My 'Secret' Trail

I decided to walk around the grounds of the grade school that is just a few blocks from my house. I'd never been on the school premises except to drop off paper in their recycle bins. My son had recently walked the grounds and indicated that it was a nice school.

It helped that a bag of 'freecycle' clothing had been abandoned on my front porch for weeks. There's also a clothing donations box on the school grounds. So, I slung the bag over my shoulder and set off for the school.

The first thing I noticed about the school which I pass almost daily but never get a good look at was that there are two handball-like courts built into the front of the school! I played racquetball for years and thought this might be a neat place for my daughter to practice her tennis shots. Alas, the 'courts' are in very bad repair and are kiddie-sized. No idea what their actual intended use might be.

The grounds had been recently resurfaced, with a fresh coat of paint defining parking areas, hop scotch grids, and a variety of other games I can only guess at. There's also a shiny new kiddie playground at the back of the school. While walking the perimeter of the grounds, I noticed an asphalt trail that disappeared in woods behind the school. So, I disappeared in the woods on that trail.

It's a very short, uphill climb through a heavily wooded acre of land. The trail ends in a residential cul de sac I'd never walked in. But, I was oriented and knew how to loop around the subdivision to get back home without retracing my steps. Here's the loop:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

From the red Point A, trace a line down and to the right to a cul de sac off a street named Courtland Place. That's where the trail goes. I walked down the cul de sac to the next cross street two blocks away, turned right and walked back to the main street, Hanna Road, where our local Senior High is, then back home via Hanna Road. Actually, I walked down behind the High School and took a couple laps on their nice, padded track, climbed stairs up behind the parking lot and tennis courts, and strolled through the subdivision directly across Hanna Road from the elementary school.

I LOVE the little trail. It's so shady that the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. I walked the same trail the next day but turned left through the subdivision to take another route home. This little trail seems like my own secret. But, now, of course, I've shared it with you. I'm on the lookout for other similar little trails. If you know of any in this area, please share!

There was an extra little treat in that I got to walk within a few feet of a Red Tailed Hawk who was stalking something in the grass near the playground. I've got one hanging out in my back yard these days, preying on my albino squirrels. Such is nature.






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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

WALK LIKE AN...........EUROPEAN

My son was cursing St. Louis' lack of mass transit again today. He's minus an auto, so he has to rely on others (me) for rides. He gave up his car when he moved to Washington, DC and got used to living without one, walking to and from work, using the Metro (subway) system there. All his errands were on foot - or 'by walk' as they say in India.

This same son had backpacked around Europe a couple years ago, before moving to DC. He walked, took trains, ferries, and bikes to navigate his way across the Continent. He fell in love with that lifestyle which he finds to be much more relaxed and natural than our national reliance on and addiction to oil. He's also spent significant amounts of time in India with his grandparents, walking around town on their errands and visits.

In a city like St. Louis, there is very little occasion for daily walking if it's not a 'recreational' walk. Oh yeah, you might walk a block or two from your parking garage to your office, from parking lot to classroom building, and, if you're fortunate enough to live or work with walking distance of our very limited Metro system, you'd walk for that.

Mind you, in our humidity, I'd need to take a shower AFTER I got to work. I've considered riding a bike to work, but I'd have to ride along a 4-6 lane highway, on the shoulder, to get there via any sort of reasonable route. People in St. Louis seem to be IN LOVE with their automobiles. Many people drive 60-90 minutes each way to work! If I could walk the 1/2 mile from my house to the main road and hop on a bus or subway to get to work, I'd gladly part with our second car or maybe even both our cars.

It's a good thing I like to walk. At least this way, I'm able to explore my neighborhood, run a few errands, and get to know local folks at no additional expense. Just found another 'new' trail that I'll share about soon.


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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

FISHPOT CREEK

Turns out the scenic little creek I walked along last Tuesday is called Fishpot Creek. You can sorta' see where I walked if you look at this mapquest link:


http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Ballwin&state=MO&address=Mar+El+Lane&zipcode=63021

This link is even better. Apparently, I was in Mockingbird Park!

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Next week, I'm going to look for Cardinal Park. Looks like it's not a far walk from where I park on Mar El Lane. Wanna come??


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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

ANNGIE AND THE 'NEW' TRAIL - A BALLWIN, MO ADVENTURE

I found a new trail! And, a new walking friend. Both on the same day and walk. Lucky me.

Anngie and her King Charles Spaniel, Lucy, were minding their own business when I accosted them the other day. I had just found a great little paved trail and couldn't find it's name. Further, I wasn't sure where I was! So, as is my habit, I began talking to the next person who crossed my path. Enter Anngie and Lucy. Anngie didn't know the name of the trail, but she knew where we were and that the trail is about a half mile long. She and Lucy were headed in the opposite direction from me, heading back to the point I had picked up the trail. So, I asked if they'd mind if I walked along.

This little trail runs along a creek between two subdivisions in Ballwin, Missouri. I entered it from Flesher Lane and exited at its western end on Corral. I didn't take either of the 'branches', two foot bridges that crossed the creek and headed off into other subdivisions. The trail is asphalt paved and contains a couple of nice hills. And, it's just lovely - shady and cool. I felt like I was walking in deep woods rather than behind tract homes about a quarter mile from one of the busiest roads in St. Louis County, Manchester Road.

Anngie and Lucy were very pleasant walking companions. Our walk together lasted only about 20 minutes, but we got to know each other a bit and passed the time I needed to wait to pick up my son.

I plan to walk this trail again and search out others too. How did I find it? I had an hour to kill and hadn't had my walk that day. My regular Tuesday evening walking partner had to work late, so I chose to use the hour I needed to wait for my son to walk in the subdivision streets near where I parked. There were three cul de sacs and the trail 'head' was at the end of the third cul de sac. Had I not walked all the way to the end of Fleshman, I wouldn't even have seen the trail!

I've mapquested and called Parks Departments in the entire West County area, looking for trails like this one. I haven't had much luck. Either I'm not asking the right questions or these trails are not properly catalogued. If you know of a trail like this one in West County or anywhere in the St. Louis area, please post it here for me. I'm always looking for new territory to cover.

More on this tomorrow....


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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

ROUND OR STRAIGHT??

While walking on the track can be convenient and often easier on the body than walking up and down hills on streets or trails, walking in a circle can present a problem. It's too easy to bail out when you pass your 'heading home' point every time you go around the track!

One advantage of walking a trail or on the street is that one must get to the most distant point of the walk before turning around to head back home. That can keep us walking longer. Some days, it's just too easy to cut out that last 1/4 mile circuit when I'm walking on the track. While I might cut a street walk short, I can't bail on the whole thing just because I get tired or unmotivated.

So, if you find yourself becoming bored with walking at the mall or on a track, head for the streets of your neighborhood or a trail somewhere. You can find some routes in your neighborhood by using mapquest.com or mapmywalk.com. There might be routes in your area that you hadn't even known about. Your local Parks Department can also be a good source for information about walking trails near you.

My husband and I will often pick a 'destination' walk on the weekend. We'll pack up the dog and head to a lake or park a bit farther afield than I normally walk alone. There's even a pretty park where we can walk along a river not that far from our home. When we dedicate an hour to walking, we will get in AT LEAST 45 minutes. That's close enough to 3 miles to suit me! The hills help improve the work out too. Can't go wrong there.

So, walk at the mall or on a track if/when it suits you, but don't be tempted to abbreviate your walk because it's so easy to do. Commit yourself to a minimum number of circuits or X number of minutes for walking. That way, your're more likely to get in a good walk!


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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.

Heaping Helping of Humidty Laden Motivation

Ok - so how do we keep motivated to walk when it's this hot and humid?

How do we manage the extra time it takes to repair damage to hair and skin? Some days I have to shower and wash my head twice! I REQUIRE 'wash and wear' hair. That gets expensive in my case - a perm every 6 weeks and a haircut about every 4 weeks. Fortunately, my haircut standards aren't very high so I cut it myself between perms. My poor stylist has to deal with my hair-butchery. Just cut my mom's hair today as we're on the same perm/cut schedule - and we're overdue for our perms.

Anyway - back to motivation. Are you motivated to keep going? I find that my walks give me so much energy - like putting money in the bank. The more I walk, the more energetic I become. While I need an initial rest period after a 'wringing wet walk', my energy level soon zooms up and keeps me moving forward.

I had to work up to this. It doesn't just automatically happen. One must develop tolerance to the heat and humidity and build up endurance levels. You MUST start slow if you aren't used to walking or you're not used to the heat/humidity.

There's nothing saying, of course, that one MUST walk outside in the hot weather. It's just that I much prefer walking outside most of the time and I felt the need to improve my endurance and tolerance of heat when I first began walking.

Much the same can be said of winter walking too. Sometimes, it's just too cold (or icy or rainy) to walk outside, either comfortably or safely. We must each use our own judgment and follow our own preferences.


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Remember my 100% GUARANTEE. Should you decide to stop walking and resume your old habits, I personally guarantee that you'll get back 100% of your former life - your pain, your lifestyle, your attitude.