costochondritis and walking.

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Monday I went to work. walked a bit at lunchtime. It was a beautiful day.

Came home and started feeling odd. Indigestion maybe? But I ate dinner and turned on the computer and went to class. By 10PM I felt like there was a man standing on my breast bone. And he wasn't invited. I shut off the computer and moved to the couch to watch The Blacklist.   Laying down was worse. Was I having a heart attack? I didn't know. Took my blood pressure. Perfect. Decided it was indigestion and found some generic pepcid that expired in 2012. I took it and went to bed.  By that time my whole left side hurt and my breast felt like bricks.

Tuesday I woke up. I was happy. I woke up. Not a heart attack but it was still there. I couldn't sneeze. Coughing was traumatic. As long as I didn't make any sudden moves I could function. We needed chicken to add to our leftover "rice surprise" (damn it was good) so I took the scenic route to Aharts. Walking up to Sioux street I was both fine and miserable. Walking up Fiot and 8th was even worse. I kept taking my pulse. Perfect. It felt like cracked ribs. The pain is sudden and sharp. The "little man" was really being a PIA and I lost all sense of concentration.

Driving to work I missed the school zone sign flashing. It was 4:00! I got a ticket. $169!!!

Since I was miserable, I decided to listen to the voice in my head and go to the doc in the box. Maybe it's Pneumonia. Maybe a heart attack. The horror visions were dancing in my head. And I have a half marathon Sunday. I decided to go after work. The stress of not knowing was killing me. I could hear Bonnie yelling, "stop being so cheap and go to the doctor". So I did. It's Costochondritis. A virus in the chest wall near the breast bone. There isn't a blasted thing you can do for it but take Aleve. 3 OTC=1 Rx. (I wasn't taking any pain meds because I didn't want to mask the symptoms.) The doc-in-the-box was $148. This is why I don't go to the doctor. It's just a money vacuum. On the up side my heart and lungs are healthy.


Did I mention there's a half-marathon on Sunday? One that I haven't really trained for? Not a good time to get sick. Have another one tomorrow.


Wednesday I walked at work a bit. But the Aleve was making me sick. Thursday I did very little. I drove Lydia to Lehighton and that took my walking time. My online class and my on ground class take up the day. Plus cooking dinner mid-afternoon.


Today I drove Miss Lydia to her home visits. Last week I went walking with Betsy. this week she wasn't available so I walked myself in a whole new neighborhood. The easiest way to explain it is the backside of the muni golf course. I'm guessing 50-60 'burbs. Lots of splits, ranches and amazing mid century architecture. When I was a kid I thought it was hideous. Now I think it's beautiful. I was about three blocks away when Lydia buzzed that she was done.

 Hand-painted, with a great view of the golf course.

 In front of an amazing mid-century house.

Multi-color ghosts.


My breathing was not normal during the walk. But I still have two days till the half. I cannot breath deep so pushing it might not be possible. But I breathed thru my nose the whole time. I rarely do that when walking. I'm an open mouth person.

I did promise my sister that I would not be a hero. I would get my ample butt in the sweep car  if I had to. I think if I pick a steady pace I should be okay. I will take two Aleve before I go. Don't want to lose my breakfast on the trail. Who am I kidding? Breakfast will be after the race. No personal records will be broken. I will use the full four and a half full hours if needed and the route is flat as a pancake.


Tomorrow we are walking on the D&L in the area of the marathon. The more familiar you are with a course, the better it is. Then after walking we'll go pick up our race gear. Michelle, the walking coach, is hosting a pre-race dinner on Saturday night.


If with my weak walking totals this month, I am still past 1000 miles for this Tail on the Trail Challenge. That is about six times around. The challenge ends Sunday.

my house smelled like autumn

Lydia is still having car issues so I planned a walk near her house on the Nor Bath trail today. That way I could pick her up and we'd be almost there.

The plan was to meet Bonnie, Megan and the baby, and Angel and her family at trail head. But Angel wasn't feeling well and Bonnie and Megan went to the wrong trail head. So Bonnie and I headed into Northampton to meet them at the Siegfried* train station. Then we moved across the street to the Northampton Heritage trail, which is part of the D&L. That section is paved, but once out of town it is totally natural. This is one section of the D&L that is not developed.

Then I took Lyd home and we picked up Adonis to go to my house.  It was the first time an animal had been in my car since I brought Snowball home for Megan when she was a child.

We opened the door and the house spelled wonderful. I had a beef roast ready for the oven when I left. The roomie put it in at 10:30. When we were kids mom put a roast in before church and it was ready when we came home. It smelled like that. And it tasted even better. Can't beat the meat from the farm.

The dog managed to get two walks before we had to leave for Basket Bingo. This bingo is held by the Boy Scout Troop Camp Association. Jarrod loved the camp that they manage in Allentown. Or is it Salisbury? Anyway, we go every year. And usually leave empty handed. I call it a charitable donation. But this year we won. A lot.

All in all, it was a good day.

* The Siegfried Station name came from the original settlement's founder, Lehigh River banks store/tavern/ferry/bridge owner John Siegfried. In 1902 the nearby communities of Siegfried, Stemton, and Newport had merged to form the Borough of Alliance, a name which lasted until 1909 when it was renamed Northampton.

never take your kindle for a walk.

I have a half marathon in less a week. I have not trained. Actually for the last three weeks or so I haven't even met my goals for regular walking. I'm averaging 6K a day. Hopefully the hills will pay off.

Yesterday I thought was the Allentown, Pa. Volkssport walk. The email said "On Saturday the group walk will be Allentown, Pa. Be at the start point at 10:00 am. The start point is the Comfort Suites Inn on Hamilton Blvd." Perfect. I needed to take Lil Bug to Girl Scouts at Betsy's. She'd be there for three hours.

I arrived at 9:30. Got everything out and waited. Nobody came. Not even Bonnie and Megan. (They did a training walk in the 'hood.) I left at 10:30 and walked alone. I decided I would walk slower and read-and-walk. Paved trails, not many people. I had started a book the day before and wanted to finish it. I rarely get to read and the prospect of picking it up in January did not appeal to me.

Things were semi-fine when I started. The screen was a little dark in the shade but still readable. Then I hit a sunny stretch. Nothing. The next two miles was a sunny stretch. I just closed the case and walked on. Kind of pissed I didn't bring a real book.

Now I have a like-hate relationship with Kindle. I bought my first one all excited and quickly decided I didn't like to read on a screen. I read a few books, and kept it in my purse for when you get stuck places or stay longer than you plan.  Sharon wanted a Kindle for Christmas so I gave her mine and bought the smaller, lighter, newer version. (Sharon STILL is uding that one.) One day I fell and broke Kindle. So Barb sent me her old one. That lasted about a year before I fell with it again. I bought yet another new one.  (#4 if you are counting.) Still the old fashioned keyboard kind, with the white pages that you could read anywhere. It wasn't even a year old--maybe not even 6 months-- and I dropped my purse in Doylestown. It broke again.

I swore, no more Kindles. I'm done. Paper is better.

Christmas morning 2013 arrives and guess what's under the tree? That's right. A new Kindle—a Kindle Fire. I had no desire to own the tablet version. That could be the reason I disliked it from the moment I plugged it in. I really haven't had a chance to read it much since. When I'm home I work. And when it was given to me the rule was "you cannot carry it in your purse" it became even more useless. In my purse was when I used it the most.

The last time I read any thing on it was in July at Barb's house. I didn't even open it again till Friday when I was driving Lydia to appointments. I knew I had a quick read on it (The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith aka JK Rowling) that didn't take much attention. I was too lazy to go upstairs to get a real book. I only had 14% battery at the first stop--and the wrong cord. This doesn't happen with paper books. I was able to read it at the first appointment. And walked with Betsy during the second. I knew there were screen issues at the third. I had to sit exactly right in the car to see anything.

So Saturday not working in the sun did not surprise me. I was prepared for the sun blocking the screen. What I wasn't prepared for was the over 200 page skip. I was on about 168 when I started. The next time I reached a shady spot I was at about 398. Apparently my moving arm turned the page. Maybe not each time. But more than 200 times. This does not happen with paper books. I had to scroll back to find where I was. Aargh.

If it wasn't that I had 4K pages of Ken Folliet's newest trilogy on there, I think I'd give it away. Maybe I should anyway. I don't have time to read 4K pages.

corn maze

St. Luke's is the major sponsor of the Tail on The Trail challenge. Clearly they are also the sponsor of the Seiple Corn Maze also. So the Tail on the Trail sent us discount coupons for the maze. They said it was worth 2.5 miles. It was more like 5.

For the last two or three years I've gone to the maze at Raub's in Easton with my exchange students. It's been awhile since I was at Seiples. They have everything to keep you there a whole day and spend money. They probably make more this month than the rest of summer. There is a haunted house, animals,  rides, pumpkin patch, concessions and plenty of places for family photo ops. An autumn carnival of sorts.

Usually corn mazes have a fall or Halloween theme. This one was the St Luke's logo with extra stars for added confusion.  there was no map so you couldn't tell where you were. It was crazy.

Lydia is having a bit of a crisis right now, so instead of wallowing in her house, I forced her to come along. For two hours she didn't think about life's problems. I'm not a great problem solver but I'm a whiz with the band-aid.

Since the theme was St. Luke's, the stations all had to do with anatomy, wellness or services. I had Lyd take my pix at fitness. Seemed appropriate. I'd say the bulk of the stations were in the cluster of stars. We did a lot of circles looking for them.

In the end, we teamed up with another very young and cute couple to find the last station. I was five minutes from giving up.

 On my way out I made a new friend. And in typical 2014 fashion, I took a selfie.

fall walking festival day two

Yesterday we awoke to rain. Cold rain.

After breakfast we checked in and headed to the Milkbrook Marsh Nature Center for our first walk. I bet it's beautiful in summer. In late October it was pretty, but most of the leaves were already down and the grasses were dead. It was raining when we arrived. It only lasted five minutes.

We walked on a lot of boardwalk, three different bike trails, and thru a park and a covered bridge. It had a little bit of everything. We also met the president of LBW, the trail master and Bill.

The covered bridge in the park. The bathrooms in this park were open, and nice. They were old, but really clean so they rated a I-4.5. they also had a baby changing station, two kinds of soap, and these disposable mats for the baby. Class operation.

When we finished the walk and returned to the nature center in time for the rain to begin again. We stood in the rain and talked with walkers from York and Lancaster.

We returned to the hotel and had our books stamped then headed to Williamsport to do another walk. That walk ends at the end of the month.

Williamsport is a beautiful city. It isn't as nearly run down as I thought it would be. (The huge park park with 3 ball fields and a bandstand has no bathroom which confounds me.) Maybe they didn't take us into the "bad" neighborhoods. They didn't take us to the ballpark either.

We checked in at the Y and headed to the car to get our stuff. The skies opened again. We ran into the car with seconds to spare. The skies opened into a downpour. Five minutes later the sun was trying to come out.

Abut four blocks into the walk we reached the parking lot above (the mural is on all three sides) and the rain began again. It was a good time to stop in the brewpub for lunch. The sun was out when we headed back into the lot. Only problem was we lost the instructions in the restaurant. We had to walk back to the Y's lot for another set.

I took more pictures in Williamsport than I did the rest of the weekend. Art was everywhere. Interesting architecture and beautiful buildings were plentiful. My camera became exhausted. Bonnie started taking pixs with her smart phone.

We probably did a total of 25 miles in two day. Maybe this week I'll have more steps than my brother. he's been kicking my butt for the last couple weeks.

fall walking festival

Today Bonnie and I headed to Penn State for the bi-annual fall walking festival. We arrived at about 9:30 and were walking by 10.

The first walk was a 10K. It started at the host hotel—a Super 8—and wove thru town to the University. The hills were plentiful and the street signs lacking. At one point we became off course but quickly corrected ourselves.

The campus is huge. It makes Lafayette and Lehigh look like a grade school. Probably three miles was on campus. I have never been on a closed campus with that many buses.

On the way back to the hotel we walked past a farmer's market. I had wondered why so many students had flowers. What astounded me is that 75% of the farmers were Mennonite/Amish. In North Central Pennsylvania. South Central would be a totally different story.

Then it was off to Boalsburg for a 5K. Boalsburg is the birthplace of Memorial Day.

The walk began at the Pennsylvania Military Museum. Then we headed across the street to visited the "ladies" in the cemetery. Crossing the street was a half mile away! Then we were off to see Chris Columbus and a mansion, but alas, they were closed for the season. Next we walked the original highway, then back the new one. The final section of the trail took us into town. We bagged it and looked at the military museum property. Lots of tanks. Lots of cannons. Lots of memorials like Gettysburg. We couldn't go in the museum because we didn't bring money.

After checking in at the Super 8, and turning on the computer, I discovered I earned a new fit bit badge. I'm now flying high in a hot air balloon after climbing the equivalent of two thousand stairs.

Tomorrow, two more walks. Then the long drive home. We are not staying for day three.

lehigh stair climb

We look so happy before we began!

It wasn't a full stair climb, only about 450 stairs, because we only had about 55 minutes. But it was aerobic. We left my place and took the most direct route to New Street—Out Broadway. Not scenic, but efficient. Then we headed up New To Campus Square. Then the stairs began.

Since I knew we only had an hour to get there, climb and get home, we restricted ourselves to the far west side of the campus. By doing this we missed my favorite climb. Maybe I'll do that one day alone.

There is quite a few stairs at Campus Square. Then we headed up toward the student center. On the right is more stairs which took us to the road. To do this walk you basically look right or left, and find the next set of steps. Hoping that they are not dead ends.

We made it almost to the top of the campus. We had one more set of frats/dorms before the top. But there was no time.

This is the view you get near the top. It is so worth the climb. Too bad the leaves haven't finished turning.

Now it's off to Monocacy Park for the Super Secret Christmas Present adventure with Eryn's children. I have a slim chance of making goal today!

free beer, laziness, and swag

Another lazy week. I was hoping to hit my goals today but it's pouring. Maybe this afternoon.

Updates from last Sunday: There was quite a racquet on FB, Twitter and traditional media last week about the race.  Yesterday I received an email with a photo link (I'm looking down on them all) and an apology for the chaos last week. It also said I could use those free beer tickets this weekend at the festival. Problem is, I tossed them last week. Trash man comes on Tuesdays. Oh well.

Oh, it also gave us this little badge for our website.  That an a coupon won't get you a free beer.

Monday and Wednesday I was in Easton. So busy I could even take a little walk at lunch time. Lydia came over Wednesday night and we took the dog for a walk, then walked south Bethlehem. I were my slide sneakers without socks and paid for it. The tops of my toes were blistered by 2 miles. They were busted open by the time we got home.

Tuesday I walked to the north side and back. I tried to find every hill. Including up Wyandotte street. Good workout in an otherwise lackluster week.

Thursday I had planned on taking the scenic route to the dentist and back. Didn't work out that way. I was in one of my online classes working away when the voice from the yellow chair said "Don't you have a dentist appointment at 10?" It was 9:50. I took the car, then also drove to the farm market.

Thursday I also picked up my Walking Warriors swag at the college. A short sleeve tee shirt and a water bottle. I rinsed out the bottle and used it during class. I made the mistake of filling it ... twice. I was up all night. The tee is grey with walking warriors on the front and the logo on the back in orange. The water bottle is orange with the logo. This is the last week of the challenge. So far I haven't won anything.

Friday in the mail the first level prize arrived for the 165 challenge. Yep, another tee shirt. But this one is long sleeve and a really soft cotton. It will make a nice under shirt. The Tail On The Trail logo is on the back. They also sent a car magnet. I have one from last year. Neither will be on the car.



Yesterday I walked with Betsy in her surburban neighborhood.


Okay, maybe I'm not so lazy after all. But the reality is I'm at 72% of my weekly goal. 25% more is maybe 25K in steps. I might have done that walking the eight miles today. I see little chance of that happening.


Off to work while it's raining.

will race for free beer

Or not. The line was way to long.

The Oktoberfest 5K was today. We had a huge group—Bonnie, Lydia, Megan, Dawn and Lyds friend Joleen. It was cold today waiting for the race. We all wore layers. Most of us wore the shirts we picked up yesterday. Nice, right? I had a pink shirt under mine. It is Pinktober after all.

We planned to meet at the entrance to ArtsQuest at 10 am. Megan and Joleen arrived first, then Dawn and her husband, and finally Megan and Bonnie. The race had at least 4K people. They capped it at 5K and were still selling entries.  It was wall to wall people. The broke us into four waves with beer themed names. We were in the last wave. The first was at the start line near the Welcome Center. The last was in the "Keg" section. The line up for that began at PBS. Yep, we pretty much had to walk two blocks to the start line. It took almost 8 minutes for us to cross. Thank goodness for chip timing.

We quickly splintered by pace. Near the beginning I actually passed Megan and Bonnie. How did that happen? But soon Bonnie passed me. Then Megan. Once we hit the hills, I was doomed. Those two, like my friend Angel fly up the hills. I passed them on the way down. But then they passed me again and it stayed that way.

The course went out first, up Webster, out Columbia and over the Fahy Bridge. Then up Center, out Church, and down around the city center and down Lehigh.  Over to Sand Island, turn around and come back.

I met Bonnie and Megan again on Columbia, near the back side of Looper's. Bonnie said "You caught up". And I said something about them seeing the finish line and they'd speed off without me. But they agreed on the bridge that we'd all cross together. And we did. My foot must have hit first because I finished in 50:48, and they finished in 50:50. Our unison was a little off. Dawn finished in 56:50, and Lydia and Joleen in 63:55.

They did not give us our traditional gingerbread cookie medals at the finish which I found odd. You had to wait in line. It wasn't a horrible line, like the one for beer.

Dawn was going to try and save hers. I don't know about the others. Me, I'm eating it. I assure you, it will be gone by morning. Hope it tastes as good as it smells. I heart gingerbread.

half the hills in easton.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/old-photos-pennsylvania/33064-hacketts-park-easton.html

Today we were supposed to walk at Columcille in Bangor, but just as the weather people predicted it was pouring this morning. There were quite a few people who wanted to do the walk.

We were supposed to start at 10. When I turned on the computer this morning there was a message from Angel. "Let me know when you leave for Columcille if you're online. I'm on the fence with the weather". I assured her the weather would clear up by nine. It didn't. In fact when I was prepping to leave it started to pour. After Angel's email, then Lyd called. Pretty much the same conversation. She opted for plan B. "Even if it stops raining it will be really muddy". Then I called Bonnie. They were out also. A text to Dawn confirmed she was bagging it.

Angels child is at camp for the weekend. There are not many opportunities for many childless activities with a 10-year-old in the house. Another email comes...

"Is there someplace Indoors we can go?" And another ...

"We could Mall walk. *cringe*". 

The rain had stopped and it looked like it might clear up. Since I had to go to the farm for eggs I suggested the Palmer rail trail. It's paved. Then Angel sweetened the pot with "You want to come over, get cauliflower and walk from here to Hackett park? Or I can make lunch..."

So that's what we did, Angel, her husband and I walked from her house to Hackett Park on the Wilson section of the rail trail. Like the old cliché it was up hill in "both directions". When we entered the park I had 30 stairs on my FitBit. And it was park-like with swings and pavilions and things. Not a field like when I entered from the rail trail. And there's a cemetery in the middle of the park. With a cannon. And obsolete plaques. Who knew? Wish I would have had my camera.

When we came back we left the trail and hiked up the hill to Northampton Street. I have always wanted to walk up that damn hill. Why? It's steep. But only earned us another seven flights.Then we worked our way back to Angel's house including a set of stairs. Who knew there were stairs on Northampton street? Total stair count—46!

We made lunch—huge salads with peanut-sesame dressing — and then I ate and ran.

First stop, the farm. I had to get a pot roast, a steak and eggs. I eat a lot of eggs. I also got some cherry tomatoes and some peppers. This is pretty much the end of the veggies. They also had pumpkins and squashes of all varieties. While I was shopping others came, and then the hay truck. Nobody yelled HAAAAAAAY! Shocking. But we were stock for a few minutes. Let me assure you that they hay truck driver had some driving skills.

Second stop ArtsQuest. We have a race tomorrow and today was packet pick up. I should have told them "event" instead of "packet pickup". I had to park in the casino overflow employee shuttle lot and hoof it in.

I ended up with 6.5 miles and I still have a deficit in my goal for this week. I'm only at 75%. No way I'll get to 100% this week. Oh well. But damn certain I will make 50 stairs. I will walk up and down the hill until I do.

When I arrived home there was another email from Angel. "Are you blogging about today? Because if you do:
- we walked about 4.2 miles
- we had crazy fitbit issues (hers got stuck and somehow turned on iTunes which played do-wop)
- we ate good food
- we had a great time
- and my fit bit gave me 92 active minutes!!! (mine gave me 1.25 hours active, 31 very active. That's good. I rarely get double digits for very active minutes, yet alone out of the teens.)
- next time let's do six miles!"

You are on Angel. Now what to do about the child ....

color me pink

Yes, it's Pinktober first, and you know what that means. Gayle will be draging out her pink wardrobe. Walking in Breast Cancer multi-day walks bulks up the pink wardrobe. I have enough, for a whole month, with few repeats. 

So it began today. Pink skirt for work, pink t-shirt and ribbon socks for Zumba. I have enough pink t-shirts for about three weeks. I have more than enough pink reusable shopping bags and no doubt I will succumb to another before the month is over.

Yes, I realize the color pink will not cure disease. And the whole pink thing is a giant marketing scam. Just like dumping water on your head was for ALS. Yes, I also know that there is lots of diseases that don't have a color, month, or even a budget to get awareness out there. If you figure out a way to get your disease noticed, I'll support you. Until then, I'm going to party in pink.

This week has been horrible for my numbers. Unless something dramatic happens I will not make my goal of 87,500 steps this week.  Or 140 floors.

I've been fighting some nasty poison and it got the best of me Sunday. I think the build up of Benadryl hit. I was lazy. But Sunday night, at dusk, I walked up and down my hill about 10 times so I could make at least 10K steps and 20 floors.

Monday I had full intentions of walking after work. But the television didn't work and I had to go to the cable company and then spend two hours on the phone with tech support, ect. But the time the smoke cleared it was dark. I didn't want to walk up and down the hill again. Actually I wanted to eat something really fattening and drown my sorrows. I didn't. Total not much more than 5K

Tuesday we did the North Bethlehem Volkssport walk. I forgot my fitbit, so it didn't count. Another sad day under 5K.

Tonight I will take the scenic hilly route to Zumba. Yeah, it's four blocks away. I'm going to try and make it a mile and a half. Or at least a mile. Maybe I will make my 12,500/20 goals. I hope so.

Today registration opens for the Lager Jogger. Angel would like to do it. It's all hills. And the line is too long to get the free beer.

Saturday I'm thinking about doing Columcille. It's different, and not too far. And I think Megan and Lydia will get a kick out of it. Sunday is the Octoberfest 5K.

Maybe I'll turn into a pink superhero and end the week strong.