Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Life Gets in the Way

I have not been blogging or walking because of the health of a family member and travel needed. Though there are plenty of issues I'd love to discuss, they probably are not appropriate for this type of blog.

Through this I learned something important:

Though I should put some things on hold (such as blogs), when there is a great deal of stress and time commitment, it really is not a good idea to totally quit walking. Rather than sitting around in waiting rooms twiddling my thumbs, I probably would have felt better over all if I had taken a few short walks around the block. I'm sure the stress that I'm holding between my shoulder blades would be reduced if I had. I probably would have been less inclined to eat so many French fries, too.

When we are taking care of those who need us, it is just as important to take care of ourselves.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Nervous

I don't know why I am so nervous about this upcoming issue of WALK. We have some great articles! The topics include snowshoeing, treating plantar fasciitis, how to avoid gaining holiday weight, how to lose weight, walking faster by walking faster and more. We also have our first gift-giving guide! My favorite article is about Gary Berliant, a Special Olympian who racewalks. Despite many setbacks, Gary keeps plugging along, and has won 3 gold medals at Special Olympics racewalks. He is so inspiring! In fact, seeing what this young man has accomplished makes me feel somewhat sluggish.

I always tend to be hyper-cricital of myself, but explaining why others will like the Winter issue has convinced me I have no reason to be nervous. I am absolutely positive you will find something to like in the Winter issue!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Winter vs. Rain

Today I'm putting the finishing touches on the Winter issue of WALK! Magazine. Reading about how to snowshoe has made me really look forward to snow and giving this sport a try! Many of you know that I enjoy walking in snow anyway so it seems like a natural for me.

I just took a break from editing to look out my window. After searching through great photos of beautiful white snow and mountains, I was depressed to see it is rainy and dreary out there. Brown wet leaves cover the ground. It just looks miserable. I need to get in some miles today, but geez - out there in the yucky rain? I feel cold even thinking about going out there. (My neighbors must be more disciplined than I am, several have walked or jogged by.)

It has dawned on me how weird it is that I find fall cold and miserable, but I look forward to winter and snow. Those of you who live in really cold areas have to think I'm nuts. A lot of my attitude comes from not being able to get climatized. I can't stand having the temps be in the 70s one day and down in the 30s the next. I find I am always overdressed and mostly cold until the temps are a little more consistent. And, though rain in November is pretty bad, rain in February is the worst! Being cold and wet at the same time is horrible! (I experienced this during the Last Chance for Boston, Dublin, OH, in February a couple of years ago.)

My obsession with posting about weather and how it makes me feel leads to one thing today: I would rather walk in winter snow than rain, any day!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Nominated Cities

We are VERY excited about the number of cities that have been nominated in our Most Walker Friendly City contest! (We are accepting nominations until December 1.)Some of the nominations include Flint, MI; New Albany, OH; Morgantown, WV; Virginia Beach, VA; Niagara Falls, ON, Canada; Corvaliss, OR and many more. The most interesting nomination received was from Holland, MI. Not only did we receive a T-shirt from the local walking club, but the package also included a great tasting pastry and wooden shoes. Very nice!

We are still looking for a national sponsor to help us choose and announce our selection. If you have not yet sent in your nomination, you have until December 1!

Monday, November 06, 2006

WALK! Magazine Training Program

WALK! Magazine will be introducing our own walking program to help readers get ready for a Fall 2007 half marathon. We strongly believe in proper training before entering a distance event, and all of my columnists recommend at least 9 months to get ready for a half. We also are hoping to get a group of WALK! Magazine readers to enter an event together. I envision a sea of WALK shirts crossing the starting line together!

We will go through our walking event nominations to help us choose an event and our training program will be available soon!