ditto

The heat wave continues. I didn't even post a walk on the every two feet page.

The temperature clock at the high school says 118. Okay, it's a little off, but it feels like 118. I should have taken a picture. Maybe if they haven't fixed it yet I will. I always forget there's a camera in the phone.

I took today off, sort-of. Bonnie is in North Carolina and I didn't want to listen to Sharon whine about how hot it was. So I played hokey and took Sharon to the gym instead.

Yesterday I walked with ML in the morning, then walked downtown to T'ai Chi and home. I had a 32 ounce container of water and I ran out before I got back. I should have refilled it at the church. I think I really like T'ai Chi. There is free T'ai Chi at the Yoga Loft on Tuesday and Thursday this week. I think I'm going, especially since there isn't any at the church this weekend because of the holiday. Right now it's still frustrating because I don't know the moves I can't really concentrate and meditate and remove move stress. But maybe one day.  I think the version at the Yoga Loft will be very different from the informal church group.

Friday I went out with ML in the morning, and then again with Betsy. We went in the morning instead of the afternoon because of the heat, but it was still pretty hot.

Tuesday to Thursday I did nothing except climb the stairs at work. We didn't walk at lunchtime or anything. Monday, I went out with ML in the morning.

So perhaps I'm using the heat as an excuse to be a lazy butt. So be it. But the weather patterns are so weird this year. Usually May and June I develop good habits so that when late July, August heat waves roll around, I'm committed. This is our second heat wave and it isn't July yet. I don't even want to think about August.

hot, hot, hot

Bonnie, Sharon and I went to the Parkway this morning to walk. Sharon went up to the covered bridge, then waited till we came back, Bonnie and I went the entire distance. Six miles. My legs feel like I went 20. Boy am I out of shape.

The first half of the trail was fairly shady, and level, except at one spot. There is a Planet Walk, where one foot equals a million miles. It goes from the iron bridge to the covered bridge. We didn't really read much. The first 4 markers were on top on each other, then they got further and further apart. Pluto is still part of their solar system. It hasn't been totally banished!

We left Sharon on a bench at the covered bridge and proceeded to the road. I had never done the second half of the path so we were venturing into virgin territory. We got to the street and no path! Just scary traffic. There were some runners by the bridge so we decided to go ask them. As we got nearer to the bridge, a runner went past and headed thru the parking lot and under the highway. We followed him.

A short distance in was a nifty hill. Pretty steep, but it stayed fairly level after that. This part of the trail must not get used as hard because it isn't as worn as the other section. We came to a bridge and I thought there was one more before the fish hatchery. Wrong.

We arrived at the fish hatchery and things weren't marked well at all. We tried one path, then another, then walked around the fish tanks and still nothing. We asked a brusk fisherman where the path was and he grumbled "take the road" and pointed up a hill.

We arrived a the top of this hill and pretty much gasped. There was another. It was steep. Frederick Street steep. Bonnie went up quicker than I did, but I was not painting when I reached the top. There was a very long gradual downhill on the other side.

We arrived back at the covered bridge, and Sharon was still on her bench. We shouted to her and she jumped sky high. It was so funny. We made her walk to us. We also found a water fountain to refill our water bottles. Pure Allentown tap water never tasted so good.

On the way back we saw a  dog diving into the creek to retrieve a stick. I wanted to join him.

When we arrived back at the car we broke open the cooler for more Bethlehem tap water. (I try not to buy water.)  Then  I mixed up the Crystal Light Pure Fitness. Not bad. Not sweet. Not salty. And the strawberry tasted like strawberry and not perfume.  I actually might buy it again. Too bad I can't get the $1 coupon to print.

saturday in the heat, i thought it was the 4th of july

Chicago, please forgive me for butchering your song, but dang is it hot out there. And the humidity is rolling in right behind. It's mid June. "Can't wait for August" she says, tongue firmly planted in cheek.

At 6:30 am I went out with Mary Liz. It's about a 2.25 mile walk. Then I walked downtown to Trinity Episcopal for T'ai Chi. Took the hour free class, and then took the scenic route home. According to google pedometer the total route was nearly 6 miles.

Let's just say I'm sweaty. Really sweaty.

rail to trails

I spent the better part of the morning researching hiking/biking trails. It happens every once in a while. It's usually spurred on by a conversation, or seeing something that looks like a trail.

And that's exactly what happened this week. Twice.

My niece had gastric bypass surgery last week and her dad lives with her. He's not in the best of health,, and she couldn't lift more than 5 pounds. So she needed a team of people cooking for him, checking up on him, and doing basic daily tasks. I was part of the team. One of my jobs was finding sugar-free freeze pops. Walmart in Whitehall was about my 10th stop. So I called her from the lot and asked the easiest way to get to her place from there. She lives in "Northampton". Yeah, sure. She's west of the middle of nowhere.  As I was driving up 145, I saw a sign "IRT" and a path. Hmm, wonder if that means Ironton Rail Trail. Kind of forgot about it.

Yesterday I was driving up Weaversville road to head to her place and there was lots of bikes. Thought that was odd. Then, on the way home I saw the yellow bike crossing sign. My second hmmmm in five days.

So this morning I looked it up. The one crossing Weaversville road is part of the Nor-Bath Rail Trail. It's a straight line. Not sure how the parking is at each end.

The other was indeed the Ironton Rail Trail. It's shaped like a six. Again, I have to figure out where it goes and how long it is.

I also checked out the full trail thru Lehigh Parkway and Trexler park.

New places to explore. And since they are in wooded areas, maybe even a little cooler.

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Update on my niece: She lost  20 lbs the first week, and is back to having some foods and most of the restrictions have been lifted, so she doesn't need the "team" anymore.

electrolytes

When I was a kid my sister Elin went to the municipal tennis courts on sand island. That was back in the very early 60s. Sometime I went and watched and I was always fascinated by a vending machine. It had salt tablets. When I questioned her she said that when you sweat  a lot you need to replace the salt in your body. It sounded gross.

It still does. That's why the invented Gatorade in 1965.

It's that time of the year again. It's getting hot, and the walks are getting longer. We're already in our second official heat wave and it's still June. Last Sundays walk was h-o-t. I have to keep hydrated and replace my "electrolytes".

I'm not even sure what that is. My computer dictionary says its "the ionized or ionizable constituents of a living cell, blood, or other organic matter." So now I need a dictionary, for the dictionary. I tried to look online. More double speak.

The Wise Geek says that they are "are minerals in the body that keep an electric charge, transporting nutrients to cells and exporting wastes away from cells. Generally, an electrolyte drink is a beverage that replaces essential electrolytes and minerals that are lost during long periods of vigorous exercise." That I almost understand. "The three main minerals lost during strenuous exercise are sodium, chloride, and potassium."

No offense to the fine researchers at the University of Florida, but I dislike Gatorade. If forced to drink it I use about 20% Gatorade, blue tastes best, and the rest water. I also dislike most other sports drinks I've tasted. Plus I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors and preservatives.

Two years ago when I started all this training I found some fizzy Alka-Seltzer like tablets that were all natural. They worked well. But I haven't seen them since. Can't even remember what they were called. Last year I drank SmartWater, which tastes like tap water with salt in. But it's really expensive.

For the past two or three weeks I've been seeing commercials for Crystal Light Pure Fitness. It looks like little packets of Kool Aide. They claim no artificial sweeteners, flavors, or preservative. My neice just had a gastric by-pass and is still post-op and can't drive, so I took her food shopping Tuesday. While she was looking for something, I found the Crystal Light Pure Fitness. I looked at three sides of the box. I scanned the ingredients. Everything seemed okay and I bought it. Today when I was taking the pix, I saw the large Truvia logo. (How did I miss that?) It has stevia in it. It's a natural sweetener, but I think it's bitter. Not sure how well I'm going to like this. But I'll try it and let you know.

The wise geek suggests making your own. It's not really portable like a dry mix, but looks like it should taste okay. And I could probably cut back on the sugar. Simply mix 2 quarts (1.9 l) of water with ½ cup (114.96 g) of sugar, ½ teaspoon (2.373 g) of salt, and ½ cup (4.04 oz) of orange juice.

This one is more portable but it has Kool Aid in it. From Instructables:
1 Kool-Aid packet
1/4 tsp Morton Lite salt
1/4 tsp sea salt
heaping 1/2 cup sugar
2 quarts water

Throw it all together and stir. Chill it and prepare to guzzle it down when you're sweating a ton from sports or working outside on a hot day.

The most popular one I saw contains baking soda. It sounds disgusting. It's been attributed to Bob Harper.

1 liter water
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 Tbsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
(I like to add the juice of 1/2 a lemon for a little extra zing)

I'll keep looking. It's supposed to be hazy hot and humid all weekend.

2 bridges, 2 states, 1 set of stairs

Today we did a four mile training walk in Easton/P'burg. Beth was going to lead the way, but she became ill, so I took over. We never even got lost.

We parked at Tex-Mex Trio near the square and headed down Larry Holmes Drive, adjacent to Riverside Park. As we approached the free bridge I saw this sign: "Horses Not Permitted on Bridge". How many horses are there in the city of Easton that they feel a sign is warranted?

When we approached the toll bridge there was indeed sidewalks, but many signs that said "No pedestrian crossing" for crossing Route 22. Again, seems like a no-brainer.

When we reached the toll both Sharon took our picture.

We followed the exit ramp down and around to Main street and headed up South Main. After passing the free bridge, again, we found the Bullman stairs. Turn out there's 150. It is pretty steep, but there are three landings. Since Sharon had my camera at the bottom, I took a pix of the view with my cell phone. After coming back down, we hiked up to the iron bridge, came pack to Pennsylvania and explored Spring Street.

Overall, on a hot, humid day, we went a little under 4 miles.

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Last night I took Bonnie out for dinner for her birthday. As we passed the Hill to Hill Bridge, I asked her and her husband about the Second Avenue ramp on the bridge. Thankfully they both remembered it. I am not going crazy.

highmark 5k

Bonnie and I did the Highmark 5K today in 51.38. Pretty dang good. We did no power walking segments. We just tried to keep a steady fast pace. Bonnie's goal is a 15 minute mile.

Because there was no "runners" we got to start at the front of the pack. (People did run.) The route was simple. Start at "Plaza Tropa-hell" under the Hill to Hill bridge, south over the Fahy, after navigating the detour, back across town via the Hill to Hill, and thru the historic district.

This walk had no entry fee. You collected donations for any one of 20 or so causes social agencies assembled. Mine was Habitat For Humanity. They only had 6 or 8 people on their sheet. Bonnie chose Best Buddies. That was an organization that Jarrod was involved in. Bonnie said they barely had a full sheet. I guess it's good that they got some donations, but there was a lot of people there. I guess the donations went to the higher profile groups.

We took the picture at the start. Nobody but a bike cop near the Highmark truck, so we did the arm stretch picture. I think it came out well. There were many mascots there, and I thought the Goodwill dog was cute. I ask it if I could take a picture, he shook his oversized head yes, and as I was about to snap it, the volunteer scooped away my camera and took a picture of us together.

I was chewing.

I was eating 50% reduced fat cheese from the refreshment stand. For low fat cheese it tasted fairly good. I'd even buy it. If I could sneak it past batty Patty.

We have one more 4-mile race on the 4th of July. Then nothing till September. It's just too dang hot.

the difficult is getting impossible

Walking in south Bethlehem has always been difficult. The sidewalks themselves are often challenging (I should take pixs of the best ones!) and navigating around stuff...car parts, garbage cans, couches, adds a whole level of difficulty.

If that wasn't enough, they "upgraded" the curb cuts, closed the sidewalk on the Minsi Trail Bridge, and are doing road construction everywhere.

Now, they are working on the new access to the Hill to Hill Bridge. (For a history of the bridge go here.) I could swear that this is the ramp they tore down 40 years ago. My sister says my memory is faulty. But I did found this old picture on the web, that seems to hold support my viewpoint.  Look at the ramps on this bridge. Looks nothing like today. (I added the labels.) Tear it down. Then build it back up. (My tax dollars at work.) Anyway, now there PEDESTRIAN DETOURS are everywhere. Traffic is doubled because of detours, and so far none of the detours have walk signals. Soon I'll have to drive to go walking. Fountain Hill is just too small for long walks.

Today I'll be going out with Betsy for 3-miles or so in South Whitehall. We do that nearly every Friday. Tomorrow is the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community, and Sunday we'll be doing the 2-bridge walk in Easton-P'burg. As an added bonus I'll be doing the Bullman Street stairs. Thanks Angel for letting me know the name. The weather report calls for hazy, hot and humid. Goodie.

Last night during our walk I checked out the Kung Fu place on Broadway, 2 blocks from my house. They offer T'ai Chi. But it's $169 for 6-weeks. They offer classes 3x a week, so that breaks down to about $9.50 a class. If I'd go 2x a week, that would be about $14. A tad expensive. Plus you need to wear a uniform.

Finally, I have a lead on a real family doctor. To this point I've been going to the doc-in-a-box, and calling ahead so maybe I get one I like. There's some I dislike a lot. She was recommended from a friend. I went to her web page on the Lehigh Valley Hospital site, and here's some things I read which makes me think we'll get along.

"Medicine is not an exact science. I am open to learning from my patients. I want to know everything about them, and I let them know where I'm coming from. All of our decisions are a negotiation. I want them to feel like they are in charge."

"I like to work with people who want to take responsibility for their own health and who want a little guidance from someone they can trust."

And she did her undergrad work at one of the "seven sisters" (which horribly are down to five), Mount Holyoke. Having gone to a women's collge that appeals too me.

So I've done the research. I have a referral. Now do I have the courage to make the call? We'll see.

p'burg and lopat

Today we did two, 2-mile loops in P'burg and Lopat. We started and ended at Beth's house.

Since Sharon came along, we did the easier loop first, fairly level and essentially a big square.

Then we (Beth, Bonnie and me) left Sharon at the house and headed for the high school, and walked thru the arboretum. According to the High Schools website, "the arboretum once contained as many as 300 different species of trees and was nationally acknowledged as the first high school arboretum in the country". Not anymore. It's a bit neglected. Okay, maybe a bit more than a bit. Lots of the trees have been removed, only the little plaques remain. But it's pretty anyway. When you exit on the other side, you get to the PHS trailer park. There must be 35. They really need a bigger high school.


By the time we reached the cemetery the winds had picked up and the sky was getting grey. For a bit we were worried that we wouldn't get back before the storm hit. But all was well. In my town, the storm still hasn't hit. 


I've asked Beth if she knows were these stairs are. I found them on webshots. They were taken by JudyP15.It's says P'burg, NJ on the caption. I wanna climb them!

yoga, walking, gym, t'ai chi, oh my!

The reason I started walking was to lower my blood pressure naturally. I really don't like taking drugs. But that wasn't enough motivation, so I started doing charity walks. And the rest they say, is history.

So in this quest I have walked a lot. I have become the sodium police. I eat better, but not great. I haven't reduced my blood pressure significantly. I haven't lost weight worth mentioning. My stress is at aln all-time high.

I am in a rut.

So since western medicine and ideas haven't worked, I'm heading east. Yoga and T'ai Chi.

I guess first we have to start with the back story. In the late  80s, early 90s, I lost significant weight. I walked, took Jazzercise classes that I was lucky I didn't kill myself, water aerobics at the YMCA (Loved them. But it requires a Y membership and wearing a swimsuit in public!) and something called callanetics at the old YWCA on Market Street. It always struck me as the next level of yoga. It was gentle and required a lot of stretching. When I started at LC, I signed up for a beginners yoga class at lunchtime. If that was beginners, I'm a monkey's uncle. I took a walking workshop, and some clumsy attempts at aerobics. I was never, and I don't think I ever will be a gym rat.

Almost two years ago my friend Karen died of breast cancer. She worked with a group called Living Beyond Breast Cancer. They host a fund raising yoga class on the steps of the art museum, and I signed up. Went. It was fun. Came home excited. Looked at local price sheets and said too expensive. This year, I did it again. (See blog entry May 16). Again, I was energized. Again I started doing research.

This time I found that the neighborhood place, the Yoga Loft, has a free beginners workshop on the first Friday of the month. We went last night. It was good. They broke things down in bits. I could do much of it. She also gave us alterations if you couldn't perform something. The followup is a 101 course Saturday and Sunday. But this weekends was canceled because nobody signed up. So I guess I have to wait for July. Then I'll have to figure out how to pay for a set of classes. Maybe after that I can just use a video. My friend Angel has several. Her and the wee one do yoga together.

This morning I walked with Mary Liz, and she told me about free T'ai Chi at the church on Market Street. I had seen T'ai Chi in parks and things in the past. It looked relaxing. It's free. Why not? So after Sharon and I got back from the gym I went. I think it could be realizing once I learned what to do. Much was very complicated. I was lost frequently. But I'd like to go back. If I plan my time right I could walk over, do T'ai Chi, and walk back. Kill two birds with one stone. The Martial Arts place down the street also offers it. I'll stop by one day and see how expensive it is. The Yoga Loft is running a free workshop June 29th. I think I'll go. And maybe find a dummies video, too.

We'll see I think both yoga and T'ai Chi, like walking, must be done regularly to be effective. Both stress breathing properly and good posture and alignment. All difficult for me. Will I follow thru?