Beautiful Day!

What a great day to go walking!

My husband and I went to a small wedding reception Friday night and stayed out later than I should have. So I slept in and went out to walk after 11 a.m. I thought it would be too hot, but it was beautiful! I was scheduled to do 6 easy miles and it was great!

I ended up going to the local park with a lake and a 1.2-mile loop around it. Though this is usually one of my favorite places to walk, I haven't been here in a while. It can get pretty crowded when the weather is nice, but the real reason is that a young woman was nearly attacked by a creep with a knife a couple of weeks ago. (She fought back and was unharmed.) Over the years there have been occasional incidents in isolated areas along the bike trail. I try to be careful, especially when I'm on the trail rather than looping the lake. If I feel the least bit uncomfortable, I head back home.

The bad thing is, I like walking when there are no people around. One of my favorite walks in that area was a few years back in a steady warm rain in July. There were fewer than 6 people out that day, and we bonded under the bridge waiting for the thunder and lightening to stop. Because the rain was warm, it was a great walk until the lightening started.

I also have a creepy memory from that area, which also involved rain oddly enough. One early Sunday morning, right after it had stopped raining, I went out to do my long slow distance. It started out just being a nice walk on a tree-lined trail. I went south on the trail for about 4 miles and never saw another person. There are several blind turns and the trees can be pretty thick in places. After awhile I started to feel uncomfortable. It was the first time I had ever been out there and didn't see a single person! I was debating whether to head home the way I came, when a few bikers rode by. As time went on there were a few joggers, too.

Anyway, I will go back to the lake and walk the loop, but I doubt I will walk on the trail unless they are crowded or I have someone to walk with.

4 Miles Today

I was a little bit sore today and had iced my knees earlier, so decided to really take the "easy 4 miles" on the schedule seriously. I was able to head out about 6 p.m. The temps were toasty, but I wasn't worried - I was walking an "easy" 4. I walked to the library, did two laps at the park and came home - just about 4.4 miles according to Google. The last half mile I started to really feel tired. I slowed considerably and even walked with my arms straight down. Because my legs and knees had been sore and it was hot, I probably would have been better off sticking with 4 miles exactly. I'm sure I would have felt fine.

The worst part is, I took so long to walk, the CD was over! I'm in the middle of a great book, and had to walk several minutes wondering what would happen next.

(I iced my knees this evening and will again tomorrow. This happens every Spring and Summer because I don't do knee strengthening exercises year round. Once I build up some mileage and endurance I'll be fine.)

Walking at Night

Because of a busy day, I didn't get out until after 9 p.m. on Monday. It was hot and humid and not much of a breeze, but because it was dark it wasn't unbearable. I haven't been out with it this dark in a long time. I wore my reflective vest and headlamp to be sure I could be seen. The headlamp definitely helps with uneven sidewalks and other potential hazards - like skunks.

It was supposed to be an easy 3 miles. I walked harder than the schedule called for, and though my Google pedometer route said it was only 3 miles I was out for 56 min., and I walked faster than that. I have to figure that Google map doesn't take into consideration the loop at the end of each cul de sac. (The map picture doesn't show a loop.)

Fitting in Walking

Sunday my son had a game at 12:30 p.m., or so we thought. We arrived at the school around 12:15 to discover the game was actually at 1:30! The game was at a school with a large amount of property and the baseball field was as far from the parking lot as you could get. I took this opportunity to walk as much as I could in about 50+ min. I ended up having no other time to walk that day, so I was glad to have had it. I was wearing Croc sandals, so I probably did not get in 3 miles, but I'm sure I covered more than 2. (I was a slug. I was supposed to get in 5 on Saturday and just didn't fit it in.)

Google Maps

Today I discovered Google pedometer! I love it! All you do is zoom to your walking location, click at your starting point, and then add your route. I discovered that in my neighborhood, if I hit every single cul de sac, the distance is 3.47 miles. When I drove the route I came up with just 3 miles.

I get a little obsessive about measuring things so it will be nice to be more accurate about the distances I walk. I'm very excited.

4 Miles Tonight

I was able to squeeze in my 4 miles shortly after I got home this evening. It stopped raining just after I got in the house from my car (after I was soaked). So I changed and went out walking as quickly as possible just in case the rain came back. I didn't take sunglasses, thinking I wouldn't need them - it had been raining afterall. The sun was pretty bright for about 30 mins. which made it pretty humid. I walked to the library, did two laps at the park and walked back, it should be closer to 4.4 miles.

This was weird. The soles of my shoes were slick when wet. I tried to stay on the dry parts of the walking path, but when the soles were wet, the pavement was slick. There are a couple of tiny steep hills on the path, and I had to walk int he grass going down them to keep from slipping.

Oh, the best part! My family waited to eat dinner with me! They even fixed dinner.

Things I Hate When Walking in the Summer

1) Motorcycles without mufflers
2) Cars without mufflers
3) Dogs in parks that are not on leashes
4) The invisible fence (at least at the house down the street where the dog charges me every time I walk by)
5) Not seeing a sprinkler and getting unexpectedly soaked (it happened tonight)
6) Wet shoes or socks
7) Sweat in my eyes
8) Dead batteries
9) Shoelaces that won't stay tied
10) Water splashing out of my water bottle (in my fanny pack) and down my back

Training for Crim 10 Miler

I wasn't able to walk on a measured track today, so I walked for over 45 min. to be sure I walked an entire 3 miles. The temps were in the mid 90s here, and my son had a baseball game at 6:30 p.m., so I was worried about when I'd be able to fit in the distance. I got home about 8:30 and was out the door before 9. It was a great time to walk. It had cooled off a little, the wind was blowing like it wanted to rain, and traffic in the neighborhood was light. I have a headlamp I don't wear often, but I did tonight. It really is not bright enough to light up the sidewalk, other than pointing out major sidewalk shifts, but at least I knew the few cars I encountered could see me when I crossed the street.

At some baseball games I'll be able to walk around the field. I thought I would do that tonight, but this field was fenced. Actually, it worked out better this way.

The other cool thing is, when training for my first fall marathon, I ended up doing a lot of my summer miles in my neighborhood, late at night. As I was walking tonight, it felt just like when I was walking all those years ago. It felt great!

Because I'm finishing up the Summer issue of the magazine today, I didn't get a chance to really walk like I wanted. Instead, I made a special trip to the library tonight, and walked as quickly as I could carrying a cinch sack full of books on tape. It was nice just to get out!

I'll send files to the printer tomorrow and be able to walk for real - at least for a little while.

Update - Bonnie and my Walking

Bonnie was great tonight - just like I knew she would be. About 40 people came to the seminar. I did not bring enough sample copies of the magazine with me, because they all went fast. Unfortunately, when I stepped away from the table people walked off with two of my "sample" techncial shirts. Now, I personally would have asked before I left with someone's shirts, and I did say the magazines were free, (nothing else) but I think I'll live.

Also, I FINALLY got in a good walk today! Woo hoo! Since I was not able to get in a full 3 miles yesterday bbefore dinner with Bonnie, I was determined to get in a walk tonight. At 4:30 I was at the designated park. I walked for 40 min. (5 more for cool down), rushed home, jumped in the shower and ran off to see Bonnie. Unfortunately, there was a huge wreck on 270 and I got there late. The good news is, there is no other group who would understand like this group.

I got to talk at the end, and that was nice.

A special thank you to Bonnie for doing the extra talk!

WALK! Magazine Columnist, Bonnie Stein, Coming to Columbus

Rev Up Your Walk and Get More Bang for Your Walking BuckThursday, June 7 (7-8 PM) at New Albany High School, Jefferson Room (Fodor Rd. & 161)

Free one hour seminar with Bonnie Stein, M.Ed. Learn how to rev up your walk to get more benefits whether you want to walk faster, lose some weight or be more fit.

Bonnie is a Certified Personal Training Specialist, a former National Masters Racewalk Award Winner, columnist for WALK! Mgazine, an author, and walking consultant. Bonnie has been featured on CNN, Good Day Atlanta, The Tampa Tribune, St. Pete Times, Atlanta Journal/Constitution, Channel 11 News (Atlanta), Tampa Bay’s Channel 10, Prevention Magazine, Self Magazine, Women’s Sports and Fitness Magazine, and others.

Bonnie is a recipient of the National Masters Award in the Presidential Sports Award Program, and a writer for Running Journal Magazine. She has published more than 200 articles on walking and fitness. Bonnie is a racewalk coach for beginners through advanced levels in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and presents walking seminars all around the country.

Don’t miss this free opportunity to get your walking questions answered and learn how you can turn your walk into a workout!

Please RSVP to Dr. Phil Heit

More Team Members

We have 4 more Walking Team members! A couple of weeks ago I had a request for a "Generic" option. That person wanted to be on the Walking Team, but was not able to make it to the races we had chosen. So we now have a couple of people signed up for each race and several generic members! At least 4 members are planning to enter more than one event. It will be nice to meet them in Flint, MI in August and see them again at the New Albany 10K Walk in September.

Each race has been very supportive of the Walking Team, even though we had no idea what the interest would be like when we created it. The Appleton PowerWalk and Crim Festival are providing us with a booth at their expos. New Albany purchased an 8-page insert in the Summer issue of the magazine! Each participant in that event will also receive a copy of the magazine. Last year the crowds were large and there were so many great things handed out after the race they just did not have enough hands to hold everything, too. We thought about providing bags this year instead of magazines, but Phil has that covered.

Next weekend starts our official training. I'm ready!

3.5 Miles Today

I'm working on getting into more of a regular walking schedule to prepare for the Walking Team training schedule. We start training for the Crim 10 miler next weekend. So today I got in 3.5 miles. I went to one of my favorite parks and did three loops around the small lake. Each loop is just under 1.2 miles.

It was a little bit hot and humid, and there was not much of a breeze, but that's OK. Because I'm not acclimated yet, I worked on form, not speed. It "felt" like I was racewalking. Not sure if anyone else would think that. My left shin was pretty sore and tight early on, so I know I need to work on it.

Still it felt great to be out!

Copyright Issues

Most of the people who send stories or articles to me write them themselves. Though I don't ask them to sign over copyright, I expect them to respect the copyright of others. I have never said this to anyone, but I guess because I've been in the publishing industry for so long, I figure I will be able to tell. Besides, what would be the benefit of faking a race review or a weightloss story?

Anyway, I had arranged for an article about sunscreen use. The story I got was a mish-mash of facts, but not really a story. I thought I could work with it. While looking up facts online, I found the entire story on a web site. OK, that's happened before, too. If the web site doesn't mind, I'm OK with it. I asked more questions and was told it is the author's web site.

However, I started looking at the "references" to the article. Hmmm. This is starting to look fishy.

I wish I had looked harder at this when I got it. But it was one of those things that I kept putting off. I kept waiting for that moment when I was in an "editing groove," and I would magically fix it. (Don't laugh. Many editors have that "groove" as I call it, when we can just read something and feel how it should be improved.) It never came until this morning. That is when I realized we might not have a sunscreen article in the summer issue.

Don't worry, if we don't run it, I have some great stuff to fill the hole. And if I can find some sunscreen info. in time, I'll use that.

This is Different

You know how sometimes when you are out walking you feel like there is no way you can make it as far as you had intended to go?

Today the opposite happened. I thought I would take just a 30-min walk around the neighborhood, work on my pseudo-racewalking form, and head home. As I searched for my MP3 player, I found a cassette tape I've been looking for for a month and desperately needs to be returned to the library. OK, I thought, I'll just go to the library and come back instead. (Still working on my form.)

I felt fantastic today! The more I walked, the more I wanted to walk! It felt smooth, I could feel my shins getting a workout, there was no bouncing. I arrived at the library a little too quickly, so did the 1.2-mile lap around the park before heading back. This was a great way to start the day.

So a quick little 30-min neighborhood workout turned into 3+ mile! I wish all of my training walks went this way!
___________________

It's starting to get into the 80s in central Ohio. Because I end up being in air conditioning a lot, it can feel much hotter than it really is. I just want to remind people that it is important to walk in all types of weather to get acclimated. The more you walk on 80-degree days, the more you will get used to it. If we are working toward goals, such as entering the Crim Festival of Races in August, then we need be comfortable in the weather we will experience that day. It would be very disappointing to be in a key race and not be able to finish because we aren't used to hot weather.

Getting in a Few Miles

I'm getting a little bit lazy with my walking. I need to start working on speed, but since I know that is built into Dave's Walking Team Training programs, I'm not really doing it yet. I'll begin training for real the first week of June.

Instead, I take very circuitous walks to get in miles while pretending to run errands. I took a book back to the library today, even though it is not due for weeks, went to the post office to mail some packages and went further up the street to hit the bank. Adding the bank to the route gives me an additional mile for 3 total. I am getting a little bored by walking the same route and not challenging myself, but I feel the only way I can fit in walking is by killing two birds with one stone. (The PO trip was mandatory.)

Now I need to quit posting and get back to work.

Regular Walkers

There's the woman who walks back and forth in front of my house while talking on her cell phone. I can't tell if she walks when she gets a phone call, or whether she makes phone calls while she walks.

The gentleman who lives further down the street who seems to walk for hours just went by, too. No matter where I am within a couple miles of our neighborhood, I see him walking.

A fairly new guy walked by at 7:30 on the nose. He looks to be pretty young, maybe in his early 30s. He always walks by at the same time wearing gray shorts, a t-shirt and a baseball hat. He's pretty quick. Looks like he might follow the same route every day.

A couple who live down the street walk together every single day about 5:30, regardless of the weather. They make two laps around the "big" block and seem to really enjoy talking while the walk. They are just a little bit older than I am, and I can tell they have both lost weight since they started walking over a year ago.

And I have the other neighbor who is very environmentally aware. If he isn't carpooling to work, he is walking when he goes out to dinner or to run errands.

I won't even begin to discuss the "dog" people. There are tons of them!

As I watch my neighborhood walkers - the regular walkers - I wonder about them. Why does that gentleman walk for hours? Who is the woman talking to on the phone? How long has that couple been married?

At the same time, I'm sure people wonder about me, too. "There's that woman who's always carrying a bag of books on tape. Doesn't she read?" "Boy, she sure seems to get a lot of mail." "Those are obnoxious yellow tennis shoes!" "She's always walking to the store. I wonder if her car is broken."

Though I only know these people by how and when they walk, it's nice. I feel as if I know these "regular walkers," and maybe they feel they know me a little, too.

Just to the PO

Post office, that is. It is beautiful, but I just don't have the time today. I have a lot I want to get done on the Summer issue and a key baseball game tomorrow. I'll definitely get some miles in on Wednesday and I might enter a Memorial Day race.

Sunday Morning

I woke up much later than I had planned this morning. Part of the problem was, I really got on a roll with what I was writing last night, and had to finish before I went to bed.

Anyway, I had originally planned to do a serious training walk long before anyone got up. Because I got up late, I decided to wait to drive my son to Sunday School first. The more I waited, the less enthusiastic I became. When I finally woke him, he said he didn't have Sunday School today! By then, most of my motivation to be fast was gone. Instead, I did a double-duty walk. I went to the library 1 mile away, returned some books, did a partial loop in the park, and came back home. I did walk faster than a casual walker, and I worked up a sweat, but it definitely was not a "training" walk. Shoot, I was carrying a cup of coffee with me!

Sometimes it is hard to keep up the motivation to do speed work or even walk hard this far ahead of an event. The training schedules for our Walking Team events don't start until June and our first event is in August. Still, some speed work would be good for me. Despite the loss of motivation, I was still out for over 30 min. and I feel pretty good.

A Short Walk

Today could not decide what it wanted to be. Some of the day was cold, windy and chilly. The rest of the day was sunny and pleasant.

Around 8 this evening, it was sunny and pleasant. So my husband and I took a walk around the neighborhood. Because we are planning to do some landscaping it was also nice to see what we liked in our neighbors' yards.

Though we walk just a little faster than most people in the neighborhood, we weren't out there for the workout. It was just a nice evening for a walk.