I might have to quit/cancel this year

Sadly, I might have to cancel this year's walk. The cancellation hasn't happened yet, but I'd give it about a 60% chance of happening. Read more about everything here. I'm going to try, of course, to retrain myself and get back up to a level where I can walk anywhere from 15K to 40K in a day, but given the nature of the healing I have to undergo, the timetable very likely won't be right for the schedule I'd set out. Conclusion: more likely than not, I'm going to have to cancel. Stay tuned for more news as the situation evolves. This may come down to the wire.

some serious issues

[This is a repost, slightly edited, from my main blog.]

At my July 19 appointment, the diabetes doc removed all of my heart-related medicines after I'd complained about my relentless daily diarrhea, which had gone on nonstop for two months. Recently, in my entry about going to Insa-dong to pick up my scrollwork, I complained about the return of my angina. It seems there's a trade-off no matter which way I turn. My next doctor's appointment has been set for October 15, a bit short of three months later. (I kind of hope that that's the routine from now on: basically once a season.) During that time, managing my BP and my angina is totally up to me. I have no cardiac meds to support me, and should I need more nitroglycerin tablets, I'll have to ask my local doctor to prescribe them. While a part of me has wanted a radical reduction in meds for a long time, a lazier part of me is sad not to be able to rely on cardiac meds to do the heavy lifting when it comes to my heart. I also have to wonder whether the diabetes doc's decision to nix all the heart meds has to do with her bias: she's not a cardiac specialist. I'm actually not sure why, two appointments ago, it was decided that I no longer need to see a cardiac specialist. Is the medical system giving up?

My blood pressure has gone substantially up since I lost access to heart meds (133/77 this morning), so I'm doing what I can on my own to tamp my BP back down. Powdered turmeric actually seems to be helping a bit, and I've only recently gotten back into stairs training. It's too early to say, but it could be that these two factors are helping me to stave off the worsening of my heart failure, at least for now. Heart failure never gets better; it can only get worse, and that's true whether it's congestive heart failure or LVSD (left-ventricular systolic dysfunction, which is what I have). But things can be done to mitigate the worsening, and I'm hoping to strengthen my heart to the point where I can walk 10 or 20K without having to stop. (Currently, I'm walking about a kilometer, then taking a ten-minute break to let the angina fade. If I'm still this way come October, I may have to cancel this walk.)

With the stairs, I'm starting small: right now, I'm doing only three floors in my apartment building, from B1 to 3. I thought about wearing a weight vest and sticking in 10 kg worth of weight, but I'm worried about rapid-onset angina quickly morphing into an out-and-out heart attack. For now, three floors is good: I can handle that. At regular intervals, I'll keep adding floors to the routine, with the goal of being able to do one entire staircase, from B1 to 26, by the time I'm ready to leave for Busan. My left ventricle might have decided to crap out on me, but I can strengthen the other three chambers of my heart. (And since I'm now convinced that I was doing the stairs while suffering from heart failure at least as far back as January, I know that that's possible. Or at least, it was possible. Maybe it will be again.)

As for blood sugar, well, I've still got meds for that. My radical diet continues (sort-of OMAD + Newcastle + 24-hour fasts): eat MWF, fast on all other other days. These aren't full-on fasts, though—I don't seem to have the willpower to pull those off. So I often break down and eat a couple slices of cheese or a handful of nuts in the evening, just to get something into my stomach. It doesn't seem to matter that much: my blood sugar, lately, has been either around 90, as it was this morning, or somewhere in the low 100s. I credit the meds more than my own efforts at diet and exercise, but diet and exercise can't be hurting.

My hope is that, as the weeks pass, and I get better at my chosen exercises, I'll start to see a buildup in muscle strength that will kickstart my metabolism and have me losing more weight. Dumbbells, kettlebells, heavy clubs, bodyweight calisthenics, resistance bands, and animal flow will all help with that. I had regained a shameful amount of weight during my "break" from the diet after the 7/19 doctor's appointment, but since then, dieting has become easier because the angina, which recurs when I either strain myself during exercise or eat too much in the way of carbs, keeps me scared.

During a Skype conversation with my buddy Mike this past Sunday, I noted the actuarial statistics that say the one-year post-diagnosis survival rates for heart failure are close to 100%, but the five-year rates drop way down to about about 35-50%. My own timeline, though, may have started earlier than the diagnosis: I've been experiencing angina, on and off, for years, but I just didn't know what to call it. Breathlessness, that feeling of the skeletal hand squeezing my heart—I've been describing these symptoms on my [main] blog since I don't know when, so it could be that I'm already past the one-year post-diagnosis mark and am now in the thicket of the 2-5-year period, when my chances of making it five years are effectively less than half. Remember when I used the analogy of the paper airplane that flies straight for a while, then wobbles, then suddenly crashes? (See here, second paragraph.) That could be where I really am—the wobble before the sudden crash. It would certainly explain how I went from doing 26 floors of staircase training in January to being a wheezing, gasping mess in April. Something inside me may finally have broken.

And as I noted in a comment, I do feel a sense of injustice about all of this. Sure, I've had bad eating habits that helped to put me in this position, but there are Americans out there, many wider than they are tall, who somehow have okay blood pressure, no diabetes, and no heart failure. Doesn't seem fair. Maybe I'm just in denial about my own role in my predicament.

Anyway, God's given me several wake-up calls, and maybe I'll finally stop being stupid and stubborn about them. That's what I'm working on now. I'll still be prepping extravagant meals for my boss and coworker, but I'll be sure, from now on, to eat very little of what I make since I know the Angina Fairy will quickly pay me a visit should I step over the line. And it'll only be a cheat meal, from now on, instead of a cheat day or, as I described in a different post, a cheat week. The penance will be long and hard, and maybe, just maybe, I can squeeze a few more years of life out of my situation.

ADDENDUM: news from 2020: Farxiga (dapagliflozin) for heart-failure patients. 18% reduction in death rate. Frankly, I'd rather have a nice injection of stem cells to rejuvenate my heart, but even though people have been researching this for over a decade, stem-cell therapies for heart failure aren't quite ready for prime time yet. Oh, yeah: Farxiga is for Class II-IV heart failure. I'm between a Class II or III. See here.

the food question

In 2018, I didn't do a trans-Korea walk because I was visiting America and France. I spent two weeks in France at my buddy's place in Le Vanneau-Irleau, and much of that time was spent walking. When I sat down to eat with my French family, the food was always good and nutritious, and as a result of a better diet and nearly constant exercise, I lost 6 kg in two weeks. That roughly corresponds to the average amount of weight I lose during my trans-Korea walks, i.e., about 10-12 kg in a month while burning around 3500 calories a day (a figure I've had to whittle down over the years as my body became used to the exercise).*

This year, I'm going to see whether I can lose even more weight. Now that I'm more or less used to the idea of walking while in a fasted state, I'm going to eat only Survival Tabs on certain days (eleven days, to be exact). Remember those tablets? They first got a mention here, then some photos here. They're these huge tablets that you chew on (see photo below); they provide a bare-minimum number of calories plus a day's worth of nutrition for an average-sized human being. Burning 3500 calories a day while taking in only about 400 calories ought to induce some weight loss. However, I'll also be eating the Tabs on my off days as a way not to load up on calories when I'm not really exercising. Meanwhile, I'll be eating regular meals on most of the days I'm walking over 25-30 kilometers. Over 20 days, it'll be 11 days on Survival Tabs and 9 days having regular meals. One of those regular-meal days will be when I'm in the city of Namji, where two of my favorite on-the-trail restaurants are located (NeNe Chicken and the Chinese restaurant located next door to it).

a few of my many bags of Survival Tabs—strawberry, butterscotch, vanilla, chocolate

official photo of Tabs out of their package (found here)

My father used to call large pills, like multivitamins and certain medicines, "horse tablets." Luckily, Survival Tabs are the kind of horse tablets that you can chew, so even though they're chalky and taste a lot like powdered milk, they go down easy.

Food is related to the larger health question, and if you've been following my main blog, you know my health is shaky. In 2021, I suffered a minor stroke that put me in the hospital for a week, and this year, I had severe breathing problems that returned me to the ER. I ended up staying in the hospital for three or four days, and I was told I'm suffering from a type of heart failure: severe left-ventricular systolic dysfunction. For practical purposes, this basically means that God has placed the cardiac version of a car's velocity-limiter on my heart: if I ingest too much in the way of carbs, I get angina, the chest pain that can be a precursor to a heart attack. As long as I stick to foods that only minimally spike my blood sugar, I feel perfectly fine, but I guess this is God's way of telling me that, if I'm not going to curb my bad dietary habits on my own, he's going to do it for me, in his own harsh manner: Eat carbs, you die.

So wherever possible during my walk, I'll try to eat at Korean restaurants, which generally serve nutritious fare (as opposed to Korean street kiosks, which are all carbs), and I can avoid things like rice on the side or pasta. I will no longer be noshing on Snicker's bars or downing regular Cokes when I happen to pass by a convenience store; at such stores, I'll more likely buy fruits (carby, but filled with water and fiber, thus minimizing carb impact), nuts, and diet drinks (or just good old water). If it's a store that sells "lunchbox"-style meals, and it's the only place in the area to get food, I'll eat those meals but avoid the rice. Much about my diet has to change, and this walk is an opportunity for me to discipline myself even more strictly.

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*That's 3500 activity calories on top of my basal metabolic rate, which is around 1800 calories. Expending 5300 calories on a walk day ain't so bad. It's just distance and time and a little bit of effort. As I've said before, on these walks, I'm my best self.

tees now available!

Kevin's Walk
Gukto Jongju, Nakdong River Path
(bottom) Total Distance: 403 km

2024
GTJJ = Gukto Jongju
NDGG = Nakdonggang-gil (Nakdong River Path)
DBYH = Dobo-yeohaeng (walk or walking trip)

The new walk-tee design is now ready for sale. The "403 km in 20 days" line feels a little cringey: anyone can do the math and see that that averages out to only a bit more than 20 km a day, which isn't much. Between you and me, though: I'm taking six break days because quite a few of those segments are actually over 30 km in length. My longest segment is, in fact, 40 km. I've done longer, but that's still a pretty big chunk for an unathletic guy to do in a day. So 403 km over 14 walking days (plus I'll be walking on my "off" days as well) averages out to 28.8 km, which is a bit more impressive for the regular folks. For you pampered people who've been following these walks, you know that 28 or 29 km in a day isn't that big of a deal.

Meanwhile, go get yourself a tee! Shop link is on the sidebar.

walk dates now locked in!

I went to my once-in-several-months doctor's appointment today, and my next appointment will be on October 15, which happens to be my brother Sean's birthday. On October 15, then, I'll visit the doc, go back to my place, grab my stuff, and train down to Busan. The following morning, preferably early, I'll wake up, grab a cab from Busan Station to the Nakdong River Barrage (낙동강하굿둑 or 하구둑), then walk the Nakdong River trail backwards (this is gonna feel weird) to Yangsan City and the Bliss Hotel. 

I've already updated my itinerary, so if you click the itinerary link on the right-hand sidebar, you'll see the now-settled schedule. The only thing that still needs to be filled out is the daily step count, and I'll be filling those numbers in every day as I walk so I can finally arrive at a walk total. As per usual, I will not be relying on MapMyWalk to measure distances because the app is so battery-intensive. It's fine for shorter walks of up to three hours, but for eight- and nine-hour walks, it's no good. I'm battery-obsessive enough as it is.

It occurs to me that I'll be finishing the walk on November 4—just before Election Day in the States. Yikes. I didn't plan it that way, I swear.

So, to reiterate: the walk will be from October 15 to November 4 this year—twenty days, with many of those being rest days. This will be a comfortable, fairly lazy walk (with some long-ass segments thrown in) that will finish at the Andong Dam, a very exciting, beautiful, and auspicious place to end. I'm pumped: at a tiny bit more than 400 kilometers, this is going to be a much shorter walk than usual, but it'll be along one of my favorite parts of the Four Rivers trail: the Nakdong River. I'm really looking forward to this.

shoes: update 2

It's been a bit more than a week, and I've been wearing the new Skechers this entire time. The bad news is that there's a tightness across the top of my left foot—bad enough to cause minor irritation leading to a small abrasion. The pain is irritating and distracting but not excruciating. I solved the problem with a little cross of Leukotape across the instep, and things have been fine since. They're good shoes; maybe they need a little breaking in. Every shoe is different.

what it looks like after a few days of wear

the shoes update

I did my first 9K walk with my new shoes last night, and the walk went well. The new shoes (still Skechers, like last year) feel just like the previous shoes, but they're a little easier to slip on thanks to the new design, which was explicitly intended for us laces-hating, slip-on-slip-off types. There was a tiny bit of friction on the top of my left foot, but it appeared and disappeared during the walk, so here's hoping that the act of breaking the shoes in will take care of that little problem. If not, I can figure out some way to pad or bandage that part of my foot to protect it.

Aside from that, the new pair feels like a continuation of the old pair. The soles, being spanking new, haven't yet worn down from thousands of kilometers of walking, so it feels a little bit as if I were floating: there's a bouncy, cushiony aspect to my steps. I'll be taking the shoes for a longer walk this weekend. Suffice it to say they get a thumbs-up from me.

shoeses, Precious

I became a believer a year or so ago when my boss suggested I try the same type of shoes he wears. My boss is a big, bulky guy like me, so I shrugged and told him I'd give the shoes a shot. They were Skechers—a relatively cheap brand often looked down upon by serious hikers and walkers. I made a lot of noise about how I might need to take along an extra pair in case my main pair wore out, but as it turned out, the shoes were great, being stretchable and not needing any tying or untying of laces. At the time, there were no black walking shoes in my size, but this year, the boss managed to find and order a black pair, which just arrived.

note the flared-out rear of the shoe, allowing for easier slip-on and slip-off

I could probably do without the funny red coins on the sole.

The configuration of the new shoes' soles is better than that of my previous pair of shoes: the previous pair looked like huge, puffy pieces of bubble gum, with large gaps in the tread that allowed pebbles to get wedged into them. This new pair seems less likely to trap pebbles.

While my feet aren't really size 13 (closer to 11), the 13 has a decent toe box, allowing my toes to spread fairly comfortably. I'm still going to end up with my usual blisters, wounds, and irritations when I do the walk this fall, but overall, the shoes will still be fairly comfortable.

I'll be taking my first long walk in these shoes tonight (my 9K route to the Han/Tan confluence and back) and will report whatever I discover. My main hope is that this new pair will turn out to be just as durable as the previous pair.

first post!

Welcome to this fully armed and operational walk blog, Kevin's Walk 8, for 2024. Expect big things as we build up to the walk in the fall. I haven't yet nailed down the exact dates for the trek; you can check out my itinerary (link is on the sidebar); the dates on that document are, for the moment, all dummy dates subject to change when I have a definite time period.

For those who haven't been following things over at my main blog, this year's walk is substantially shorter than the 633-kilometer trek I normally do along the Four Rivers trail. This year, I'm doing only the Nakdong River Gukto Jongju* (낙동강 국토종주), which comes out to about 385 km for the trail itself. Because my stopping points are off the trail, my total actual distance will be a little over 400 km.

Check back here for prose and pics. All walk-related thoughts will, from now on, find their way onto this blog as opposed to on my main blog.

The blog banner shows what I'll see on my final day of walking: the massive Andong Dam, which holds back the even more massive Andong Lake. I had wanted to think that the Nakdong River's source was Andong Lake, but no—the river actually comes out the other side of the lake and snakes along to who-knows-where. (Saying "comes out the other side" is a bit misleading: the river flows from the other side, then flows roughly southward out of Andong Lake toward Busan.) I tried following the river's eastward path on a map and got lost, and it looks as though there's no real bike trail on the other side of the lake, so I'm not sure how walkable the Nakdong River is on that side. Something to explore later, perhaps.

Right—well, welcome, once again, to this newest walk blog. If you're curious, check out my previous walks, each with its own blog and all of them linked on the sidebar.

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*Guk/국 = country
To/토 = soil, land, etc.
Jongju = end-to-end path

The path across the nation's land. Or something like that.

Traditionally, a jongju/종주 was a path along the craggy crest of a mountain range, from beginning to end. The meaning has since expanded, and it's used to describe many trails, especially bike paths, that run across South Korea with very few hills and mountains. There are big gukto jongju like the Four Rivers trail, which runs from Incheon to Busan; there's the east-coast gukto jongju that runs from the way-up-northeast Unification Observatory all the way down to Busan. There are also smaller paths that are arguably misnamed gukto jongju, including a local bike path that passes by my neighborhood.