SDCC letter of the day A for Ambulate

San Diego ComicCon is big.

I mean it’s really big. The main exhibition space is 1/3 of a mile long. And it’s filled with tables and booths and people.

The outside is a tad longer. Then you have upstairs.

I know you’ve seen it on TV.  You’ve seen the pictures.  Believe me it’s that big or bigger. It’s the Superbowl of conventions.  E3 is probably the only rival in size.

Don’t believe me? Have a look at the floor.

So todays word is ambulate. You will be walking.  And you will be walking. 

This line is also wrapping under the canvas tents. 
Look how many tents there are. 
A long line means a lot of walkng

The only ones not walking are the people in the booths. To be truthful, even they have a hike to the bathrooms. They are doing some walking as well.

If you are a postal carrier going door to door, you can skip the rest of this.  You already walk all day long with a heavy bag. You have the perfect job to get ComicCon ready.

So it’s 57 days before ComicCon and I’m telling you to get up and go for a walk. If you are in shape, try walking a mile. If you aren’t in shape, walk a few blocks.

Ideally, you want to be walking every day.  Not to get in shape. This isn’t a PX90 or a Bowflex commercial. I want you to build your endurance.

I’m not talking about race walking or even power walking like the moms in the malls. I’m talking about getting up and strolling and finding out how your body responses.

ComicCon is a marathon, not a sprint.

I literally walk between 5 to 10 miles a day during ComicCon.

You’ll probably do less. Don’t worry it’s not a contest.

You might be walking to and from the trolley and then the trolley stop to the convention center. You might be walking along the Gaslamp looking for a restaurant. You might be traveling to the different hotels for an event or visit friends.

The sea of people prevent quick progress from point A to point B.
Keep that in mind as you try to move around.

All of those fun panel discussions are a long way off from the vendors handing out swag. If back and both 3 times in a day you’ve walked a couple of miles.  It adds up.

A lot of the time you will be walking passively.  You are casually strolling among the tables and window shopping. Other times you will be stuck in foot traffic and not moving very fast (I’ll have a tip for that in another post) and you are trying not to trip over someone’s bag or stroller.

If you start walking now and increase the distances slowly, you build your endurance. You’ll see how long it takes to recuperate. You learn when your body is achy just because it’s achy or because something is wrong.

You have a chance to see if those comfy shoes are any good.  You will be on concrete all day.  That is a pounding to the feet, hips, and back. Get some good shoes.  Walk around in them and see if they help. If they don’t get some better ones.   I’m sure ballerina slippers are very comfy when you walk on your carpet at home for a few minutes at a time but trying walking mile or two in them on the sidewalk.

While I love seeing women in stilettoes, I really recommend some good cross trainers or walking shoes. Something with arch support. And then you might want to add additional arch support and some compression socks to help keep the feet from swelling.

If you are miserable after the first day, how will you feel the next?

AH