WALK ON

Despite the often rainy weather, I have been walking almost every day. As I've written about here, Spring has definitely sprung in the St. Louis area. This is the year of the redbuds and dogwoods - both of which are lasting longer than usual because they haven't lost their beautiful flowers to heavy rains and winds that we usually have in the Spring.

Today, even tho' the weather is fair, I ended up mall-walking. Why? Because that's the only good location where a certain friend and I can meet. I'd much prefer to walk outside, but geography doesn't always work out that way. I cherish the times I can walk with good friends, so I make that trade-off - mall rather than trail - to get to walk and talk with a buddy.

I've gotten my longtime friend Betsey back to walking. She's a real outdoorsy type so walking with me is an easy job for her. She breaks and trains thoroughbred horses, raises dogs, and tends to a 5 acre homeplace in addition to having a job outside the home. Whew! Makes my life look like a breeze -and I'm ALWAYS busy.

Usually, Betsey and I walk with another friend. But, that friend is walking in Peru as I write - trudging up the path to Machu Pichu! She's in very good physical shape and she and her husband, also very fit, often have the opportunity to take trips where they hike and climb. If it weren't for our frequent walks, she'd definitely not be in as good shape for her treks ;-). At least, I'd like to take credit for some of that. LOL. She's one of the reasons I got interested in walking 10+ years ago, so I really can't take credit.




***************************
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.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO GEOCACHING

It has come to my attention that the 'official' geocaching website I wrote about require a GPS, a relatively expensive device that may not be within the financial reach of all. I know I don't have one!

A great alternative to geocaching is letterboxing. The idea is the same. The fun remains. It's just less involved and cheaper to participate in. Visit one of these sites for more information:


http://www.letterboxing.org/ and http://www.atlasquest.com/



***************************
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.

ONE MORE IDEA FOR YOU

Did you like scavenger hunts when you were a kid? I did.

Here's a thought for you. You don't have to actually hide anything from yourself or create a long list of items to find. But, you can create your own scavenger hunt in several different ways.

First, pick an object to look for on your walk - red cars, dogs, flower-laden mail boxes. Keep your eyes peeled for these items.

Or, when you walk, count how many sweet gum trees you find. You have to avoid those dratted sweet gum balls or you'll break an ankle. So, they're easy to identify and count.

Find something that you'll be eager to see and go looking for it. You might be surprised how much you'll look forward to your walk.

An even better idea is to take a child walking with you, in a stroller or beside you, and try to see the world of your walk through the child's eyes. That's a wonderful way to look at the world.

Please don't count your steps. That's a job for a pedometer if you want one. Remember that 6,000 steps are recommended each day for all of us.


***************************
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.

ANOTHER IDEA

http://www.geocaching.com/about/

Have you heard of geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing)? It's a neat concept that might intrigue you. Go to the website above for more information. It's totally free and might be something you would like to participate in alone or with other members of family or friends.

I became familiar with this activity when I was still homeschooling my kids. Now, I just consider myself being 'homeschooled' as I'm a lifelong learner but I don't attend school. So, I won't discuss it at length here because the website above is quite thorough.

Today, despite the beautiful weather, I chose to walk in the mall since it's the only practical location I can meet up with two particular friends. We have such a good time walking our hour together that it's worth it to walk on that hard mall floor.

If you live where it's Spring now, get outside and check out the beautiful blooming trees!


***************************
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.

SOME NEW IDEAS??

How about keeping a walking journal? You know how we try to entice kids to perform and continue good behaviors by placing stickers or stars on the calendar? Well, we can give ourselves some of the same encouragement. We can keep some sort of record of our walks so that we can track where started and how far we've come - not just today but over the course of weeks, months, and years.

You can use a simple notebook, use the calendar you have hanging on the pantry or refrigerator door, buy a fancier planner or journal, or go to a website like www.pocketmod.com to create your own for cheap.

However you make one, it's nice to have the record of your progress. Set yourself some goals. When you meet the goal, reward yourself! No, not with a hot fudge sundae. Maybe with a nice new pair of walking socks. Maybe with a nice bubblebath packet. Maybe with a $5 bill in the piggy bank, saving up for something better.

I have a few other ideas for enticing ourselves to walk. Stay tuned for those ideas.


***************************
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.

IT'S NOT ALL UPHILL

From my last post, a couple readers seemed to get the idea that I'm not used to walking hills.

That's not the case! I walk hills often. Steep hills. Just not the Nemesis Hill that I walked on Easter Sunday!

I encourage everyone to try hills - slowly at first - and not the steep ones. Walking up hills is more taxing than walking on a level surface. Even placing a treadmill on an uphill grade is not the same as walking them outdoors.

Do Not Try To Overdo the hills. You may well get discouraged if you find your first few hills to be challenging, if not downright unpleasant. Hills are good for you. And, they can be fun.

Remember, once you get to the top, it's all downhill from there.

***************************
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.

STRAIGHT UP

I had a bright idea today. The whole family was coming over for dinner, but I had things under control and wanted to go for a walk. I needed to return a Blockbuster rental and the store is within walking distance, so I decided to walk there and drop off the DVD. Here's where I went wrong. The store is straight down a steep hill from my home - a really steep hill. Bad enough going down and far worse going back up.

I had a plan. I would veer off course a bit to walk up the hill through the park. Good plan, poor execution. There was an Egg Hunt going on there. My plan had been to climb the hill diagonally, as it were, to minimize the steepness. Not wanting to interfere with the kiddies and their search for bunny droppings, I walked straight up this hill.

It's also a Frisbee Golf Course. It's a steep hill. It's about the size of a football field. Now, I walk at a pretty good clip. So, off I go up that hill. Had to stop about 2/3 of the way up to take a breath. By the time I got to the top of said hill, I was seeing stars and out of breath. This is very unusual for me. Considered calling my husband to come pick me up, but felt foolish. Of course, climbing a hill is heavy labor. Of course, I was hot and out of breath.

So, I strolled on the approximately 1/2 mile to my house. Boy, was I pooped. Usually, after a walk, I have great energy. This time, I had to sit down for a while before I could resume the day's activities. Had to cook and do a bit of cleaning. Had to drive to pick up my mom.

It all turned out fine. I was fine. But, I ain't walking back up that hill again! I can't imagine having to walk up the hill on a typical summer day. Today was cool and breezy. So, no more walks to Blockbuster for me!




***************************
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.