I got a cool new pedometer
this week and I've been keeping a keen eye on how many steps I take. This pedometer has some cool functions: it will count the number of steps you take, how many of those steps are in aerobic mode, how much time is spent in aerobic mode, how many miles you've gone, the number of calories you've burned, and a lot more. AND, it keeps data for the past seven days, PLUS you can download it all to the computer and have a permanent record and look at all that data...
My husband is a research chemist and finds all this data stuff very exciting. He's got a pedometer of his own (he's the one who turned me on to it). So now we've got a friendly competition going each day to see who's walked the farthest, the longest, the most steps, etc.
Yesterday I didn't reach my goal of 10,000 steps, so I decided to start my Saturday off with a walk. Tango joined me on my walk. I knew it was going to be hot and humid this weekend, so I thought that an 8:30a walk would be just fine for both Tango and myself.
I only walked about 3 miles, but the last 1/2 mile Tango was really feeling the heat. I'm glad we didn't have much farther to go - as we were coming back into the yard, he found shade from the first tree we went under and laid down. Refused to get up. We were only 100 feet from the house, so I encouraged him indoors where it was cooler and where he could get some ice cold water. When he finally made it to the water bowl, he laid down to drink.
If you're exercising with your dog, be sure to:
- get your exercise in very early in the morning
- have some water available for your dog at all times
- stop if you notice your dog slowing down or stopping
- keep them off the hot pavement
- be aware of roadside hazards like broken bottles and trash
Tomorrow morning, we'll go much earlier in the day or I'll just leave the dog(s) at home. It's just too hot out to risk heatstroke.
