Just Because it is Pink...

Because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month,  I received an e-mail from a PR firm suggesting items for a "shop for a cause" feature. It's not the kind of thing we ever did in WALK! Magazine, but I thought I would take a look.

Some of the items included ear buds, an ear bud case, iPod case, an expandable "sleeve" to keep computer cables organized under your desk, a mini keyboard and an outdoor extension cord -- all PINK! I looked at the selection of pink items and had to wonder -- what on earth do any of these items have to do with Breast Cancer Awareness?

Have we gotten to the point where all you have to do is make your product pink and it suddenly supports Breast Cancer Awareness?

I responded to the e-mail stating I was concerned about the selection of products and the relevance. The PR professional defended her client reminding me that for each item sold the client was donating $1 to a nonprofit that raises funds to meet the critical needs of women living with breast cancer. It's a great cause!

Maybe I'm just cynical. There are a million products out there being promoted as supporting some type of Breast Cancer research or awareness or helping women with this horrible disease. I have to wonder how many of these are genuine and how many are just jumping on the bandwagon to make a profit.

And despite this non-profit being a good cause, I really have to question this promotion. Does having a pink extension cord in my garage really do anything to promote Breast Cancer awareness?

__________


I don't want to publicly disparage this PR professional or her client. She is doing a good job for her client and I think the company probably has good intentions. I don't agree with the promotion, but I think they are sincere. If anyone is interested in any of the pink products I mentioned, or if you are interested in learning more about the non-profit, send me an e-mail and I will get the information to you.

Bad Dog! -- Edited May 26

NOTE: From the comments received I realized that I left a couple points out and made some minor edits. I had planned to underline the additions, but I no longer have that option.

There's a dog in my neighborhood that tends to "charge" at me when I go past the house. The house is on a corner, so if on that side of the street, I end up walking along two sides of the yard. The dog is a dalmatian mix -- it's pretty stocky with deformed dalmatian spots.

Usually I would walk in the street if I was close to the house. It seemed that being in the street instead of on the sidewalk was all it took to keep it from running at me. It's a minor inconvenience and usually I don't mind. Several months ago the family installed an Invisible Fence which made me very happy! Though the dog would still run at me, it couldn't reach the sidewalk. Still, if I saw the dog was outside, I would walk in the street.

Today as I approached this house, while walking along the side yard, I didn't see anything so I stayed on the sidewalk. After I turned the corner and was about halfway down, there it was in the middle of the front yard. It saw me, stood up, the hair on its back stood up and it ran straight at me! I screamed, jumped and started to head to the street backward -- I hit the curb with the dog already on the sidewalk -- I tripped and flew into the street landing on my right hand, and somehow scraped my elbow and side of my leg! The dog had never gone onto the sidewalk before! (The Invisible Fence must not have been working!) I was terrified it would chase me into the street, but luckily it stopped at the curb.

I got up, brushed myself off and stayed in the street until I was past the house next door.

Though this dog is out of control, I feel I have to take partial responsibility here. I know that dog is crazy, I know the owners do not have control, I know if I'm in the street it won't bother me. And yet, I was on the sidewalk. Still....

Have I mentioned that I hate this dog?
________

The "fall" occurred about 10 min into the walk and despite this, I was able to walk the entire 30 minutes scheduled.

Sunday Walk

Unable to walk with the Buckeye Striders yesterday because of a funeral, I decided to head to Sharon Woods today. I arrived at the park at about 8:30. It was an absolutely beautiful morning! The sun was shining, there was a light breeze and tons of wild flowers were blooming everywhere. I was immediately happy I made the decision to drive to that park for this morning's walk.

Because I have been feeling burned out lately, it was nice to feel excited to be at the park.

The tiredness is back. A couple of weeks ago I was having difficulty with the first two miles of most walks. After I passed the one-mile mark, I pretty much warmed up and felt great. Today that didn't happen. I felt tired the entire four miles.

Though I thought I was pushing hard, that first mile was slower than 15:30! The second and third miles were not much better. The last mile was closer to only 15 min. My legs felt tired the entire distance.

There are two things that I think contribute to the heavy feeling and the slowness. The first is I have not been walking as much as I should. I walked just three days this week. Second, on two days instead of walking outside, I rode my antique exercise bike. Riding that bike exhausts my legs in a totally different way. It tends to make walking a few days later a little harder.

So, though I am still feeling burned out, and I wasn't very fast, I'm glad I went today. It was a beautiful morning to be outside. And I'm confident that if I keep walking when I don't feel like it, eventually it will be fun for me again.

Getting Burned Out

Even though I walked for an hour Sunday morning and 30 min tonight, I had no enthusiasm for it. I am officially burned out.

The only logical thing to me is that doing the Indy Mini Marathon and the Arizona Distance Classic so close together must have been too much. 

I had plans to enter a couple more half marathons in the next few months, but the thought of doing 10-mile training walks is not even remotely appealing to me. I don't even care how fast I'm getting. In fact, the only reason I walked these last two times is because I know I needed the exercise and I need to burn off some calories. I am concerned about losing all of my training and endurance because mentally, I can't work my way back up to 10 miles again anytime soon.

So, for the time being I'll keep walking just because I need to. And I hope eventually I'll begin to enjoy it and look forward to doing it again. It's happened before and I worked through it -- I'm sure I will work through it again.

Badge of Courage

The vast majority of people who complete marathons or half marathons end up with at least one black toenail during their racing career. Because it is longer than the rest, the second toe on my left foot is affected most often. It is currently nearly black after completing the Arizona Distance Classic last month and the Indy Mini Marathon last week. Because my shoes fit well, it isn't as black as it has been and probably will not fall off. But it is noticeably "gray." (I hate it when I lose toe nails.)

I have to admit I like having a black nail. It is my badge of courage. It is evidence that I have done something that took training, commitment and physical ability. Every time I look at my foot I think proudly, "I walked two half marathons in a month. I earned this!"

The problem is, this time of year I LOVE to wear open toed shoes! It's not just my Croc brand sandals, either. I just bought a wonderful pair of Mootsie Tootsie snake skin peep-toe shoes. The fake snake pattern is black and beige, and they look fantastic with my black suit. (Yes, I do occasionally wear things other than walking clothes and jeans.) But, my black toe peaks out, too.

Though I somewhat agree with the unwritten rule that if your toes are showing, they need to have polish, right now I can't do that. I cannot cover up my toe nail. And I hope someone will look at my great shoes, notice my nail and ask about it. I have a reason to brag right now.

So, for a little while I will keep my black toe visible. Maybe in a week or so after I've had a chance to really show it off in my new peep-toe shoes I'll cover it up with a great pink.

_______

I would have posted a photo of my toe, but I lent my digital camera to my sister for the weekend. Maybe when she returns in a couple of days.

"Nutrition" and Food Articles on Yahoo (Rant)

As many of you know, I read a lot about health, fitness and nutrition. Since I am actively trying to lose a little weight, I've been focusing more on nutrition lately. I keep thinking there might be something new out there that I can learn.

The other day I read an article on Yahoo about Joy Bauer's list of the best and worst frozen foods.The first "worst" item on the list was a creamy frozen chicken pot pie. OK, that makes sense. So what is the best frozen pot pie? Not another pot pie, but a Mexican veggie dish. Really? Did I need someone to tell me that a low-fat veggie dish is better for me than a pot pie?

Further down the list, she slams a green bean and spaetzle dish and recommends frozen butternut squash. Huh? How about green beans not in a butter sauce? I don't know anyone who would fix butternut squash if they really wanted green beans. (I don't even like butternut squash.)

She then lambastes Eggo brand waffles and recommends De Wafelbakkers A+ Cinnamon Sweet Potato Waffles. The funny thing here is there are De Wafelbakkers A+ Cinnamon Whole Grain Spelt Sweet Potato PANCAKES, but no waffles!

From the comments posted by others who read the article, I was not alone in my poor opinion of it. One person posted, "Why oh why do I bother reading this crap..." Several said something like: This would only make sense if the products that were better were the same type as the worst (i.e. pot pie for pot pie). There were a lot of comments about comparing apples to apples.

It would also be nice if the replacement product actually existed.

The next article I read on Yahoo was "Time-Saving Foods to Keep in Your Kitchen" -- reprinted from Real Simple Magazine. I should have been prepared for this since the typical Real Simple reader is in a much higher income bracket than I am. The list included brand name pie crusts, puff pastry, fresh pre-chopped veggies, focaccia bread mix, frozen spinach appetizers, portobella mushroom tapenade, organic canned beans, frozen cinnamon apples and frozen cooked shrimp among others.

There were a few things I agreed with such as jarred spaghetti sauce.

At the end, I had to laugh. The article read like a list of advertisers in Real Simple. It can't be just ANY brand of organic canned beans, it has to be Eden brand organic canned beans. Heaven forbid they not be organic. It has to be Belgium Chef frozen waffles and Buitoni focaccia. (I wonder if both of these are organic? If organic is important to you, why is only one item on this list organic?)

The point of this blog posting is that both of these articles were a waste of my time to read. And from the comments posted, most of the readers agree with me.

I used to subscribe to Joy Bauer's e-mail newsletter, but most of the information she provided was about as helpful as the article cited, so I unsubscribed. And I quit reading Real Simple because a lot of the things they recommend as simplifying life are either things I would never use, or they are great, but I'm not willing to spend that much money on it.

So to help save you time, money and calories when deciding what to eat, here are some of Cindi's suggestions:

• Buy vegetables that are not in any sauce whatsoever. If you cannot eat them plain, add a tiny bit of butter or a little bit of cheese. I prefer fresh veggies steamed, especially broccoli.
• Buy fresh fruits or canned fruits that have no added sugar. 
• Instead of preparing something like Hamburger Helper, make your own. Cook a pound of quality hamburger, drain it. Toss in onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, whole grain cooked noodles or pre-cooked brown rice... anything you might find in the prepackaged food and spice it your own way. It will certainly taste better and probably will not take any more time.
• If you like spaetzle and butter sauce in your green beans, do it once in a while, but it doesn't have to be every night.
• Keep frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts on hand. They thaw quickly and you can do tons of things with them from broiling, simmering in a sauce of your own making, chopping and adding to soups or casseroles, etc.
• Cook a big pot of brown rice (the kind that takes an hour). After it cools, spread the rice on a cookie sheet,  freeze it, break it up and store in a plastic freezer bag or plastic container. Any time you want brown rice you can measure some out, thaw it in the microwave or toss some frozen rice into soups or casseroles.
• Baby carrots go bad too quickly for me. It really does not take much time to peel and cut up carrots. Put them in a bowl of water in the refrigerator. I chop them and add them to everything from spaghetti sauce to stuffed peppers or salads.
• If you think you don't like something, try a different kind. I thought I didn't like apples because I hate red delicious. (They are bland and tasteless.) But I discovered I really like honeycrisp, cameo and the occasional granny smith.
• If you think you hate a vegetable because your parents always bought canned or frozen, try buying some fresh and steaming it, or sautéeing it. Fresh spinach sautéed in olive oil and garlic is great! Fresh Brussels sprouts will surprise a lot of people.
• Read packages. Know what a serving size is. Know the calorie count of what you are consuming.
• Wheat bread is different from 100 percent "whole" wheat bread.
• Try new things.

And I got all of this without an advanced degree in nutrition! OK Yahoo, when do I get my column?

Recovery Walk -- Calorie Burn

Because of a little bit of stiffness today, I decided to go for an easy walk around the neighborhood. Also, somehow I ended up gaining 5 lbs over the weekend even though I did a half marathon on Saturday. (I must have pigged out more than I thought I had!) I decided that if I walked at least an hour, even slow, it would burn a few calories.

I went down the street to what we call the "big block" to do a few laps. I could really feel my thighs and glutes -- more than I had expected since I thought I was well trained for the Mini Marathon. (I could especially feel my glutes!)

I ended up doing three full laps and ended up with two laps around the cul-de-sac across the street. Though I probably could not have walked faster if I wanted to, I was tired toward the end of the hour. Still, it felt really good to move.

Hmmm. Slow walking with tired muscles for an hour -- I wonder how many calories I burned?

Indy Mini Marathon Report

I completed the Indy Mini Marathon today, though at the start I was deciding whether I should just go back to the hotel and skip it. Somehow I didn't bring the right clothes and had to wear shorts. Though I also brought my favorite jacket and a throwaway sweatshirt, I didn't dress with enough layers when we left the hotel and I was freezing. Not sure why I didn't just go back to the room and add layers, but I didn't. Maybe I thought I would eventually warm up.

Regardless, the weather reports said it was 47 degrees with 30 mph winds.

We got to our corrals before 7, got into the corrals at 7. The sound system was fantastic! We heard every announcement, the national anthem and the start. They had a DJ-type person making frequent announcements and playing requests sort of like Casey Kasem. (Though a little cheesy, it was fun.) The half marathon started at 7:38 and it took more than 30 minutes to get to the starting line. The bad thing about corrals is that a LOT of people ahead of us lied. There is no way that these people we passed would ever finish faster than 3:45, let alone before 3:15, where we were lined up.

The wind was brutal! In downtown Indy, it blew down the streets like a wind tunnel. Standing in the middle of an intersection with additional winds from the cross streets was even worse!

The one thing I do not like about this race is that it is really hard to get around slower people at the start. In the first mile we just could NOT pick up any speed! I bet by the time we got to the 1-mile marker we had already walked 1.5 miles because of trying to get around people. The wind continued to blow hard and I was still cold. After eyeing tons of shirts and jackets lying on the side of the road, I made the decision to grab a huge Notre Dame hoodie and put it on. Wow! Instant relief. I was going to wear the hood, too, but it felt a little bit crunchy and I was afraid of what might be in there.

As we progressed, the crowds barely thinned with lots of slower people ahead of us. We ended up still having to zoom around people. Early on, Barbara and I had to make a pit stop. This was not a "want," it was a "need." We skipped several stops because of the lines, but around mile 5 we just could not wait any longer and ended up having to wait in line over 9 minutes! Argh! The good news is I was not going to PR anyway, so what was 9 minutes compared to my comfort.

Shortly before we hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway I warmed up quite a bit and was able to toss the Notre Dame sweatshirt. Walking in the Motor Speedway is very cool! This year we did an entire lap. I think the last time we did this race we did about 3/4 of a lap. The wind did not lessen in there, which surprised me. There were several really enthusiastic cheerleading groups that were fun!

Though there were a lot more bands and dance groups than at any other race I've ever entered, there were about half as many as the last time I did this race. We had about 10 minutes total of silence and the last time there was NO silence. Not a big deal, just a little different.

Toward the end of the race, the water stops were a little closer together which is great when the weather is hot. It was not needed this year, but it is very nice!

At mile 12 I picked up my pace a tiny bit and left Deb and Barbara. Between mile 12 and 13, there were several signs telling how far there was to go. First 3/4 of a mile, then 1/2 mile, then 1/4 mile, then the 13-mile marker. Very cute idea!

Before actually going through the finish corral, I waited for Deb and Barbara. (They were just a couple of minutes behind me.) The finish is very well organized! You are funneled through to get water, then a medal. Volunteers handed each of us a plastic grocery bag to pick up our food, however, the food was slim, so it really was not necessary. We received a cookie, apple, banana and a bag of chips. I would have liked something a little more substantial than one cookie.

From there we encountered a ton of photographers for after-race photos. Deb, Barbara and I did a group shot. We left the fenced in area (with lots of exit doorways) and went to the family reunion area where we agreed to meet at letter A. All of our friends who finished before us were waiting and our final friend found us without any difficulty.

Overall, this is a really good race -- nicely organized, reasonable costs, lots of bands, nice expo, tons of water stops, lots of volunteers, lots of people on the street cheering you on! The shirts are pretty nice -- though mens' sizes, the small technical shirt is small enough to actually fit me. We also got a hat in our goodie bag! The medal is just OK. The one I had from a previous year was much nicer.

The things I didn't like about this race this year: there are so many people, it takes more than a mile to get around enough of them to pick up speed; the food at the end was disappointing; the medal is just OK; there could have been more port-a-johns on the course (a long line at every single one of them); this year's timing chip was built into the bib, meaning we had to make sure our numbers showed when we crossed each computer pad -- lots of layers made that tough.

The good things totally outweigh the dings! I really enjoy this race and would be thrilled to be able to do it every year!

Heading to Indy Mini This Weekend

I'm very excited about doing the Indy Mini Marathon this weekend! It's a great race!

It's relatively flat (meaning I don't remember any hills), there are tons of bands, lots of walkers... it's fun.

My goal is to finish sub 3:07. That would not be a PR for me, but I'm not quite ready for a PR yet. Maybe later this year.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to a good race and with luck no rain.

Feeling Strong Despite Lack of Sleep

This is my taper week before the Indy Mini Marathon, so I should not be walking fast or hard. Today, I just could not help it -- I walked hard and strong for about 50 min. It felt great! All this after I have not slept well in two nights. (I hate when I don't sleep.)

Part of the reason it felt so great to walk tonight is that I've been fighting a fatigue for a couple of weeks. The first few miles of my training walks have been really hard! But tonight I had none of that -- I felt great from the first step!

It's odd that after days of not sleeping, this is when I feel great walking!

Postponed Walk to Miss Rain

This morning it was raining, so I decided to skip walking until later in the day. I got busy and never had the chance to fit in the walk until nearly 7. And at that point, you guessed it, it was raining!

So, I put on walking clothes, grabbed a water-resistant jacket and head out the door. The problem is, the temps are in the 70s, so it is really too warm to wear a jacket. I just was not in the mood to get soaked. After about 20 min the rain stopped and I was able to remove the jacket.

I walked for only 55 min instead of the 6 miles scheduled. I know I'll be OK for next week's Indy Mini Marathon, but I would have liked to burn the extra calories.

The good news is I felt fine the entire walk. Whatever had been causing me to feel tied the first couple miles of every walk is now officially over.

4 for Wednesday

Yesterday was a beautiful day for walking! We were by the river, the sun was shining, there was a nice breeze and I had the chance to walk with Catherine and Elaine. We walked a little farther than 4 miles at a medium pace. Let me clarify -- it was brisk for me, it was slow for Catherine and Elaine.

We could only measure 2 miles accurately because of where we started compared to the quarter mile markers. We were at about 14:25 and 14:10.

The good news is, I felt great from the first step. Lately, I've had very little energy for the first couple miles I walk. Yesterday, I felt fantastic! I have no idea what was different, but I felt great!

Yea!

Chilly!!!!

It was sunny and beautiful today, so I decided to head out to Antrim Park to walk. It was a little bit breezy at home, so I wore a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. I stepped out of my car and just about died -- it was chilly! And that wind blew right through my sleeves!

It was so chilly, I almost went back home. Then I thought about the advice I give other people -- walk for 10 min and if you still want to quit, then you can quit. I park at the top parking lot and it took a minute or two to get to the walking trail. It was cold and again I almost turned around.

I took a pebble out of my shoe and started walking. The wind was even stronger in those first few minutes. I would have turned around, but that would have meant the wind would be in my face instead of at my back, so I kept going. Because the trail is around the lake, the wind can feel especially brutal at times as it blows across the water. At the point of no return, I was out of the wind -- for a little while.

The good news is, I was so cold I tried to walk fast. (It wasn't super speedy, but it is faster than I have been for a while.) Once I was out of the wind, I was a little too hot, but that did not last long. I alternated between being too hot and too cold for two laps and decided it was time to quit.

So, glad I went, but disappointed I dressed inappropriately and had to cut it short.
______________

I've written about how the first couple miles of each walk can be difficult. Today I didn't experience that. I'm wondering if my recent difficulties have been weather related or mental?

The First Speedoman Sightings of the Season

I almost forgot to mention that I have already seen Speedoman this season -- twice!

Both times that I've seen him it has been past noon. He must be getting to the park later than he used to.

Though he is still pretty active (I've seen him twice) he wasn't running either time -- he was walking. In fact, he was walking pretty slowly. He seems to be carrying a little more weight than he used to.

But he is still out there and he is still wearing a Speedo. This year's color is grey.

I know spring is finally here when I've had my first Speedoman sighting!
________

I have been tempted to take a picture of Speedoman for this blog, but it just seems wrong to do without his permission. And wouldn't it be weird if I asked him if I could, and I found out he's been posting on his blog about how I'm stalking him?

Anyway, the picture is not really the suit he wears -- his is larger and a little baggier, however this is a Speedo. Now imagine something similar on an older man who is running/walking in the park...

Walking this Weekend

Yesterday the Buckeye Striders were scheduled to do 8 miles. When I went to bed Friday night, it was raining. I made the instant decision not to do the group walk and walk today instead.

Today I had planned to get up at 7, leave the house at 7:30 and start walking by 8 at Sharon Woods. (A great place to do 8 miles.) I don't know how, but I turned off the alarm and didn't wake until 8:30! Argh! I wasn't able to start walking until 9:30. Oh well.

Lately, I've had a little trouble with the first 2 miles of each long-distance training walk. They are the hardest miles of the walk! I'm tired, it is hard to pick up the pace and I just want to quit. Once I get past the 2-mile mark, I've been fine. By mile 6 I'm warmed up and can hardly walk slow. I'm usually ready to go go go.

Today I did the 8 miles alone. The first 2 miles were hard like usual. Then mile 3 was still hard and mile 4 was still difficult! Suddenly after mile 4 I had more energy, had no trouble picking up the pace and felt great! I finished very strong.

Throughout the walk, the sky alternated between bright sun and heavy dark clouds ready to pour on me. I was a little worried about getting soaked. At about mile 7 a very light sprinkle started, but stopped pretty quickly. I picked up the pace and got to the car in time. About 5 minutes after getting in the car the sky opened and it started pouring pretty hard! Lucky me! Even after oversleeping, I was still able to finish walking before the rain!

So, it ended up being a good walk despite feeling tired through half of it. Feeling tired through so much of the walk also had me wondering why. I had plenty of sleep last night, so it wasn't staying out too late.

So what could be happening? I know I'm not training too hard and I'm getting plenty of rest days. I'm now so used to walking with people that it is a little harder to walk alone. But I wonder, am I eating too little food? Could I be anemic? Is it a phase? Could there be something else going on that could be easy to solve?

I have already promised myself that I would schedule a physical soon, I should just do it and get it over with.

Why I Decided Not to do a Full Marathon

Earlier this year, I was pretty excited about the prospect of doing a full marathon for my birthday. I remember how exciting it was when I crossed the starting line for my first full marathon 10 years ago! I was nervous about finishing, I was worried about walking it alone and I was a little worried about how much water to drink.

At the finish I felt fantastic! I felt stronger than I have ever felt in my entire life! I was thinner than I had been in years. All of those months of training were worth it. I felt totally invincible. After that, it was so easy to turn 40!

Those positive feelings also helped me to completely forget how hard it was to finish those 15-, 18- and 20-mile training walks.

Last week Deb and I did a 10-mile walk in preparation for the Indy Mini half marathon coming up in May. It was a little tough to do the 10. I really could not understand why it was hard, I've walked farther and the half in Arizona in April was great! The thought of doing more than 10 miles is overwhelming.

The last time I did 8 miles alone, it was pretty rough mentally. Even with a great audio book, I could not imagine walking twice as far.

The other night I said to my husband that I was not sure I wanted to do another full marathon. "I don't want walking to take over my life," I said. He laughed at me. "It's a little too late for that, don't you think?"

OK, walking has not really taken over my life, though it is a really important part of my life. I walk several days a week with long walks on Saturdays. If I were to train to walk another full marathon, and I was doing 20-mile training walks, THAT would take over my life! (Again!)

Instead, maybe I can plan a couple more "half" marathons. It won't be the same feeling of major accomplishment, but for the most part, I'm feeling pretty good right now. I've lost weight, I'm walking regularly, I eat healthier -- I don't "need" a marathon to feel I've accomplished something special.

So, my final decision for 2010 is no full marathon this year. I reserve the right to change my mind in 2011.

Searching for Cindi

Every once in a while, I check the stats to see how many people are visiting my blog and how they find me.

The obvious searches start with my name, WALK! Magazine or some type of walking search. "Cindi Leeman blog" is the most common. Today I discovered that two different people found this blog by searching for "antsy legs"! Really?

Before I wrote my blog posting about antsy legs, I actually did a very similar online search. It's nice to know I'm not the only one.

BTW: The more I exercise, the less I get antsy legs. It seems to happen most often when I walk a little farther or when I have not walked in a long time and I'm trying to catch up.

So, for all of you who found me by some odd online search -- Welcome! I hope you come back often.

An Hour

Tonight I walked for an hour in our neighborhood. It can be hard to walk for that long in a neighborhood as small as ours without heading out onto some busy roads. I wasn't in the mood for that.

So, I passed the kids with the broken bike three times (in my defense, I stopped to help them once and another neighbor did the same), went by the elementary school three times and went up and down a couple of other streets a few times to break up the monotony.

The first 30 minutes were rough because I was tired from the day. The middle 15 minutes wasn't bad! I felt strong and my form was good. The last 15 minutes were rough as I tried to keep going. I was bored. It is hard to keep going when you are close to home AND you are bored.

When I stopped my watch in the driveway it was 59:56. Oh well, I was close.

I Have my Limits

I try to encourage people to walk for exercise. I get excited when I see fairly new walkers just starting an exercise program. I know how hard it is to get started and stick with it. Good for them!

It is especially cool when you see someone pushing a stroller or even a whole family out for a walk. If the kids get used to it when they need to ride, they will love it once they can walk.

However, I have limits.

Today I was out for an easy 2+ mile recovery walk around Antrim Lake. In that second lap I came up behind a woman with a stroller. I was thinking: good for you being out here walking with your kid!

As I got closer I noticed she had something in her hand and it dawned on me -- she was smoking. Really? You are out for a walk in the fresh air, and you are smoking? With your kid? It's not something you see a lot of on an exercise trail!

People who know me know I have serious issues with smoking. Three of my grandparents died of emphysema, my mom died of complications from COPD and emphysema. I have no patience for it -- especially around kids!

Though I had that first intense anger at this woman, I do have to remember she was out walking. She was getting exercise. The more she moves, the more likely it is that she will get healthier and she will find the strength to quit smoking.

I can only hope. And if I see her again, I will try to say something encouraging to her.

10 Miles Saturday

Saturday the Buckeye Striders did a 10-13 mile walk on a great rails to trails route in West Jefferson, Ohio. The original plan was to do an out and back walk of 13.1 miles with everyone finishing around 10:50 a.m. to gather for our monthly meeting lunch.

Deb and I were not up for 13, so we planned to do closer to 10. Arriving after everyone else had already started, we walked out for 75 min. then turned around. (Funny -- it took us only 74 min. to return!) I'm sure we were faster than a 15-min mile for most of the walk, so we definitely went farther than 10.

The day was beautiful though breezy and the trail was pretty. It heads out through farm land and without the trees that lined the trail as wind breaks for the farms, it would have been way too windy. In the sections without trees it was definitely windy! (And chilly!) Regardless, it was really nice to try a new walking location.

Thanks to Steve and Sharon for hosting us for lunch at their house! They really are fantastic hosts! (Sharon, I found the tea at Whole Foods.)

It was a fun way to spend an early Saturday.

Wait for the Cucumbers

I like to cook, and lately I've been trying some recipes that require a lot more fresh vegetables. Tonight I made what sounded like a delicious cucumber, mint and feta salad. It also had radishes and red onions!

The problem was the cucumbers and radishes. Both of them were totally and completely tasteless! I love cucumbers -- they smell like spring. And I like that little bite radishes give everything.

In tonight's salad, the cucumbers and radishes tasted almost identical -- like absolutely nothing.

So, I'll probably try the recipe again sometime. But in the future, I'll make sure I use locally grown and flavorful veggies.

Good Walk with Friends

I always enjoy my mid-week walks with Deb and Elaine. Not only are they fun to walk with, but Griggs Reservoir is usually pretty and it is nice to see the seasons change there. There is some construction going on there, but we aren't sure what it will do.

We started slow -- partly because I have troubles with the first two miles I walk lately, partly because they were both tired. I missed some mile markers, so I didn't even get to track our speed per mile adequately. I'm sure we walked more than 5 miles in 1:03.

Still, it was a pretty day, at a pretty park with good friends. I need more Wednesdays like this one!

Making Walking an Event

Tonight was beautiful! The sun was shining, flowers and trees are blooming and there was a nice gentle breeze. I couldn't wait to get somewhere to walk.

After I got home and changed my clothes, I was losing my momentum. I did not want to walk in the neighborhood or at Antrim. I've done the laps on those routes so many times, I knew I would do just one and quit. I would have walked to the library, but I noticed that sidewalks are being installed! Woo hoo! The section I walk along Lane Road is finally getting sidewalks! Though that is good news, I didn't want to walk near the wet cement.

So, I decided to make tonight's walk feel more like an event. I went all the way to Sharon Woods park. It is one of my favorite parks and it is beautiful year round.

Unfortunately, the traffic to the park was horrible. (There is a lot less traffic when I can leave earlier.) It took forever to get there, but it was worth it. It was as pretty as I expected and it smelled wonderful. I love flowering trees.

I definitely made the right decision. I walked 4 miles tonight and it felt great!
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I am still struggling during the first 2 miles of most walks. If I had not planned to walk a 4-mile loop, I might have quit early. After those 2 miles, I was warmed up and felt great. Thank goodness my favorite distance is the half marathon!

So, Why was I Drinking Diet Coke?

I have been addicted to Diet Coke for years. If I was thirsty, the ONLY thing that would quench it was a nice tall Diet Coke with lots of ice. Yum! Though I prefer this beverage from a fast food restaurant (less carbonation), I also prefer drinking it out of a glass. I don't know why glass makes it feel colder and taste better, but it does.

The last couple of years I have given up Diet Coke for Lent. The first few days are always so hard for me! It makes me feel as if I almost have an idea of what it is like to give up smoking. (Almost.) Partway through the 40+ days I usually start to feel better without it. Regardless, within a few days of Lent being over I am right back to drinking Diet Coke.

This season, I not only gave up DC, I also tried to limit all beverages with artificial sweeteners. I eliminated all pink packages from my hot tea and ended up drinking just a couple diet Arizona Peach Teas each week. (Not even one a day!)

So, Lent ended on Sunday, but I had no desire to drink a Coke until today. I was excited thinking about the nice cold beverage, lots of ice, the bubbles going down my throat! I poured the Coke over ice, took a nice big gulp and thought, "Huh." I waited a couple of minutes to be sure the Coke was really cold and took a small sip. Still I thought, "Huh." Where was the great taste? Where were the bubbles? Why do I drink this?

I didn't even finish the entire glass. I tried, but I just couldn't drink it. After dumping it out, I poured myself a tall cold glass of -- water. It tasted great!

Two things I've been thinking:
1) If I have to get used to drinking it again, why am I bothering?
2) If water quenches my thirst, it will be a whole lot cheaper to drink water. I should save lots of money!

So, why have I been drinking Diet Coke?

Speed Work

Today I went to Griggs Reservoir to do speed workouts. I like to do speed at this park because there are 1/4 mile marks and it has relatively flat areas. (Ironically, I also go there to do hills.)

I did a 1 mile warm up in 14:55 then started the 1/4 mile sprints. The sprints were harder than I had expected. My shins were sore and I felt extremely stiff! I tried to work on form, but it was very difficult to walk fast with form. I felt as if I was walking with Frankenstein legs. Obviously, I need more practice.

Because of the stiffness and pain in my shins, I did just four 1/4 mile sprints with 2 min breaks in between. My sprints were 3:08, 3:14, 3:20 and 3:09. Then I did a 1 mile somewhat cool down -- actually, I tried to keep my heart rate around 140 for the entire mile. It was pretty hard to keep the heart rate up and I wasn't nearly as fast as the other day.

Today was definitely a good workout! If I could walk a mile as fast as I can walk a 1/4 mile, I'd be flying!
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OK, now the bad news. I have been experimenting with wearing insoles to keep my right ankle less floppy. Unfortunately, I do NOT need the insole for the left foot -- it actually causes pain in that foot. I assumed I would just have to get used to it, but apparently, that is not the case. After Monday's walk, there was a little pain in my left foot. Yesterday I wore a different pair of shoes and still had a little pain. Today my foot was still a little sore all day, but now after doing the speed workout, the bone on the outside edge of my foot aches! I've been icing, took ibuprofen and plan to wear really comfy shoes tomorrow. I probably will not be doing any serious walking, either.

Competing with Neighbors

I opted to do a casual walk around the neighborhood tonight. I was so casual, I wore jeans.

There were so many people out walking, I was amazed at not only the number, but also the number of them I have never seen out before. It was pretty cool seeing all of these walkers -- until the fast walking woman in the cute walking outfit came up behind me and passed me. Yep -- she passed me!

As she passed I was thinking, "She thinks she's so fast -- if I weren't taking it easy today, I'd be passing her." I almost picked up my pace, but as I said earlier, I was wearing blue jeans. Who can be fast in blue jeans?

I don't know why it mattered. I don't look down on the other neighborhood walkers, why would I assume she would look down on me? Besides, can't there be more than one fast walker in our neighborhood?

Despite the mature attitude I would love to have, I think I'll be out walking the neighborhood at the same time over the next few weeks. Yes, I'll be wearing my shorts, my fastest shoes and I'll be using my best form.

Fast Non-race Mile

I was planning to do about 3.6 miles at Antrim Park today -- three laps around the lake. As I was heading to the car, my husband came home and asked if he could join me. Of course I said yes! While he changed his shoes, I made the decision to do just two easy laps instead.

As we got near the end of the first lap, he admitted he had a stitch in his side and wanted to take a break. I took the opportunity to do my second lap fast. Using my heart rate monitor as a guide, I decided to try doing the entire lap with my heart rate between 140 and 150. About halfway through I realized my HR was down to 138, so I picked up my pace.

I finished the 1.2 mile lap in 16:20 -- about 13:37 per mile! It felt great, did not feel as if I was pushing "too" hard and though I could not have done another entire lap at that pace, I could have maintained it for maybe another 8 min or so. I think this may be one of the fastest non-race miles I've walked!

Throughout the fast lap, I also tried to focus on form. I could feel my arms pushing back hard, and I tried very hard to land on my heels and keep my knees straight. My husband said I looked fast and my form looked good! (Yeah!)

We did the third lap together and had a really nice chat about how much fun Easter was.

It was a good walk!

Do you Know your Neighborhood Walk Score?

Recently a friend did an Internet search on the housing market in Tucson just for the fun of it. She found it interesting that all of the houses listed with a particular real estate firm included a Walk Score(TM).

The Walk Score uses information gathered from the Internet to determine how easy it would be to live a "car lite" life from that location. The criteria includes the distance from a house to a variety of amenities including stores, schools, movie theaters, etc. Obviously, the more amenities closer than 1 mile, the better the score. In fact, amenities closer than 0.25 mile are even better.

The score ranges from 0 to 100 with 0 meaning the neighborhood is car dependent, 100 is a walker's paradise.

Though it was pretty cool to see how houses for sale are ranked, I was even more excited to see that my house scored a 72! Though I was not concerned about walkability when we moved here 22 years ago, it was nice to see that it wasn't such a bad decision. (I had a feeling it would be higher than average since I walk so often.) I would really like it if it were even higher, but not knowing I would eventually like walking, we did pretty well.

So, if you are interested in buying a house, or just checking out the walkability score of your current home, go to the Walk Score web site at http://www.walkscore.com/.

The Job of Race Pacer

Lots of races have people designated to maintain a certain pace to help the athletes finish in a projected time. This is such a great service and I am thrilled when a race has pacers that actually benefit medium-speed walkers like me. Deb and I enjoyed meeting the men who were walking the 3:15 pace during the Arizona Distance Classic.

At one point in the race, we came across the 3:00 pacer. A gentleman walking near us said something to her like: If you are the 3 hour pacer, you are going too slow, and explained that he was on pace to finish around 3:10. Her response was something like: I'm going to finish the last few miles faster than you are, so it will even out. He tried to explain to her that the job of a pacer is to "maintain" a pace, not just guarantee a finish time, but she just didn't get it.

A friend from Wisconsin called me after she finished the race (for a variety of reasons, we did not hook up after we all finished) and said she finished around 3 hours. When asked about the pacer she said after a few miles she knew the pacer was way off, so she walked ahead without her. When I told her that we saw her, and we finished closer to 3:10 she laughed.

OK, for the record: If you are ever asked to be a pacer for a long-distance race, your job is to maintain a steady pace to help the athletes finish in the projected time. If you agreed to 3 hours, that is approximately a 13:43 mile -- every single mile. It does not help anyone if you finish one mile in 13 minutes and the next in 15 minutes. The goal is about 13:43 min per mile.

I have to say the 3:15 guys were great! One of them had a Garmin and he took his job VERY seriously. And they were very friendly, too. After Deb and I passed them, our goal was to stay ahead of them the best we could -- and we did great!

Arizon Distance Classic Results -- Update 3-31

NOTE: On 3-31 I rechecked results to add everyone in our group, and I noticed my finish time had changed. Darn! Not as fast as I thought I was. This seems more accurate though, because it matches the time on my watch.

PS: You don't get race scenery like this in Ohio.
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Well, the race was yesterday and I was a little wiped out afterward. So here is my report.

The race started at 7 a.m. which was perfect. Before the sun rose over the mountains, it was a little chilly waiting for the start. It was in the 40s and some of us were debating whether to wear our long pants during the race or not. Luckily Deb convinced me to wear shorts and leave my jacket behind. However, I did bring an ugly sweatshirt with the intention of tossing it as soon as it warmed up and I did keep that with me.

An acapella group did a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. As they reached the last line of the song, the sun peeped over the top of the mountain -- it was breath taking!

As the sun rose, the day did get warmer. About mile 2 I tossed my throw-away gloves, and about mile 3 I tossed my sweatshirt. I am so glad Deb talked me into not wearing long pants! (Yes, I did thank her many times throughout the race.)

The course is an out and back. It is a little hillier than I had expected, but we are in the foothills of the mountains after all, I should have anticipated that. (I have done plenty of hillier courses, so it didn't bother me -- I was just surprised.) The hills here were more long with a gradual incline as opposed to the short and steep hills of either a Cincinnati or Parkersburg.

Deb and I had planned to try to be between a 14 and 14:30 min mile. We did pretty well with faster miles going downhill, slower miles going uphill. We started to get a little toasty in the second half. Though water stops were about every 2 miles, we probably could have used an extra one closer to the end. (Still not bad.)

Usually in half marathons, I will go ahead of Deb around mile 10. This race I waited until mile 11, when I got my second wind. Around mile 12 I started to feel very slightly lightheaded, slowed a bit, took a Shot Blok, drank the entire cup of water handed to me and I was fine. I continued to speed up and finished VERY strong.

Because our Ohio winter had limited my training, I was not expecting to PR and was just hoping to finish faster than 3:15. (In fact, we lined up with the 3:15 pacer.) We passed him around mile 3 and both Deb and I finished faster than we had anticipated. I was 3:07:32 3:08:29 with an average pace of 14:19 14:24 and Deb finished strong at 3:09:07 3:09:50 with a 14:27 14:30 average (4 min faster than her Gasparilla finish!). My watch said my finish was 3:08:28, so I am even happier with my official finish time! (Deb pointed out that I usually do not finish much more than 45 seconds to a minute faster than her.)

There are a couple of things to note about this race. 1) There were fewer than 2,000 people entered in the race. 2) There is very little crowd support, which initially surprised me. 3) There was no entertainment along the way. I'm with a group of 10 people and our opinions were divided on this. Half felt that crowd support and entertainment would have been nice, half did not care.

Let me just say that if you are not from this part of the country, the scenery is so beautiful, bands would have taken away from it. And the race was also held on Palm Sunday, so I am positive that many people who would normally watch a race were probably at some type of a church service.

I personally like the party atmosphere of some races. I also enjoy when cities such as Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Nashville and Parkersburg really support a race and the community comes out to cheer. It's not necessary, but I enjoy it. Because there was not much of that here, it almost made this event seem more like a hometown race. (Not a criticism, just an observation.)

So, the weather was beautiful, the scenery was beautiful, the course was very nice though a little hilly. There were a few glitches with getting our race numbers and goodie bags, but I think those will get ironed out. (They tried something new.) Overall, it was a very good event!

That is it for now. Photos to come.
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Added 3-31
Results from our group:
Deb - 3:09:50
Me - 3:08:28
Tom - 2:59:52 (His first half marathon!)
Elaine - 2:57:43
Pat - 2:57:30
Nancy - 2:56:42
Peggy - 2:53:08
Laura - 2:39:46 (Not sure about this.)
Donna - 2:31:58
 
Renee from Wisconsin: 3:01:23

Adventures in Tucson

Our trip to Tucson for the Arizona Distance Classic started out with a little excitement. The first leg of our flight into Denver had a little trouble landing. Apparently, the pilot knew he would be unable to steer the plane once we were on the ground. We had an inkling there might be  problem after he started to descend approaching the runway, then suddenly ascended and flew past. He announced the problem and went back to land without incident. It was a little disconcerting that there were several firetrucks waiting at the end of our runway. Luckily it was not a long wait for a tow truck to tow the plane to the gate.

We left Ohio with 2 to 3 inches of snow on the ground, so we all are appreciating the sunshine and mild temperatures!

Last night Race Director David Babner had a Margarita party for the VIPs staying at this hotel. It was on a patio at the top of the building. Beautiful! It was a very nice party with a beautiful view, and unlimited margaritas and chips and salsa. It was very fun! (The sunset over the mountains was beautiful!)

We drove the course today and it seems much hillier than we had anticipated. Believe it or not, it seems to be uphill both ways. (I know it is impossible, but that is how it appeared.)

We found a local Italian restaurant for carbo-loading tonight and the race is tomorrow.

Wish us luck!
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Wasn't sure I was going to post about this, but it is important. Our race packets were not at our hotel last night and we were told to go to the running store. We got to the store today and our race packets were not there, either. For a long time no one had any idea where our packets were. On last check, they are on their way to our hotel. Let's hope they make it here before the start of the race!
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Photos added 3/31/10.
Top photo is one of several firetrucks waiting for our airplane at the end of the runway when landing in Denver on our way to Tucson.

Bottom photo is our entire group from Ohio (one from West Virginia) who went to this year's race. We are on a roof patio at the hotel for the Margarita party. It was breezy and a little chilly that night. We had a hard time keeping our chips from blowing away!

Walking in Williamsburg

Work travel can make it difficult to get walking in, too. When I travel in the fall, I'm required to attend a lot more meetings, so it is harder to find time to walk then. In the Spring, like now, I sometimes have breaks in the middle of the day and I will often try to sneak out for a walk. And because of Daylight Saving Time, it is light later in the day, so I can usually walk in the evening if I have to.

This week, I had a lot fewer meetings than normal. Monday I had a three-hour break between 1 and 4 p.m. I took off the business suit, threw on my walking clothes and got in a three-mile walk! It was overcast, but then again, Ohio usually is too, this time of year. Still, it felt wonderful to be outside in the middle of day and sneak in a walk! I got back in plenty of time to make the 4:00 meeting. Though there was nothing even remotely scenic near our hotel, I did see some obvious signs of spring!

Today my meetings ended at 2 p.m. and by 3 I was outside. Though the doorman assured me it would not rain, about halfway through my second mile it started to sprinkle. It was not enough to make me quit, but I was looking for Roy when I got back!

So, I arrived here on Sunday and walked around Colonial Williamsburg for a little while. Got in 3 miles on Monday along with walking around (a little) Colonial Williamsburg again when we went there for dinner. Tonight I got in 2 miles and we walked the quarter mile to and from the restaurant.

Not bad! And because I'm doing a half marathon this weekend, I'm tapering anyway, so I probably did not want to walk much harder anyway.

I'm so glad that my walking shoes do not take up any more room than the required (but really cute) high heels!
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For some reason, the flash on my digital camera is not working! So, I am unable to take a decent photo of my shoes. They all turn out blurry. Darn!!!! Despite this, I was thrilled to get photos of some spring daffodils.

It can be Hard to Eat Healthy When Traveling

Sometimes it is really difficult to eat healthy foods when traveling. (Don't get me started on airports.).

For me there are two types of traveling that make eating healthy difficult: 1) family travel where there are great restaurants and lots of social eating and drinking events; 2) travel for work. I'm traveling for work right now.

I was able to get a great fruit plate for breakfast the other day! But the box lunches included huge lunch meat sandwiches with really thick white bread buns, cookies, potato chips and a piece of fruit. I ate just half the sandwich and the fruit. I had the self control to push the cookies and chips off on other people. (Some people ate several bags of chips.) Sadly, dinner at a great Colonial Williamsburg Tavern was anything but healthy. (It was delicious and the servings were huge!)

Today I was unable to get room service in time for breakfast, so I ended up eating danish and another box lunch. (Only half the sandwich and the fruit.) One of the people in the meeting took out a baggie with really delicious-looking whole grain bread. He removed the insides from the sandwich and put it on his own bread! I never thought about that. He too skipped the cookies and chips.

Dinner again was too much food.

So there are times when I'm traveling -- especially for work -- where it is really hard to make healthy food choices! Sometimes I just wish someone could force me to eat right.
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NOTE ADDED 3/25: I weighed myself this morning and remarkably, I did not gain any weight while traveling! In fact, I lost half of a pound. I can only assume that being more active during the day by having to walk to and from meetings made the difference. (Unfortunately, as an editor in a very small building, I have a very sedentary job.)

Why do I Care?

I have gotten past that whole "racewalkers look funny" thing. Well, I thought I had gotten past it. Two recent events make me wonder.

Last week on a nice day I was racewalking to a nearby park. I walk this route all of the time and typically end up getting stuck by a traffic light at a nearby heavy duty intersection.

On this particular day, I was suddenly aware of all the people in the cars waiting for the light and felt extremely conspicuous. I could feel their eyes as I crossed the street using pretty good racewalking form. I almost just walked regularly and didn't bother racewalking, but that felt even sillier since I had racewalked to get to the intersection.

Then tonight I decided to do a quick couple of miles in the neighborhood. Again, I walk in my neighborhood all the time -- at all times of the day. I'm sure to my neighbors I'm the crazy neighbor who walks funny. Today I walked out the door, noticed a group of teen-aged boys playing basketball two doors down, and made the decision to start out walking casually until I rounded the corner. As soon as I was out of sight, I started working on form instead of speed.

On the way home, I had to pass the group of boys again. This time I opted to keep racewalking, but stayed on the other side of the street. I've known most of these kids for years -- they have all seen me look sillier than this!

So, I have been attempting to racewalk for years. Within the last year I am finally getting it down and it is more obvious that I am racewalking. I have to wonder, now that I am finally getting it down, why am I even remotely concerned about what other people think?

5 Miles and Partial Hills

Deb, Elaine and I started out doing hills tonight at Griggs Reservoir. We did a half-mile warmup, but after two laps, I was tired. The hills were a little too much for me today.

We decided to walk on the flat section and ended up walking 4.5 miles on relatively flat roads along with the half mile of hills. I felt a little better that we walked farther than typical since I was the wimp who wanted to stop the hills.

The sun was shining and the temps were in the 60s. The traffic was not bad, and we assumed a lot of regulars were probably out drinking green beer today instead. In fact, a couple of the people we saw seemed to be at the park after hanging out at a bar all afternoon.

I always enjoy walking with Deb and Elaine and the beautiful weather made it even better!

Fitness Update

I keep all of you updated on my walking regularly, so you know I'm pretty much ready for the Arizona Distance Classic in two weeks. But I haven't written about other fitness objectives recently.

The Push Up Challenge is much more difficult than I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, when I originally planned to work up to 100 push ups, I thought I had six months. As you may recall, the program is actually only 6 weeks! That is not much time for someone with no upper body strength to work up to 100 push ups. After the second week I knew it was going to be too hard to do in six weeks. So, starting with the third week, I am doing each week twice. So, it will really take more like 11 weeks instead of six. It's still shorter than six months.

My goal to lose 10 (or 12) lbs started strong, but has slowed down quickly. The first two weeks, I lost 6 lbs. and got down to 126. I thought that losing weight is actually easier than I had made it the last few years. I've been watching what I eat, counting calories, balancing food choices with exercise. It's been great! Then I gained back 2 lbs. over a weekend and have re-lost only 1.5 lbs. over the next week. Argh!

So I am back to realizing that losing weight and keeping it off is not easy. Obviously, something I did that weekend was not conducive to losing weight. (Skyline and a couple beers maybe?) Then again, the first few pounds came off quicker than what I had expected, so that 1.5-lb. loss this past week was probably closer to reality.

In the meantime, I still have body fat I need to lose, but I'm not sure I will get down to 120 lbs. It might be too light for me. I am happy that I am looking better and might even be able to tuck in a shirt now and then. Woo hoo! And I now have to buy clothes. I need a couple of suits for a business trip next week and all of mine are WAY too big! (Because I work in a casual environment, I've been postponing buying dress clothes until I get a little lighter.) I found one suit tonight that needs hemming, but otherwise fits perfectly! Maybe I can find another jacket and wear the same pants twice. Hmm.

So, the good news is my walking is progressing, my push ups are progressing (more slowly than I would like), and my weight loss is progressing. And now I'm buying new clothes. Yea!

Pebbles in Shoes

Today as I was walking, I suddenly noticed a pebble in my left shoe. It was a pretty small one and for a while it just kind of bounced around my shoe. First it was under the ball of my foot. Then it was bouncing around my toes. Eventually it was near my heel and I couldn't feel it for a while, then it was gone. Several miles later it was bouncing around my toes again.

Here's my question. How does someone get a pebble in her shoe? I've worn the shoes only one time before today. I've been walking on roads and paved trails. So, how did I get a pebble in a new shoe?

Why are the First 2 Miles so Hard!

I needed 10 miles this weekend. Because it was raining yesterday, and I really could not see doing 10 miles inside on a track, I opted to walk today. Though chilly and damp out, at least it wasn't actively raining.

It was pretty chilly when I arrived at Sharon Woods, but I am working on trying to not overdress, so I just sucked it up with long pants, one wicking shirt and my great asics jacket. I really wanted gloves, but I didn't bring any.

The first 2 miles were really rough! Why is it that the first 2 miles of every long distance training walk are so hard? Immediately after I hit the 2-mile mark, I felt great and was thrilled to be there. (My hands had started to warm up by then, too, so that might have helped.)

Because we walked 10 miles at race pace last weekend, I tried to walk slower than a 15-min mile today. Unfortunately, that was not difficult. I could not have gone much faster if I had tried. In fact, after 9 miles I felt pretty tired and ended up doing the last half mile at a recovery pace.

So, I walked the entire 10 in 2:36. I'm still figuring out how to work my new HR monitor, so even though I hit the lap button on the chronograph, it actually did splits. I'm not in the mood to do the math to figure out how long it took per mile. Let's just say I averaged over 15 min per mile.

So I maintained my goal pace and finished the entire 10 miles. I'm sure finishing this training walking will help me to finish Tucson feeling great.
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Wore my new asics shoes. Though I bought insoles, I really had not intended to use them with these shoes. The asics have more stability than the New Balance. After a couple of miles, I could feel my right foot being slightly unstable. Hmmm. Maybe I should have left the insoles in? On top of that, the blister on my left foot that formed last week got even bigger this week. I HATE blisters! Looks like the insoles go back in tomorrow.

Hills and Sunshine Today

Deb and I returned to Griggs Reservoir for a hill workout today.

Armed with my new HR monitor and new shoes, I was ready. Within minutes I realized I do not need the insoles for this pair of shoes. The asics offer enough support that the insoles are redundant and make the shoes too stiff. I'll move them back to the older pair of New Balance shoes.

The HR monitor said my average HR was 131 though it also said my peak was 231. I swear that every time I looked at the watch it was hovering around 140. Hmmm. Maybe my peak HR is 231. I'll have to check this out some more.

Regardless, it was a good workout on a nice sunny day.

Making the Running Store Rounds

I've had a few issues with recent purchases from running stores. The problems were not necessarily the fault of the running stores, but I hate handling these types of errands -- I hate taking things back or having to figure out why they are not working as I expected. If my shoes and HR monitor did not cost so much, I might have just suffered.

So today I went to RoadRunner to discuss my New Balance 905s. Recently I started getting blisters in the exact same spots I was getting blisters from my last pair of NB. (I was assured the shoes have been improved and I shouldn't have a problem.) I was pretty sure a pair of insoles would fix the problem.

The sales person admitted that the shoes I bought are probably not heavy enough for my long distance days, and though insoles will help with the blisters, I really need a slightly heavier shoe. I ended up leaving the store with insoles and a great new pair of asics.

After leaving RoadRunner, I went straight to Front Runner to discuss my Timex HR monitor which is not working consistently. I was hoping that someone would take one look at it and say, "Here's the problem. It's fixed." What happened was even better! The sales rep listened to my story, took the same HR monitor out of the case and gave it to me. He didn't even care that I don't have the instruction books because my dog ate them! (I have to admit, that is part of the reason I didn't take it back earlier.)

So, today I'm happy. I have new insoles, I have new shoes and I have a new HR monitor! And the sun was shining. This is a good day!

 

Walking in Sunshine!

Today was beautiful! As soon as I arrived home, I put on walking clothes and went out the door.

I didn't want to waste a minute of sunshine, so I decided to walk to the library park, do one lap and return home for a little over 3 miles. The sidewalks were finally completely clear which was a very nice change.

About half a block from home I was feeling chilly and almost went back for a jacket, but I just did not want to waste the time. I also hoped I'd be moving fast enough that I would get too warm and be glad I didn't go back.

I was feeling a little stiff today from Saturday's race, so I took it fairly easy.

Once at the park, I was surprised at how much snow was still left on some sections of the trail. I had to really slow down to get through the slush and in many places pretty deep puddles. These must have been sections that are mostly in shade.

The walk was uneventful other than being unusually sunny for this time of year. It was wonderful to be outside in the sunshine. It was also wonderful to have the opportunity to racewalk! The combination of the two really made my day.

Arnold Sports Festival -- Wow

Though I have been an active long-distance walker for about 10 years, I have never been to the Arnold Sports Festival before this year. It's held in Columbus, OH annually and draws a huge and varied crowd.

The expo was quite a bit different from any marathon expo I've ever attended. First of all, it was much more crowded than any expo I've been to. There is no way you could even get to a booth you wanted to visit -- there were way too many people! We spent a lot of time stuck in the middle of a crowd not moving.

Second, I felt fat and tiny at the exact same time. A lot of the body building women wore very little clothing showing off the fact that they had absolutely no body fat and amazing bodies. At the same time, many of the men attempting to walk by had really huge shoulders. I was trapped behind these huge people with no way to squeeze by!(Marathoners do not get that big!)

Another thing different is the type of people who attended the expo. At races, you will see some of the most fit people you would ever want to see walking around and the vast majority are participants in the race.

At the Arnold, there were a lot of people who obviously do not participate in any sport -- ever. Because there was a lot of info on "fighting," like cage fighting and WWF, there were a lot of fans who like to watch, and lots of opportunities to get autographs from celebrities I did not recognize.

The majority of products being hawked were for bulking up and building muscle. At marathons, you see a lot of products for endurance, maintaining energy, electrolyte replacement, speed and injury prevention.

So, though very crowded, I found the day interesting. (I also found out after the fact that attending on Sunday is a better idea -- much less crowded!) Still, I can tell I definitely fit in much better at race expos.

Nearly 10-Mile Race

The first Buckeye Strider Nearly 10-mile Race was held today at Sharon Woods park.

We had about 10 walkers toe the line at 8 a.m. with temps in the low 20s. (I'm not sure of the exact number since some didn't walk the entire distance.)

The trail was mostly clear except for near the sledding hill and one or two other icy spots. As the sun rose, more of the ice melted and it ended up being a perfect day for walking nearly 10 miles. The course was two laps around the park, then we went to the unofficial "4-mile" mark, then clockwise to the 1-mile mark and back to the start. We discovered from those participants with GPS that the course ended up being about 0.2 miles short of 10.

The overall winner and first man was Steve, with Tom taking second man. Elaine was the first women, with Nancy taking second and Pat taking third.

The highlight of the morning was the after race picnic! Hot coffee, hot chocolate and tea made it much easier to hang out at the picnic shelter near the almost fire. The Panera bagels tasted great with bananas and grapes.

The purpose of the informal race was to give our club members a mid-winter race to help us stay in shape. As it turned out, it ended up fitting the Arizona Distance Classic training schedule. We needed 10 miles about now.

Though we had originally intended to invite other walking clubs to join us, we ended up canceling and rescheduling so many times because of the weather, we decided to keep this first race for our members only. Maybe next year the weather will cooperate better.

This is Why I'm Tired of Winter

I have done remarkably well this winter. I've been outside as much as weather allows, I got in several longer-distance walks, I've been out in the sun as much as possible. I didn't even mind the heavy snow last week. I thought it was beautiful!

I am officially done with winter -- THIS is why!

Is it too much to ask for the neighbors to shovel their sidewalks?

I am so tired of walking in winter boots and hiking shoes! Seriously, I want to racewalk!

Snowy Walk Again

I was home early today and decided to walk to Lane Rd Park, do one lap and come back home. It's exactly 1 mile to the park from our house and about 1.2 miles around the park. It makes for a nice walk when I don't feel like driving anywhere and I get tired of walking in the neighborhood. Before I arrived home, I drove past the park to check if it was clear. It was not -- but the sidewalks leading to the park were nearly 95% clear! Last year it seemed that no one on Reed Road ever shoveled his driveway, but the park was usually clear.

I went to the park anyway. The walking was a little more difficult than I expected. The snow in the park was the consistency of slush without being that wet. It made it difficult to keep my footing in a lot of places. Though tough, it was a really good workout! I came home with my legs feeling very tired.

I also discovered that my boots have officially bitten the dust. They leak!

Later I again found out that the trails at Sharon Woods were clear. Darn! But that would have required driving farther than I had intended. Looks like starting next week, I may have to start making the trip.
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As part of the Push Up Challenge I repeated the exhaustion test today. I am proud to say that repeating Week 2 worked! I was able to do 18 push ups today. Only 16 are required to move on. Woo hoo! I like to do my push ups Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, so I have decided to use Week 2 to complete the rest of this week, and start Week 3 next Monday.

Challenging Snowy Walk

I prefer to have Sundays be my rest days. Unfortunately, I've had to get my mileage in on Sundays the last few weeks. Today was no exception, though I didn't walk as far as scheduled.

I finally had some free time this afternoon, it was sunny and the temps were in the mid-30s. So I went off to Antrim Park to get in a few miles. I didn't know for sure how clear the trails would be, so I wore my boots and a heavy winter coat.

It was definitely the right choice! The paved portion around one edge of the lake was clear, but the gravel trail the rest of the way around the lake was not clear at all. The snow was pretty thick and difficult to walk in. I had a completely different workout than I had expected. With each step my feet slipped and slid working my legs in all different ways. It felt fantastic.

It also took a lot longer to complete each lap -- nearly 24 minutes each. When the weather is good, I make it around a good 7 minutes per lap faster.

So, though I didn't get in the mileage I had intended, it was still a good workout!

Snow Finally Taking its Toll

Friday night my husband and I went out for a little while. It had started to snow and the roads were horrible! Based on the slickness of the local streets, I decided to not even attempt to meet the Buckeye Striders for our Saturday morning walk. After I woke up way too late to meet them, I discovered the group arranged to be inside at a local mall.

I probably would not have made it to the mall regardless (I don't do malls), I did feel guilty about not walking. I'm scheduled to do 9 miles this week and there is no way I could have made it 9 miles in a mall. And lately, if I can't get my miles in on scheduled days, I end up unable to catch up.

The weather is definitely making it tough to walk right now. We have had record snows in Central Ohio and I am just now starting to have trouble maintaining my motivation.

So, I sit here on my couch, in my nice warm house, drinking coffee from my US Air Force Marathon mug. Hmmm. Maybe drinking coffee from my favorite (and only) marathon with help keep me motivated. It's worth a shot!

More Heart Rate Monitor Questions

I recently purchased the book Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot by John L. Parker, Jr.

By following the instructions in the book, I have determined that my maximum heart rate is 188 bpm. While walking, I have been able to get my heart rate up in the high 170s and low 180s, so it made sense.

Today, while not walking especially hard, my average heart rate was 184 and my peak heart rate was 217. Though we threw in a hill, and I was a little tired, I was far from exhausted. I barely even felt my heart beating.

So my concern now is: Is there really something wrong with my heart rate monitor? And if not, why would my heart rate suddenly go up over 200 today, but not on previous days?

It might be a good time to take it back to the running store and have someone check it out for me.

A Sunny Walk Helps Keep Winter Blues Away

Deb, Elaine and I had a great walk along Griggs Reservoir today. The sun was shining, the streets were clear, the river was frozen over and it was beautiful! The sunshine and brisk air helped to push away some of the blues that result from all of the snow and gray skies we've had in Central Ohio this winter.

Because Deb and Elaine are going to Tampa this weekend for the Gasparilla Half Marathon, we were technically tapering. However, the weather prevented them from training as hard as they normally would for a race, so tapering seemed to be a somewhat inappropriate term.

We walked for about 50 min when we got back to our cars and Deb went on home. Elaine and I continued down the rest of the river for half a mile and one hill. We ended up walking a little over 4 miles in about 1:08.

It was definitely a great mood enhancer!
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By the time I took my camera out the sun was already going down and this photo doesn't really show how beautiful it was today.

Short Walk Today -- Starting to Lose Weight

Funny how though it was relatively warm today, I actually felt pretty chilly walking tonight. I think part of the reason it was feeling cold is that it is really damp out there! It was a little warmer today and rained a little, so most of the sidewalks were pretty clean. Unfortunately, the one sidewalk that had a ton of snow also hid the fact that there was a huge puddle I ended up stepping in. (I survived.)

In addition to training for the half marathon in Tucson, I am trying to burn extra calories every single day. When I'm in full-blown training mode it isn't difficult. With this weather, I'm having a little bit harder time getting in the weekday miles I'd like to get in. So I've been riding the exercise bike and getting in some casual walking miles just to keep moving.

It's working (in addition to paying more attention to what I eat). I've lost about a pound and a half so far. I probably should clarify. Before I agreed to Larry's challenge, I kept gaining and losing the same 2 lbs. I lost it and was down to 130 when I accepted the challenge. So, for the challenge I've lost about 1.5, which is the first time I've been below 130 in a while. But over the last 3 weeks I've actually lost 3.5. My goal weight is 120.

Push Up Update

Yesterday we did the "exhaustion test," which simply involves doing as many push ups as you can until you are exhausted. This helps to determine which training schedule to be used over the next few weeks.

I was very excited that I did 14 push ups! Unfortunately, it turns out I didn't do as well as I thought I did. In order to progress to week 3, I needed to do at least 16.

Still, I'm am thrilled that I can do more than 10 push ups non-stop! And I'm OK with repeating week 2. It was almost too difficult for me, and I was getting worried about doing week 3.

8 Miles Today!

It was 34 degrees and drizzling about 8 this morning when I arrived at Sharon Woods park to walk 8 miles. Because of my son's wrestling schedule, I was unable to walk with the Buckeye Striders yesterday and ended up walking the 8 miles alone. It's funny how you can really get used to walking your long distances with people. It does make it a little harder to walk alone.

The light rain stopped shortly after I started walking, thank goodness! (I hate rain in February.) It took about one lap until I was totally warmed up -- after that, I was way too warm. I ended up opening the vents in my jacket to cool down.

The trail was mostly clear except for right by the sledding hill (you can't have sleds hit dry asphalt), and a few small patches of ice. It was very easy to navigate around the ice. But it was a little surprising how difficult it was to reach a decent pace. My legs felt heavy and I had a hard time even going 15 minutes per mile.

Later today when talking to walking friends, one pointed out that riding my exercise bike hard could be affecting my walking speed. My legs are working pretty hard and may not be resting enough to walk fast. My theory is that I've been sitting on high school bleachers a lot because of my son's sports, and my legs and rear end have atrophy!

So, though it was a slow 8 miles, it felt great. It had warmed up to about 37 degrees by the time I had finished. I just wish I had had the opportunity to walk in the beautiful winter sun yesterday.

Too Much Snow to Walk

There was way too much snow over the last few days for me to walk. Because the Arizona Distance Classic is more for fun than for time, I'm not too terribly worried. I know I can finish -- I just won't be fast.

In the meantime I am continuing to ride my exercise bike for 30 min at a time and I am in the second week of the 100 Push Up Challenge. I did a total of 28 push ups today with a final set of 9. (Only 7 were required, but I did 9!) The push ups don't burn a lot of calories while I'm doing them, but I know that eventually building more muscle will help me to burn more calories every day. (Then I can eat more!)

I am watching what I eat, which is pretty hard for me. I should clarify here -- I have been good at making healthy food choices 85% of the time for years, but I love foods that are bad for me! I'm feeling hungry, but I'm not starving. It is probably psychosomatic. I'm going to have to find a wider range of fruits and veggies to eat or I will get bored pretty quick.

It was a little warmer today -- I think it reached 32 degrees. And knowing how typical Ohio goes, the snow could melt tomorrow or in April. We might be done with snow for the season, or it might snow again next week. I'll just hope for the best and go with the flow.
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(Side note here: I know almonds are good for me and will help to control appetite. I also know I'm not good at portion control. So, I bought a jar of almonds, cashews and dried cranberries and measured out 1/4 cup portions. I put the nuts in individual-serving plastic containers. Now I can take some with me and I'm not tempted to eat half the jar. Each 1/4 cup is about 130 calories.)

Taking Larry Up on His Bet

OK, I decided to take LarryWalksFast up on his bet. I'm betting that I can lose 10 lbs by June 1 and keep it off for a year.

As many people know, I've been wanting to get down to 120 for a couple of years. The last time I was at 120, I was training for a full marathon and not really paying attention to what I ate. The truth is, I eat better automatically when I'm in training, I just don't count calories well. And when you are walking a lot of miles every week, the junk doesn't do much damage. (I eat a lot more veggies, too, I just don't stop eating foods I like.)

So, why do I want to lose weight? There are couple of reasons. I don't like the way I look in photos -- especially photos of me sitting. I have a layer of fat that very few people have ever seen -- or will see. I recently found the results of my last physical which said that my cholesterol was slightly high and losing weight would help. (How did I forget that.) And I want to racewalk faster. I am positive that the 10 lbs will help me be faster. In addition, in order to burn extra calories, I will be walking more, so that too will help me be a faster walker.

I'm not good at being told what to do or being nagged. I tend to rebel when forced into something. However, a bet makes this a challenge. If someone thinks I can't do something, well, I will do whatever it takes to prove that person wrong.

So, you are on Larry! I will lose 10 lbs (it might be 12 lbs by now) and get down to 120 by June 1 and I will keep it off for an entire year. (You do realize that is less than a pound a week, right?) Have your money waiting.
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Check out Larry's blog at: http://larrywalksfast.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/just-checking-in/.
You can also follow him on Twitter at @LarryWalksFast.