Racing In Iceland

 Before I get to Iceland (in all its virtual glory), here are the two Zoom sketch session drawings I did last week:

This colorful baobab tree and its rocks made for a fun challenge.  I spent a lot of time on those rocks, trying to get the various planes and shades and shadows right, and wound up having hardly any time left to work on the tree.  Thus the tiny branches on the ends are a little slapdash but on the whole, I'm pleased with it.

This atmospheric canyon piece was even more fun -- lots of gradations in value from the palest background mountains to the deeply hued foreground.  I enjoyed capturing the lighter areas of misty air between the layers.  Good stuff all round.

Now on to Iceland!

My friend Jocelyn decided we ought to have a virtual race via one of the walking challenges.  We chose a 50-mile route in southwestern Iceland through volcanic lands.  After the first day, we were tied, and then things got interesting.

You see, Jocelyn lives in a time zone two hours away from mine, and she's an afternoon/evening walker while I'm a morning one.  Over the next five days, a pattern emerged:  I'd get up and out there early and walk far enough to pull 4 or so miles ahead.  I'd feel confident.  But then as the day wore on, Jocelyn made her move -- and by evening, she would be close on my heels.  I found it ever so vexing.

One day I put on six miles and felt secure.  Alas, when I arose the next day, not only had she caught up, she had passed me!  Honestly.  This could not be allowed.  I must win the race!  How could I rest secure in the evenings if she kept this up?

So I got super competitive and did something a bit excessive:

Yes, that does say 9.1 miles for ONE DAY of total walking.  20,865 steps. I took one very long walk and then three shorter walks and it also counted my steps around the house.  This was a new record for daily mileage.  There was no way Jocelyn would catch me after that!

And she didn't.  Because the very next day, feeling perfectly fine, I went out and walked 8.3 miles to reach the finish line before noon.  Whoo hoo!  Seventeen miles in two days!  Ha!  

Overall, I averaged over six miles a day during the 8 days it took me to do those 50 miles.  It was rather over the top, but hey, I won!  And best of all, no major aches or pains appeared at any time.  And I slept like a proverbial log.

However, I do not intend to do any more virtual racing, or real racing of any kind.  I have now returned to my more reasonable 3-4 miles per day.

I also got in more stitching on the Good Omens needlepoint project:

After eight weeks, I've finished around 19,500 stitches.  Onward!

So that's my report.  I hope you all had a wonderful week that did not involve walking 17 miles in two days.

Whew.