Count Down to Freedom Day (19 July 2021)!

Here are my last 8 salsa walks before Freedom Day on 19 July 2021!

(A time of 56:19 or less means I walked at an average speed of 4 miles per hour or better which is the standard marching speed of the British soldier with a 50lb backpack. Instead of carrying a 50lb backpack, I carry 75 years of age as if I were 25!

-8: Day 484 Salsa Walk (11 July – 56:22 for 6km)

-7: Day 485 Salsa Walk (12 July – 54:28 for 6km NEW RECORD)

-6: Day 486 Salsa Walk (13 July – 55:52 for 6km)

-5: Day 487 Salsa Walk (14 July – 54:37 for 6km)

-4: Day 488 Salsa Walk (15 July – 55:40 for 6km)

-3: Day 489 Salsa Walk (16 July – 55:19 for 6km)

-2: Day 490 Salsa Walk (17 July – 55::07 for 6km)

-1: Day 491 Salsa Walk (18 July – 54:32 for 6km)

I’ve been salsa walking 6km a day for 491 days now and that’s the last one before Freedom Day on 19 July 2011 when I’m very much looking forward to salsa dancing again. I probably won’t go back to dancing 6 nights a week but I will be going to London every weekend to dance with the best salseras in the country!

My Covid Passport!

0: Freedom Day 1: Salsa Walk (19 July – 55:01 for 6km)

+1: Freedom Day 2: Salsa Dancing (20 Jul)

+2 etc will appear as further responses the same facebook post as the above!

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My 6km route on Google Maps (6km = 3.75miles which at the normal walking pace of 3mph assumed by Google Maps takes 75 minutes, but I can now walk at 4mph or more for a time of 56:19 or better!)

My 6km route on MapMyWalk app (An image of the map is shown here because you have to log in to see the MapMyWalk one!)

WHY I CALL IT SALSA WALKING
NB: I use an app called Music Speed Changer to play salsa music (Africando Mario) at 68% of its normal speed to provide me with a tempo of 130 beats per minute which is now a perfect pace for fast walking for me. This was originally because every since I hurt my knees road running 10 milers and half marathons when I was 40, I found walking difficult. Even though I could salsa all night, I could hardly walk a few miles at slow speed without a lot of discomfort . So I used salsa music to motivate me to walk. At first I could walk on 1.3.5.7 to salsa music played at normal speed at a little more than 2 miles per hour. But as I got stronger over a period of 4 months I had to find the music speed changing app so that I could walk on 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8 to salsa music at 60% of the normal tempo of 180 beats per minute. This provided a tempo of 108 beats per minute which made it possible for me to walk at around 2.6 miles per hour. As I got stronger over the following 9 months to the end of April 2021, I was able to increase this gradually to 68%. This provided a tempo of 130 beats per minute which has made it possible for me over a period of 3 months to reach and exceed 4 miles per hour which I never thought would be remotely possible for me! Strangely this didn’t happen until I started drinking caffeinated coffee again at the beginning of July 2021 having given it up for over a year under the mistaken impression that it was totally bad for me. However, I discovered that in fact caffeinated coffee is good for you up to 400mg of caffeine a day! Towards the end of July I had beaten 4mph 19 times out of 24 walks and the last 4 were better than 55 minutes bearing in mind that 4mph is achieved in 56:19 so I am getting to the point where I need to consider whether to increase the tempo to 69% to go faster as I seemed to have reached the limit of increasing my stride length which has increased from around 2’6″ when I first started salsa walking to 2’9.4″ when I set my July record of 54:28.

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FACEBOOK POSTS (Click a date to see the original post)

Philip Wake shared a link on 28 July 2021 in Salsa Romantica  · 

NEVER GIVE IN – KEEP GOING UNTIL YOU FIND A WAY!
I went out salsa dancing 5-6 nights a week for many years until 11 March 2020 when something happened which I felt at first had ruined my life! But I decided not to allow that to happen and discovered salsa walking (walking to the beat of salsa music) as an alternative with the result that 16 months later I am fitter than ever before, 2 stone lighter and no longer addicted to salsa dancing. After 483 days of salsa walking 6km (3.75 miles) on a daily basis , I had a little count down to Freedom Day on 19 July 2021. with my first salsa event for 16 months happening the follow day in Portsmouth.
www.wake.co.uk/my-salsa/count-down-to-freedom-day-19-july-2021