and the heat goes on ...

Another scorcher, and it's only May. One week ago it was in the 40s. Today 92 or 94 depending on who you listen too. Wacky weather, indeed.

Today I took Bonnie to hand therapy and then we met my friend Betsy a little earlier to do the Friday walk. She tried a new route that had some shade, but it was still pretty hot.  But we did it.

Tomorrow is the Kreidersville Covered Bridge Challenge. That hill. This heat. Can't wait. At least The Hill is in the shade.

Lately, Lydia has been a walking machine. I don't know if it's the Half that's motivating her or what, but she's out walking me. She goes out every day at lunch, and today hiked with a friend in the heat. Looks like she doesn't need the Task Master anymore.

Me? I have 500 steps to go to reach 10K today and have been procrastinating for hours. I'm pretty sure I'll wait another hour and go out right before dusk.

photography

Today I put 11K on my pedometer, and never left campus.

Early this morning I walked over to Reprographics to drop off paper. I'm making, rather they made, me sketchbooks from my excess paper. Mom would be proud of my frugality.

An hour later, we headed out to take pictures. The Quad has been renovated and all the pixs I'm using in the self-guided tour have the old sidewalks. Everything is now brick. After shooting the building on campus, we headed down the stairs to town, and shot the downtown arts campus. Then the worse part. We had to walk back up College Avenue. Thankfully some of it was shaded. We were gone about an hour.

Then, I realized we forgot a shot, and at lunch time, I walked to get that photo.

Finally, I walked home from the carpool drop-spot.

It's 5 pm and 91 degrees. Last week at this time it was 47. The humidity is set to arrive tomorrow.

It must be warm. My roomie has one window open, and has taken off her blankie. The minute she goes to bed, the fans go on.

Tomorrow we walk with Betsy. Need to remember plenty of water.

Saturday is the Kreidersville 5K challenge. It's supposed to be the height of the heat wave. It will certainly be a challenge.

staff retreat

Yesterday was our annual staff retreat. This year it was at NCC-Southside at the Center for Business and Industry. Clearly I wasn't taking the car.

Since the car needed minor repairs, I also thought it would be a good day to do that too. Kill two birds with one stone.

The garage is on Cherokee, as is one of my colleagues. Drop off the car, meet the colleague and take the scenic route to NCC-SS. Then I walked up (and down) the six flights of stairs to the meeting room. As far as I know, I was the only one walking up. A few others walked down. After the meeting, lunch was 2 blocks away at Looper's Pub. Then we walked home down the Greenway, with a pit stop at the home brew store.

At the five points, my colleague headed up the hill to Cherokee and I called the garage to see which way I was going. Car wasn't done yet, so I walked home via Pawnee. Because Broadway was being dug up.

At four, they called the that the car was finished. I walked the couple blocks to retrieve it.

Then I came home, ate leftovers from Memorial Day, and at 5:45 I walked to the American Legion for Zumba and home.

All in all I was at almost 17000 steps for the day. Not bad for a workday!

Let's see how today goes. It's supposed to get into the 90s, and the humidity is beginning to build. Oh goodie.

walking, the television show

This came up in my FB feed this morning. I've "liked" the US Freedom Festival in DC. Three full days of walking in October. Be still my heart.

I must watch this online. I will add it to my Summer to do list which gets longer, not shorter. I don't think our local PBS station is running City Walk. “City Walk is a unique six-part series that reveals the way walking is transforming cities across America, and in the process, re-connecting us to our bodies, our civic values and public space. Season one of City Walk features 30-minute episodes exploring various aspects of pedestrian life in cities including: Los Angeles, Portland, Boston, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and New York. As the show explores the "walkability" of these communities, viewers will learn about American history by exploring culturally rich neighborhoods, stunning architecture, monuments and beautiful parks that have helped define the character of each city."

I'll let you know how it is.

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5/31 -- Removed the video. It started playing everytime I opened the blog. Annoying. Now you'll have to click the link.

beautiful day in wind gap

Each year when we do the Tortoise and Hare 5K it is horribly hot and humid. We drag our sorry butts over the finish line. Not this year. It was bright and sunny, warm, but not humid. It was a lovely day to do a 5K.

 We didn't do this annual Memorial Day event last year. We were on a Volkssport weekend. In 2010 I finished in 53:49. In 2011, 53:00. This year I finished in 51:28. I guess I am getting better.

My goodness we got a lot of goodies at this race. This year's race was dedicated to someone who died and always wore a bandana. So we received a bandana, a string backpack, and  a tech shirt. The bag was also filled with all the usually stuff. This is my second string backpack in a week. If you know anyone who needs one, let me know.

Bonnie came in at 51:30, and Lydia at 54:30. She even found a person to walk with and they sprinted to the finish.

The course starts with a nice long downhill, but you pay for it later. The end is uphill. Not steep, but consistent. You can tell you are going up. Especially if you looked backwards.

We were back at the park, waiting in the food line, and they started to announce the raffle winners. I didn't pay any attention. My mind was focused on a brownie and a banana. Bonnie and Lyd said you won a raffle! Huh? It took me a while but I finally found the raffle table. I won this huge box full of Crayola products. An artists dream.

Lydia took the Toy Story item and sidewalk chalk for her boyfriends son. I took some stuff out for Eryn's kids. Kept a few things for myself, and put the rest upstairs for the Christmas shoe boxes/Toys for Tots.

While we were there we found the fliers for the July 4th 4 miler. Also we saw a sign for the Saucon to Boston 5k on the Saucon Rail Trail. Proceeds benefit The One Fund for victims of the terror attack.

When I went into the website, I found out that the walk is only two miles. That might impact my decision whether or not to do it. Also, it is the same day as Bonnie's birthday surprise. Thought we don't need to make the bus till 2.

When we returned home I put the bandana on Adonis. He didn't mind, after his initial fussing. We went walking wearing it. He looked cute. Bet Lyd took it off the minute she got in the car! Since he was so good walking today, he got an extra long walk.

put our tails on the trail

Today we (Lydia, Dawn, Bonnie and I) began the "Tail on the Trail" challenge. The challenge is to walk all 165 miles of the D&L tow path before the end of October. Today we started in Slatington, and walked two miles south, turned around and came back.

As we train for the Half-Marathon, we'll be doing longer and longer walks. Sometimes leaving the car in one town, and taking a second car to the other end. Then driving back for the first car. Much like we did for the Allentown to Easton walks while training for the 3-Day.

For example, Slatington to Laurey's Station is 6.9 miles, and then another 4 to Northampton. We could park in Northampton, drive to Slatington, and then walk back to Northampton. Grab the car, then go pick up the other car. Or leave one car in Northampton and have someone drop us off in Slatington. Do you see how it works? It take a lot of logistics. I think one of the Volkssport walks, runs on the D&L — the New Hope one. I'll have to check the site.

Here's Lyd modeling out new "participant" backpacks.

I'd like to see if maybe Angel and Bug want to take the bikes on the Delaware side. We can cover more miles.  Bonnie want to get a bike too, but she keeps hurting herself. I think biking might be out. At least for a while.

tile, tile, everywhere.

Today we were in Doylestown walking with the Liberty Bell Wanderers. I've never walked outside of the downtown area before. There is tile in every corner of the borough. Clearly the Mercer legacy continues. I choose to post this one from Freedom Park to post because it's Memorial Day weekend. The stairs say "walk to freedom".

There was only about ten walkers at the start—the YMCA of Bucks County. (A really nice Y.) One was Carol, who organizes the trips.  It turns out that this is the first walk we took since sending in our starter books at Christmas time. As the man was stamping, he said, where's your event book? I didn't have one. Must order one tonight. They will have them next week at the walk in Bala Cynwyd, but I doubt if we'll go that far. Though I bet that's a pretty walk.

We got our instructions and headed out. Lots of twists and turns. It took a lot of reading, and I managed to read AND stayed upright.

Finally we arrived at the Michener Art Museum. When I saw the mule from Miles of Mules, I realized I hadn't been there since 2000. Long time.  At the end of the road from the museum, we found and walked a community labyrinth. Well, I walked it. Lydia took pixs. She thought I was nuts. Then she took a pix of the entire group walking thru it. Quite a site. Eight people walking a labyrinth.

Then we wove thru downtown, including the farmers market. I had no money with me, so of course they had a lot of kale. Three different kinds. Lyd bought some dog cookies for the spoiled boy.

After that, we got a little lost, spied the rest of the group, and walked together to Fonthill Castle. Have you every been there? The castle consists of forty-four rooms: 10 bathrooms, 5 bedrooms, 18 fireplaces, an Otis elevator and 21 chimneys and air vents. And nearly every square inch is filled with Mercer tile. It's been a long time since I was inside.

We headed down to the Moravian Tile Works, and then came back past the castle, to the Doylestown Cemetery, and arround it. Grave of note—W. Atlee Burpee of the Burpee Seed Company.

While walking, I talked to Carol about have to make trails and what you need to do to get them sanctioned. I'd walk more often with the Wanderers (it's 3 bucks a walk, if you want credit) if most walks weren't Philly and it's 'burbs. (There is a Bethlehem, and two Allentown walks.)

After the cemetery, we left the other behind and finished the course, Then headed home. We had a spoiled dog to walk!

Tomorrow we'll be doing one of our challenge walks. Either the passport walk in Bangor or Jacobsburg. Or perhaps a leg of the D&L.

friday in the rain

It poured all night. It was a terrific sound. We need the rain so badly. I went out at 6 to weed, but was soon chased in by another batch of hard rain.

I talked to Bonnie, and later Betsy, and we decided no walking today. No getting to see Izzy playing a cone head.

But I was antsy. The sky brightened up and I decided to walk to Bottom Dollar for a few groceries. Just to be safe from the next downpour,  decided to wear my rain coat. And it's a good thing I did. Not because of the rain, it just drizzled a little. But because it was so cold and windy out. The wind was nasty. It felt like March. It drizzled a little. It might have rained while I was in the store, because the sidewalks were wet again.

I bought a little more than I planned so I had two heavy reusable sacks of groceries. The scenic walk home was weight training!

My "Tail on the Trail" goodie bag arrived today. There was a string backpack and a water bottle. Bonnie and I were wondering when it would come. The tracker is now live on the site, so we can start doing chiseling away at that 165 miles!

Saturday Lydia and I are doing a 10K in Doylestown with the Volkssport people. I haven't done a Volkssport walk in forever and am really looking forward to it. Is D'town hilly? Hope not. I'd like to do the 10K. Need to stretch Lydia's walking distances if she's going to be ready for the Biggest Loser Half-Marathon! It's about 84 days away.

thursday at the farmers market

I picked Bonnie up at the crack of dawn for hand therapy. Okay. It wasn't the crack of dawn. But it was 7:30 am.

We were planning to go to Trexler Park to walk afterwards but as we arrived it started to pour. I guess I should be thankful I made the wrong turn or we would have been soaked.

By the time I dropped her off and got home the rain stopped. Within a half hour the sun was brilliant and the sky was blue.

I looked on the radar map and the next wave of water looked about an hour away. Enough time to walk to the farmers market.

Lots of baked goods and soaps and thing. But the produce was slim pickins. I really wanted kale. I guess it was too early. I went to the meat truck and got local ground lamb and lamb sausage. Notice the theme.

I need to look for a recipe for hassira online for the sausage. Or maybe I'll make the Yeman mint pesto that Zahra showed me how to make at Easter dinner.

By the time I reached the five points, the clouds were getting black again. I was worried But I made it home with about a half hour to spare.

wednesday walk

When school let out, I had made a firm pledge to walk everyday one hour. I was doing fine till Monday. Then I just walked a little at lunch. Same on Tuesday. Tuesday night I was feeling guilty, and ultimately did a Walk At Home tape. Even though it was perfectly beautiful outside. It was fun to break it up a little.

I get bored easily., as my dear readers know. I'm always driving everyone crazy looking for new routes, new terrain, new adventures. Today online I saw an article in the Chi Walking page that supports me on that.  They advocate:

• Hilly walks (work your upper body and strengthen your heart)
• Hiking trails (work your lateral muscles and improve your balance)
• Focusing walk (focus on your breath, repeat a sound or watch a point on the horizon to teach your mind to relax by focusing on only one thing)
• Energizing walk (inhale deeply for 3 steps, then exhale full for 3 steps to help circulate more Chi through your body)
• Aerobic walk (distance walking at a consistent, comfortable pace builds aerobic capacity)
• Fun walk (have fun exploring some new territory with a friend)
• Group walks (build your social skills while getting fit)
• Form walks (take the time to work on improving your bio-mechanics)

It's good to know I'm doing something right!

Today, was a new day. I was going to walk alone, and my sister reminded me Bonnie was home and bored. I called her and we went out. I really wanted to finish the route we started the other day, but ultimately decided I needed some hills. And there is a doozy by Bonnie's house. Our route went down Juniata, around the Fearless, thru the cemetery (to say hi to Jarrod), and then out to Chapel Avenue. We went down Chapel to Emmaus Avenue and back to the high school. Then we wove our way back up the hill. Invigorating. Challenging. Different. All things I love. Then I came home and worked in the garden.

Tomorrow I take her to therapy. So afterwards I think we are going to Trexler Park. Fridays are Betsy 'burbs. And then Saturday I think I'm doing the Volkkssport walk in Doylestown. Sunday, I haven't decided. Maybe we should go to Bangor for the Passport, and then to the megalith park to hike?  Monday is the Tortoise and Hare 5K.

Five totally different walks. Just what the doctor ordered.

technicolor!

This morning Lydia, Angel, Bug, Bonnie, Dawn and two of Dawns friends did the Color Me Rad race. It was a technicolor wonderland. A few thousand of our closest friends joined us. In the rain.

It started with everyone clean. As in the before photo (above) Angel's husband took. We also had the pro shot taken before and after.

It started at Arts Quest and we got hit with pink pretty much right away. It wasn't until we reached the north side that we were squirted with yellow. Yes, it was liquid color. We continued on Lehigh, Went down Conestoga thru Musikfest and back through the historic quarter. When we arrived atMain and Lehigh we we hit with orange. Back over the bridge and out Columbia. When we approached the Steel, we we hit with liquid blue and then at the finish lavender. There was a camera at the finish line with a big sign that said smile!

We never lost the child, and found the husband pretty easily considering how many people were there.

Bonnie's cast was beautiful!

Now I need to take the car to the car wash. Even with blankets and plastic, Aretha is a technicolor diva. Won't work well for carpool!

walking in circles

Today was the P'burg Relay For Life. Aka walking in circles. It's held at the high school track which is a 1/4 mile loop. A nice new rubber surface. Our friend Beth (I did the Avon with her) is one of the organizers.

We arrived about four and it had started to rain. There was not many people. Beth said it had been raining all day. Hard to raise money in the rain. People don't come.

We did 16 loops, or 4 miles. Maybe a little more. It was drizzling when we arrive and the black storm clouds were coming in when we left.

I took 78 home thinking it would be easier to drop Bonnie off. There was construction and a 20+ minute traffic jam. It would have been quicker to go thru town!

Tomorrow is the Color Me Mad Race. We're all meeting at the crack of dawn.

(If you zoom in you can see my band aid over my left eye.)

friday in the ’burbs

Sorry there's no pix from today's walk, I broke camera in yesterday's fall. It would have been a great one. This one is from about two years ago. That's Betsy and Izzy. Izzy is now about 6.

Betsy and I walk in her suburban neighborhood every Friday. Now that Bonnie is out with a busted wrist, she comes along. Yesterday, Betsy's husband Bob came, and the grandpuppies Izzy and Logan.

What a sight we must have been walking down the streets.

Izzy and Logan walk well. They hardly ever stop to sniff, but Logan marks. Betsy just keeps tugging him along. It probably took longer to do our 3 miles, but not that much longer. And those pups were thirsty when we got back!

There will be photos today from the Relay for Life. I stopped at Target on the way to Betsy's and bought a new one.

splat!

School's out for summer for the summer. (Cue Alice Cooper!) So I free time on my hands.

Wednesday grades went in. Wednesday night I annihilated all the mutant dust bunnies in my home office that have been growing, unchecked, for the academic year.

Thursday I was out at 6 am gardening. Maybe by August it will look like a garden again. Afterwards, I met with another faculty member and we cleaned our corner of the adjunct office. I had a Frosty for lunch, then spent the afternoon working in my online classes. (2 ending. 2 starting. Love overlap time.) By late afternoon I was jumping out of my skin. I needed to walk.

Besides, I haven't reached 10K steps on my pedometer all week. Need to do better if I'm doing around the world.

The original plan was to make dinner and then hit the streets. Then I remembered Bonnie is home with a busted wrist. So I called and asked if she want to walk after dinner. She said yes.

Now I know that she'd tired of walking in her hood, so I planned a 3.5 mile loop nearby. Starting at 5th street, we'd walk out Dixon, up Delaware, loop around the subdivision, out Mack Blvd, back Emmaus Ave. and then back 5th street.

When we arrive at the Mountainville Park, the children were playing on the equipment, and more children were playing baseball. I said to Bonnie, when we get back, if there's room, I'm going to swing.

And we were off.

It was a lovely walk. We were headed up Delaware and I saw a stop sign. I said to Bonnie, That's probably our turn. It should be Vine Street. I don't know if I was looking at the map or straight ahead but the next thing I knew I was headed face-first to the sidewalk.

My glasses went flying. My new hat went flying. I was a bit disoriented and turned to look at bonnie and saw a yong man with dreads asking if I was okay. I told him I was fine. Bonnie was in full nurse mode asking me to move my arms and legs to check if things were busted. Bonnie asked the young man for ice.

Next thing I know Mama comes running out. Se wants to call the ambulance. NO. I'm fine. The boy comes with the ice. Now dad is out. He wants to call an ambulance. NO. Really I'm fine. Dad helps me up. Mama is survey my damages. She really wants to call an ambulence. Bonnie told her that she'd take me when we got back to the car. A boldface lie to some very nice people. But I don't think we could have left otherwise. I did tell Bonnie that after we cleaned it up, if it was bad, I'd go to the doc-in-the-box.

Needless to say, no swings. (Boo.)

We cleaned it up. Head wounds bleed a lot. It's in my eyebrow. Most likely form my glasses.. I have one on my arm too. Bonnie put a steri-strip on it one-handed. No need to go to the doc-in-the-box.

My camera was in my pocket and it is dead. It's only 6 months old. Clearly not a model built for my lifestyle. I'll need to get a new one before tomorrow.

And my sunglasses are also broken. Thank goodness I had them on and not my real glasses!

Tomorrow is the P'burg Relay for Life. Our friend Beth is one of the organizers. No walking for her since her knee was destroyed in an accident. So now she organizes. We'll walk in circles for a few hours. (Each loop is 1/4 mile) The P'burg High track is rubber. If I fall there will be a soft landing.

Sunday is Color Me Rad. You'll be able to find me easily in the pictures. I'll have the colored bandages on my forehead.

hershey park

They have a walking path at Hershey Park. Okay, maybe I'm the only one that ever noticed it, but I thought it was cool anyhow. I couldn't find out how far it was but I put 14K steps on my pedometer today. (Maybe 500 of that was doing the laundry.)

The kids has a blast walking from coaster to coaster, until they got drenched on the water one. Do you know how hard it is to find a hooded sweatshirt in May? They had all the tanks and tees out. But we found a few in Chocolate World. And some lovely heat. It was chilly today.

On the way home I said we should stop at Roadside America. She needed to see American kitch. But it was too late and they were closed. She was quite happy with just the Dutchy man and woman. I never noticed as a kid that the lady has huge club hands.

Sadly, she won't get to see any real Amish people. Her 8 months in America is up. Hopefully it's true you can't get sick if you are wet walking in the cold. She leaves for home on Wednesday, 5 am! With an 18 hour layover, it will take two days to go home.

passport to fitness, adventure 2

Today Bonnie and I tried the So. Mountain Gateway Trail and the Boardwalk Trail at the Poole Wildlife Center. I now have completed four of the 12.

I have to be careful which we pick, some are more rustic than others. The doctor said Bonnie could WALK for exercise. Not climb, hike and other adventures!

The South Mountain Gateway trail is nice—crushed gravel. You could never get lost. Houses/industry was always visible from the trail. Even if you ventured off the trail you could get out in less than five minutes.

We walked a bit on the trail and neither of us saw the rubbing post. The trail appeared to end, but there was a sign that said be careful crossing the street. Walla. It continued. There was a little Z turn. We continued to walk and reached another entrance. Still no post. There was a Trail sign kiosk that had maps and things so Bonnie wandered over. They put it right on the kiosk! If we would have chosen a different lot we could have got out of the car, made our rubbing and left! No work needed.

When we arrived back at the car, we headed further into Emmaus. Within 1 minutes we were at the Poole Wildlife Sanctuary.  The Floodplain Trail (aka the Boardwalk) is relatively short. And in some serious need of repair. This time the marker was right on the handrail. I walked right passed it.

We took all the forks, and made the walk a bit longer. Thne we heard croaking. It was a family of frogs. I tried to get down closer but most hopped in the water.  I could only get butt shots!

Originally, I had plans to got to Hershey Park today. But it ended up being tomorrow. I didn't tell Lyd the change so she made plans to walk on the D&L in Northampton with her friend Dawn. Since no one was coming to my house, I weeded for 2 hours before walking.

Tomorrow, I head to Hershey. Zahra, my international student at NCC loves roller coasters. She starts her two day trip home on Wednesday. I'm taking her and a friend. The perfect end to a year abroad. But she is excited to be going home and can't wait to eat mom's Yemani food!

fight for life walk

This is a new 5k and took place at the Rodale Fitness park in Trexler- town.

I didn't sleep well last night, and I woke up with Sharon's cold. My expired drugs (1/11 and 11/11) don't seem to be working. As I type I have on two sweaters and an afghan. And I'm shivering. Last night I thought being in the Poconos triggered my allergies. Wrong. Might have to go to CVS for fresh drugs.

Lydia arrived about 8 and after we got Adonis settled with the "crazy lady in the yellow chair" we headed to pick up Bonnie. Since this walk was non-competitive, she could do it. The doctor doesn't want her to stop exercising. She had gotten ready by herself (sure he husband is delighted), except for her hair. Hair done, we hit the road.

We arrived at the park with 20 minutes to spare. I think there was more walkers than runners. Lots of yacking, and then they released doves. Finally time to go. Walkers had no bibs, but Pretzel City is a great operation and they leave the clock on.

We all stayed together, and we did about an 18 minute pace consistently. Lydia, on occassion, got a bit ahead, which was great. But in the end, Bonnie stayed true to her form. She saw the clock. Her competitive nature took over and she raced for the finish. She finished in about 48:21. Lydia in 48:23 and me right behind them at 48:27.

I think this was a personal best for Lyd.

Next week I'll walk a lot, but I'll do it at Hershey Park. Taking my international student before she goes home. She loves roller coasters. I told her to bring a friend.

dirty girl...barefoot edition

Yesterday was the Dirty Girl mud race. I was so exhausted that I posted in my online class, I'd look at there work today. I didn't even do that through my sibling funerals.

I went to bed at 9:30 and woke up at 10:45. Clearly all I needed was a nap. It took until 1:30 to fall back to sleep. Oh well.

Team Tatalicious ended up being only Dawn, Lyd and I. Kathy was sick, Bonnie on the DL, and Amanda in the hospital.

We left Lydia's at 7:30 and arrived in Scranton around 9. Sign in and swag pickup was pretty easy. Though the tees ran small and I should have gotten a 2x. (It fits, but there is no room for shrinkage.)

We checked out the area, found the bag check and the rinsing station and headed to the start line.

We were in the 10 am group, but arrived just in time for the 9:45 group. And we're off.

It started easy. A few muddy spots. The walk thru tires. Then we reached the woods and the mud hazards got more extreme. First there were small creeks that I could almost step over. After a couple of those there was this bumpy triangle thing that you climbed up and over, then I slid on my butt down the other side.


The next water hazard was a large, wait high river of mud. There was also a line because you had to go thru it so carefully. Lydia fell in. I made it thru that one. But there was a series of them in this section and I lost my shoe. Found it, kept going and lost it again. This time I couldn't find it. I was down one shoe. And then I fell in, up to my neck.

The next water hazard I was down again, holding on to the caution tape. Lost another shoe. I am now barefoot. Well not quite. I had on the thinnest socks I own. Did pick nice cushy ones because I didn't want to get weighed down when they soaked up mud. Silly me.

The next section wasn't horrible. Still in the woods, I was careful where I walked. It was actually easier to navigate the mud barefoot, except when you couldn't see the bottom. Stones were slippery. I used the ropes to pull me up and down the hill.

Then the course moved to the parking lot. But not the nice paved lot, the auxillary lot with small stones. It hurt my feet but I kept pushing forward. A little at a time.

Lydia suggested I quit. I asked her how long she'd known me. Quitting was not an option, so I continued. I did all the obstacles, each time catching up to Lyd and Dawn as they were doing it. Each obstacles had a small line that moved quickly. You wove thru the parking lot from one end to another. Nothing was a straight line from A to B.

Eventually the trail took you up the mountainside and back into the woods. You came down backwards holding a rope. Then the final one was the funky monkey. A cargo net that you had to craw across to the other side. Lyd bailed on that one, but I did it. Then I couldn't figure out how to get off it. Didn't want to jump shoeless.

All along the way I had people help me so I wouldn't fall. One lady said I was a "tough bitch". Guess I am. Stubborn. Maybe stupid too.

Once was plenty for this type of race. I don't need to do it again.

apparently there are no original ideas

I thought that my Walk around the world was a unique spein on the virtual walks. Today I discovered otherwise.

One of the groups I belong to on Facebook is virtual runs. They are very into medals. And like most races are for charity. But I'm not into conspicuous consumption at all. I give away the bulk of the t-shirts I get at races. I really don't want, or need metal. Especially one that is 7 inches! I was going to delete them, and then I thought no, this would be a great place to share the walk around the world. Now I'm not so sure.

Today I clicked on a link to Fit For Life.  It said they had a variety of virtual runs. Nothing interesting came up, but there was a button for "challenges". I clicked it. And there it was Shoot for the Moon. "Our goal in 2013 is walk, run, hike, swim, bike, crawl, row or dance our way to the moon. All 238,900 miles! This is a group challenge where every single challengers miles count towards our overall totals. Our goal is to reach the moon on or before December 31, 2013."

Crap.

It's not exactly the same. Now mine is a solo project. This is a group project. They are collecting miles, I'm collecting minutes. But it's very similar. I am so disappointed.

Maybe I'll post mine anyway. Maybe there's someone out there who likes a challenge, is cheap, and doesn't want a medal.

Today, Betsy, Bob and I walked thru her neighborhood.

Tomorrow is the Dirty Girl and Sunday for Lung Cancer.

a new challenge

I'd miss so much if I didn't read the newspaper. I'm too lazy to log on to my FREE digital subscription, and have no desire to search for bad news. The ore me go digitial, the more ignorant I will become.

In today's paper was a photo of children walking. It got my attention. The caption said it was BASD school children kicking off a new walking challenge—Get Your Tail On The Trail. That got my attention!

From the website: "It doesn’t matter if you are fifteen or eighty five, physically-fit or a self-proclaimed couch potato, this challenge is for everyone. Get outdoors, get active and explore nature by walking, running or biking the D&L Trail, 165 total miles of natural beauty in our own backyard." I've always wanted to do this, and the AT. So this is the perfect time to start. I have 6 months to finish. Like all these programs you logo you miles via the Trail Tracker and receive free prizes as you achieve your milestone goals.

Just signing up allows the mail carrier to bring you goodies! Travel water bottle, drawstring backpack, flyer with list of key events, information on how to track your miles, D&L Trail Map and of course, St. Luke’s Live Your Life Program Information. The hospital is a major sponsor. Apparently they want people to get healthy so they don't have any customers! That would stop the expansion plans...

Reach your 50 Mile Goal and receive a Get Your Tail on the Trail t-shirt. Reach your 100 Mile Goal and receive a Get Your Tail on the Trail hat. Reach your 150 Mile Goal and receive a Get Your Tail on the Trail cooler. Reach your 165 Mile Challenge Achievement Award and receive a Get Your Tail on the Trail fleece jacket and 165 Mile Challenge car window magnet.

I think this is doable. We'll be training for the half marathon so we'll need distance and space. I don't think you have to do the whole trail, but I'd be game. We've got many sections covered. Kathy has a section of the trail in Mauch Chunk, Angel in Easton, Bonnie in A'town and Catty, Lyd's in Northampton,  Dawn in the slate Belt, and me in the Christmas City.

I signed up today, but the tracker isn't active yet. They better get it working soon. Schools almost over, and I can start serious walking. I have this, the Passport to Fitness, the Walk This Way program. I can kick some walking but this summer. Not to mention my walk around the world. I might post that on the virtual run Facebook page.


Speaking about milestones, I hit the 500 mile mark on my Fit Bit Tracker a couple days ago.

Saturday is the Dirty Girl mud 5K is Saturday in Scranton. Tatalicious is down two members—Bonnie and Lydia. Kathy, Dawn, Bonnie, Lydia and I are still going to get mighty dirty. It benefits breast cancer research.

Sunday is the Lung Assn. Walk For Life at Rodale Fitness Park in Trexlertown. Not sure if we are doing that or one of the Passport walks.

apparently it's equality day on campus.

I went for my lunchtime walk on campus and people were carrying t-shirts.

Then I realized that they were rainbow colored and I figured QuEST (gay student group) was having an event.

They are indeed.

Almost every building I passed had either rainbow flags or rainbow flags and a table of free t-shirts.

It says The LGBTQ Agenda and the first thing is funny — get off Facebook, find a free washer, study for exams — the second is Equality.

Though I'll be in class for the rally. I took a purple t-shirt. Sadly pink is not in a rainbow.  The back features a rainbow made of the campus sponsors.

Not often I can go for a walk and come back with free stuff.