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• Walk 1 of 5
• Starbucks Carrot Method – North Phoenix Walking Series
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This one started later than usual… and the sun made sure I knew it.
After staying up late with Andrew to watch the last of Stranger Things, I woke up about 9:15 am, unpacked a little, fought with earrings and wardrobe (they fought back), wished my oldest, Jeff, a happy 30th birthday, and headed out late.
I headed out around 10:15 AM, already feeling Phoenix heat creeping in. Not exactly ideal timing, but sometimes you go when you can go—and that still counts. Always.
Black Gargamel and Azrael t-shirt. Black shorts. Smurf house earrings.
Bold choice. Questionable decision. Fully committed.
The plan was simple: Starbucks Carrot Method. Walk there, enjoy a break, walk back.
The reality? A full-on tree-to-tree survival mission.
(If you know, you know.)
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🚶♀️ Walk 1 – The Push
10:15 AM
– 29 minutes
– 1.28 miles
– Strong pace, solid effort
– Avg heart rate: 125 bpm
– 40 zone minutes
This was the “get it done” portion. Steady movement, good energy, body cooperating.
But like most of my walks, my brain wasn’t just “on a walk.”
🎧 I had The History Chicks playing—Elizabeth Packard’s story. .🎧 click to listen.
So while I’m walking down a Phoenix sidewalk in black-on-black heat gear with new hiking sandals, I’m also mentally somewhere else entirely—following the story of a woman who was committed by her husband and then fought her way back to her own voice and freedom.
Not exactly light listening… but powerful.
And somewhere in that mix, I’m also thinking about Jake’s birthday—how time moves, how kids grow up, how life layers itself whether you’re ready or not.
That’s what these walks really are for me.
Not just steps.
Processing.
Thinking.
Letting everything exist at the same time.
This part of the walk?
Clean. Strong. Looks great on paper.
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☕ Intermission – Starbucks + Reset
I made it to Starbucks, sat for a bit, and just existed for a minute.
Coffee in hand, tested, and review submitted. Brain catching up. Egg bites eaten.
Walked to my bench. Stood there longer than I probably needed to. Then made a quick stop at Chick-fil-A to use the restroom.
No rush. No pressure.
Just real life happening in between the “official” parts of the walk.
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🌳 Walk 2 – Tree Hopping Mode Activated
This is where the walk changed.
The sun got louder.
The shade got more important.
The Fitbit got… confused about me.
And I fully committed to tree hopping survival strategy.
Bottlebrush → Mesquite → Eucalyptus → Aquanet Tree
Each stop wasn’t quitting—it was cooling, regulating, continuing.
🌳 The mesquite trees became my shade buddies.
🌬️ The eucalyptus tree? Absolute MVP. Cool air, soft breeze, that smell… I could’ve stayed there all day.
🌴 The Aquanet Tree—no parrots today, but still showing up with generous shade like always.
Meanwhile, my Fitbit kept cutting out because I was stopping, restarting, adjusting… doing what I needed to do to keep going.
So the data looks messy.
But the effort wasn’t.
~55 minutes of real movement
– Avg heart rate: 110 bpm
– 33 zone minutes
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📊 The Real Totals
– Total time: ~1 hour 25 minutes
– Distance: 2.96 miles
– Steps: 6,701
– Zone Minutes: 81 🔥
That 81 matters more than how “clean” this walk looks.
Walk Receipts
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😂 Real-Life Moments Along the Way
– Yes, I waved at the neighborhood cameras again. At this point, they’ve been tracking the “incredible shrinking woman” since September. If I ever go missing, there’s a full documentary trail.
– Gargamel and Azrael are still misunderstood. They were just hungry. And also… he had a cat. That says something.
– My outfit choices were questionable, but my commitment was not.
– Passed a couple out walking together. She had been going along picking flowers like a little girl picking dandelions and roses. Very sweet. She let me take a picture.
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🏁 The Finish
I made it home at 12:46 PM.
Walked in to find Andrew slightly panicked because I’d been gone so long.
Which… honestly?
Kind of nice to be noticed.
—
💜 The Takeaway
This wasn’t neat.
This wasn’t perfectly tracked.
This wasn’t ideal conditions.
This was:
– Movement + pauses
– Effort + recovery
– Heat + adaptation
– Body + mind working through things
Some parts looked strong.
Some parts looked messy.
All of it counts.
Not perfect.
Still counts 🎯💜
Catch up on the rest of this week’s walks:
Walk 3 of 5 (part 1) week of April 26
Walk 3 of 5 (part 2) week of April 26
Peruse the binge worthy walking series in its full glory.
Starbucks Carrot Method – North Phoenix Walking Series
These walks worked so well for me… five days didn’t feel like enough anymore.
So yeah… it spilled into weekends too.
And… bashfully… yes, Saturdays too.
Same idea. Same coffee. Just a little more life in it.
☕ Catch Sunday Steps for Sips — the weekend version.