is a great joy for me too. Each of my legs are far more precious than billions of dollors of money. And it's true for everybody. In my former job, I used to walk everyday for three k.m. in a beautiful densly green surrounding to get to my company club. That's why when automobile started interferring in my walking routine then I just got rid of it. Because I love my legs so much and never wanted to enslave myself to mechanical gadget.
fitter than I've ever been, but always looking to improve my stamina. It's amazing, and fascinating how you can always push your body to new limits - it's actually both a mind and body thing, and I always want to do more and more. Last week I went to gym 6 days in a row whereas mostly I go 4 times a week. I do step cardio, spinning classes, kick-boxing, treadmill...just anything to keep me moving really. And if I dont excercise for more than 2 days I just dont feel right.
You are making me feel bad. :( I was going 4 times a week but this month, so far I've only gone twice. I miss my thai kick boxing classes. I was doing it twice a week but then once a week only. Right now, I do Step, Pump, and TKB. I need to fit in another cardio session in between cause the second TKB class I was doing is no longer at a convenient time. Spinning is the only option left and my trainer is pushing me to do it ... but all those sweaty and stinky people are totally putting me off. :(
