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.

fitness friday

When I get up I grab my Fitbit and my glasses—they have an illicit relationship and sleep together.  Usually I clip the fitbit to my jammies and run around doing morning things. Then switch it to my clothes for the day. I didn't do that yesterday. It was a bout 12:20 when I realized it. It registered less than 500 steps.

Thankfully I discovered it before my walk with Betsy. We did our normal 3 miles in her neighborhood. I did a few errands than headed home.

At 5 I met up with Bonnie and Megan and we headed to Coca Cola Park for the Bacon Challenge. It's a 5K where half way thru you consume a 1/2 pound of bacon. We all opted out. Nothing makes me want to vomit more than the thought of chugging a half pound of cold bacon and then racing.

When we arrived, Megan sent a text to Lyd.  Lyd and Dawn were already there, and Dawns friend Cindy met us a bit later, We had a big group. Dawn wanted to know where the baby was. "He's part of the team now." Luckily he was home with daddy.

Cindy was nervous. Her first 5k. We did our best to assure her everything was okay. She'd finish and she wouldn't die. I took a before shot, and promised a finish shot. But of course that stupid camera died. Again. So I had Megs take it with her phone. Dawn and Lydia stayed with her and they finished in 61 minutes. And they were not last!

The course never left the ballpark. We started in front of the main gate, and went down the hill to the American Parkway and back up again. The head east and circled those lots, and entered the ball park and looped around the concourse.  We left the stadium by the lower gate then headed toward the west parking lots behind the Western Electric building. (I have no idea what the current name is. It changes yearly.) This is where people stopped to eat bacon. We heard little good about it. I'm guessing about 10% of the people went in the pass-by lane.  You could not leave the bacon lane till you finished. I did not see a vomit bucket.

After circling the west parking lots we headed down that hill to American Parkway, back up and followed the road at the rear of the stadium. I thought we'd enter then by the pork racer door, but no, they had us pork racer the lot first. Then we entered the field and looped of the dirt path.

I had managed to catch up to Bonnie several times, but when we entered the door, she went into finish line mode and kicked it into high gear. Bonnie is now a half block ahead and I hear running behind me. It's Megan. I yelled "Megan is running." Bonnie looked back and started running too. NOBODY, not even her baby, will beat Bonnie. She crossed 1.9 seconds before Megan. I finished in my typical spot 20 seconds behind.

Bonnie 49:02
Megan 49:03.9
Gayle 49:22.8
Dawn 61:35.5
Cindy 61.36.6
Lydia 61.37.5

My fitbit was at about 18K when I returned home. I would have made 20, or maybe even 25 had I remembered to put it on in the morning.

fitness challenge—horseback riding

I can't remember the last time I went horseback riding. It was with Girl Scouts, at a dude ranch, and I had the worse allery attack ever.

Thankfully that didn't happen this time. (Thanks generic Claratin!)

My friend Pam suggested this activity after our paddle boarding adventure. She found us a Groupon, so we saved big bucks on this outing. (Groupon could be hazardous to your budget. Must stay away!)

Fitness friend Dawn also came. Riding is on her bucket list. Dawn and I met at the Rt 33 Park and Ride and we headed up to "Bangor". I have no idea where we were but Bangor was 15 minutes south. We left at 10 for our 11 ride. It took 45 minutes. Google suggested 37. Dawn brought the GPS so that save us from getting lost.

We arrived and parked and waited for Pam's family to arrive. They got lost so they were late.  Pam brought her husband and both girls. Hannah came home from college to ride today. She really wanted to come.

Dawn got the first horse. It probably took a good 20 minutes to load us on to horses. I left the others go first, so I got the last one — Rocky. He likes to walk fast so they make us stay at the end. He didn't like it. He kept creeping up on Pam's horse and getting his face in her horses butt. "Rocky, stay out of Pam's tushy!" He didn't listen. He wanted to be in the front. Hannah's horse had pretty white spots.

Rocky like to hug the trees and my knee actually hit a stop sign. His love of trees also may have gotten me in trouble. We were on the way back and Pam said, "watch, poison." Too late. I thought that my shirt got the bulk of it, but perhaps not. After I showered I noticed my hands were red and bumpy. I might have transferred the poison from Rocky to me when I got off. We'll see.

I'm not sure how much exercise this was. I guess a lot would be muscle control. Almost isometric. Maybe. Science is not my strong suite.

During the ride we discussed other fitness challenges. Pam suggested belly dancing. Alas, I thought of that also but no one I found so far offers single classes. Connie, who's 16, wants to try pole dancing. If only we were in Kentucky. Maria would do a class for us.  However, Sweat Like A Girl, which is in Nazareth, you need to be 18. But they do have drop-in classes for a wide variety of classes similar to what Maria offers...

Tomorrow is the Via Marathon. All our nrmal haunts will be cluttered with people. Roads will be closed off. So we're going to walk in Trout Creek Park under the Susquehanna Street bridge.

Storms brewing. Night all.

penn pump park!

We had a full house today and it was terrific.

I send out a email with my walking plans on a fairly regular basis to about six people. Usually only family comes. But not today. Lydia's friend Dawn aka "The Princess" could make it. She's not in the picture because she's taking it.

The plan was to walk to Tatamy and find the Tatamy trail. We went left instead of right and ended up climbing the hill to Hackett Park. Oops.

After coming down the hill we were crossing Crayola's parking lot and saw this deer. She posed for pictures then ran away.

On the home stretch I walked with Dawn and she brought up the Moon Walk. I told her the problem and she suggested posting the problem on the Moon walks facebook page. Maybe other walkers have a similar problem. So I did. We'll see. I really want to do it.

I did check out the map while I was on the site. The half goes thru Randall's Island (the start line) and then down the East River Greenway to 57th, then back adjacent to Central Park.

Tomorrow I'll be going to a deep water swim class with Bonnie, and Boot Camp in the evening with Megan.

Weigh in is Friday. I just turned down an ice cream sundae.

The bathroom rated an I-3.5 today.

tail on the trail event—bethlehem

Today was the Bethlehem Tail on the Trail event. Most of the gang was there—Dawn, Lydia, Bonnie and me. Of course we all met at my house, then Bonnie drove us over town.

We parked under the Fahy Bridge on Sand Island and walked to the basketball courts where the walk started. Last time they gave us car stickers, sunscreen and hand sanitizer. This time we got D&L buttons, sunscreen and sanitizer. I sense a theme. But then the corporate sponsor is St. Luke's.

During the opening speeches, the director of the D&L Heritage Corridor said they were expecting a few hundred people to do the program. They ended up with a few thousand. That must be the reason none of the prizes have arrived yet.

The bikers went first, then the runners, then the walkers. There was maybe six bikers. And a handful of runners. The rest of the people walked. Bet there was a hundred.

We headed over the bridge from Sand Island. We were to go 1.5 miles, just past the Minsi Trail Bridge, to the lock, turnaround and come back. If you wanted to go out 2 miles, you could go to where the trial was closed for renovations. We went the full distance and turned around. Others kept going.

Afterwards there was fruits, veggies and warm water. What is the point of a cooler if it has not water or ice?

Total distance 3.7 miles. But my Fit Bit pedometer says 2400 steps. I won't make my goal for this week. Why? I put the Fit Bit on this morning and did some work in the yard, then went walking.  After lunch I went to shower and it wasn't there. Turns out I lost it at 572 steps this morning. I would have been well over the 10K daily  to make the goal. Oh well.

10+ miles on the D&L

Another training walk for the half marathon. It's in less than three weeks. yikes!

It was 69 degrees when we left and 80 when we drove back for the car. (left one in Northampton, one in Slatington)

Today we walked from Slatington to Northampton Cementon. 10.3 miles. Thought it would be a little further. For Dawn and Lydia it was the furthermost they've ever gone.

The trail often led us deep in the woods with the Lehigh on our left. But sometimes, you could reach out and touch the traffic on Rte. 145. It was an interesting juxtaposition.

The trail, as always, was flat, gravel, wide and shady.At times it was very busy. At one point it was like rush hour with bicycles. They came in packs like wild animals.

There were three additional trail heads between our start and end points. And not a single bathroom was available. Even the nice bathrooms at Slatington were still locked at 7:30 am! I kept saying go in the woods. But no one took me up on it. We went to the Redner's gas station in Northampton.

Lydia and Dawn had enough at about the 8 mile mark. Bonnie and I had been walking ahead, and looping back when they got too far behind. I heard Lydia say, I'm done. We had two miles to go. I left Bonnie go ahead and switched to sweep team. At one point Lyd tried taking a nap. The task master made her get up. Nothing will tire you out quicker than resting. At one point they were going 3.1 MPH and by the end it was 2.7. Oops. But they made it and that's all that counts.

Next week, another 10 miles walk.

the electric run fizzled

The Electric Run looked like it might be fun. But as we were waiting in the que lightning was off in the distance. Then, when it was just about our turn, the fire department pulled the plug. Really. It was on the news and everything. All 14,000 of us had to go home at the SAME TIME. It was a nightmare. It created the worlds largest vacuum.

We all assembled at my place at 5 and were on the road at 5:20. We had to take two cars because no ones car would hold 6. Lydia followed me. She kept saying I was doing 80, but I was being diligent stay under 70.  Is my odometer broken?  Anyway, following people on the sure-kill is hard. Bonnie and Bug kept looking out the window to see if they were still behind us. We never lost them. Getting on the Sure-kill took a good 15 minutes. Getting off, and to the lots was probably another 15.

We found our way to the assigned parking, paid our $15/car and finally parked. It was a sea of humanity. We had a picnic on the hood of my car. I had packed nutritious snacks—fruit, cheese, multi- grain chips, humus, eggs, water—to eat when we arrived. After cleaning up we hiked over to the shuttle station. The buses filled up quickly. More buses were coming but stuck in traffic. We decided to walk instead of wait. We barely got across the street and a bus pulls up and starts loading the walkers.

It was still only about 7:30. We hit the port-o-potties, got out our glow stuff, and decorated ourselves. At about 8:15 we headed to the start line. The waiting began. We were in the front half, probably close to the front third. Watching how people were dressed was fun, for a while, but it was hotter than Hades and the sweat was pouring off us. Everyone was bored. Especially Bug. We saw lightning in the distance. It was finally 8:45. The waves of people started rolling out.

It was starting to be fun. We had finally reached the start chute. There was one group in front of us. We were next. Finally. Each wave left with a countdown, and a cheer. The group in front got the 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-----and then the words we never expected to hear. "I'm sorry but the Philadelphia fire department has closed down the event due to severe lightning in the area." WTF? A wave of disappointment hit the crowd. People were angry. Bug was puzzled. "Mommy, why must we leave. it's our turn."

We followed the crowds and hiked back to the car. We pulled out onto the road and then stayed there for the next half hour+. Everyone in front was leaving other people out. It was two blocks to the main road. The traffic headed for the zoo/Sure-kill was not going anywhere. I put to use my 3-day walk memories and tried to get us to Route 1 by going around the park. We got there after a few wrong turns and enter the highway on City Line Ave.

It was a little long but we were moving. Wish we would have had Bonnie's car with the GPS but we did it. We probably didn't save any time. We got home at 11. Probably the same time we would have gotten home if we had walked.

Should have gone to the Moon Walk in NYC instead.

we survived the hill and more

The Biggest Loser Off-Road Challenge was similar to the Dirty Girl and yet very different. Less caked on mud, more rustic terrain. And did I mention that it rained last night.

We arrived the hour early, and it started an hour late. It was part of a larger Spartan Race that was going off in waves. Clearly the Loser wave was changed. It was hard to wait, but wait we did.

It was a small group. Less than 100 people. One participant lost over 400 pounds.

And yes, that is flip flops in my pants. There was no way I was losing my shoes this time. My sneakers were taped on!

We lined up at the bottom of a large hill. During the prep talk, they said the worse was 1/2 mile up hill. It wasn't a horrible hill from what we could see at the start line. We reached a summit, walked across the top, turned a corner, and there it was. The hill from hell. It made Frederick Street look flat. Some people went up monkey style. That was probably better than walking. Bonnie and Dawn still beat Lydia and I to the top. Some lady was crying walking up it. Wailing even. Lydia was happy she brought her inhaler.

Apparently the hill was not the first obstacle. No that was called Over, Under, Thru. I needed help on two of the three portions. (Bonnie took pixs. No obstacles for her. Still recovering from that broken wrist.)

Over. That nice man helped me. (OMG I look like Sharon!)

 Under. Get that big butt down Gayle.

 Thru.

Then we headed toward the next event. Rolling mud pits. Five hills, five holes filled with water.

 Then off to the slip and slide which sent you into the lake. Lyd hit a rock. See the pix of her brush burn and black and blue mark on line. The lake was supposed to be 4 feet deep. I was on my tip toes and still had trouble keeping my face out. I had my hand on my shoulder trying to save my pedometer, which was on the shoulder strap of my bra.

 Coming out of the lake. Fat escaping everywhere!

This obstacle you climbed up the back side, went over and came down the front. There were several tall walls that we skipped. And the balance exercise. That was tree trunks that you hopped from one to another. I think it was doable, but the logs were so far apart. I would have broke an ankle. Then there was a rope climb, and a barbed wire crawl that was a football field long. After you finished you climbed yet another wall.

 This one was near the finish. I bet it took me 10 minutes to go thru it. It led to a short wall that you climbed with a rope.

Bonnie did not get the pix of me falling off. I didn't try it again.

The final obstacle was hopping over fire. I tried three times and couldn't do it. Dawn and Lydia were successful. The man said it was a mental task rather than physical.

We finished. We survived. And because Bonnie came along, we have the pixs to prove it.

eight miles on the tow path

Today Bonnie picked me up at 6 am to walk, and we still didn't beat the heat. By the time we picked up Lydia and reached the Lehigh Gap trailhead, we didn't start walking till 6:45. Clearly we were the last ones there. I saw at least four people come out of the Appalachian Trail trailhead, with a good sweat on. They must have started walking at first light.

We met Dawn at the trailhead and headed out. In many ways this section is the same as most of the others—flat and groomed gravel. However, the vegetation is much different. Back in the 70s there was nothing on that mountainside. It was strip mined clean and bare.

Slowly, it's been allowed to come back to life. Lots of butterfly bushes, black eyed Susie's, queen Anne's lace, sumac, immature trees. Often there are beautiful vistas of the river. And lovely tiny spring waterfalls. In fifty years the strip mines will be a distant memory.

 There was also a little graffiti.

 If Jesus is saving kegs, what is he doing with them? Are there really keggars in heaven?

Because of the severe weather, we prepared for the walk. Lots of water. sunscreen, Deep Woods Off!,  bandana to soak with water and wipe off sweat. Most of us wore light colors.

At the East Penn Trail Head (Riverside Park), the half-way point, there was a port-o-potty and a huge parking lot. Also a boat launch. We walked down the boat launch and soaked out hats and bandannas in river water. The put them back on, soaking wet.

 At Riverside Park there were many of these stones, all painted with a similar theme. Clean up after your dog. Ironically, I saw no dog poop. Lydia picked up this stone and carried it all the way back. She's putting it in her yard. The neighbor dogs won't stop pooping on her lawn, but their masters might get a chuckle. It weighed about 6 pounds. Dawn figured if she could carry around the 100 pounds she lost, carrying six would be a cinch.

We returned to the car. My 32 ounce cup that I frozen was melted into beautiful cold water. The knitted dish cloths I soaked and froze stung when they touch our hot skin. Damn did they feel good.

So did the A/C at full blast in Bonnie's car.

.

tails back on the trail

I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I think I'm getting tired of the D&L! This challenge is tough.

The positives: It's relatively flat, groomed and scenic. The negatives: It's relatively flat, groomed and pretty much the same scene over and over. I should have realized that since I did the one-day hike on a canal path. Today we remembered the Deep Woods Off! so it was a much less buggy hike.

We met at "Trail Master Central" at 7, and arrived at the Allentown Trailhead to hike about 7:30. For kicks and giggles we checked the bathrooms and they were open! Two weeks in a row. Maybe Allentown got my memo? Also, the picnic pavilion was void of goose poop. Thank goodness.

Depending on the map you pick, it's 3.9 miles to Bethlehem, or 4.1 miles to Bethlehem, or Bonnie's watch said 4.9 miles and Dawn's said 5.1.  Clearly, someone needs a new measuring tape.

So lets call it 4 miles. The round trip would be 8. Lydia needed to go to a picnic at noon, so we parked her car in Bethlehem, and mine in Allentown. They were going one-way. Bonnie and I round trip. Most of the hike was in the shade, but it is so humid, you can cut the air with a knife. Bonnie made the executive decision that this was a one-way walk.

Three quarters of the walk was done next to busy railroad tracks. When we reached Bethlehem, we finally dumped the train and heard birds singing. That was nice.

The pixs below were taken at the Bethlehem lock, about 3/4 away from the Hill To Hill Bridge.

Tomorrow, we are headed up to the slate belt to do more of the D&L. This time, 8 miles for sure. Bonnie is picking me up at 6, then we'll get Lyd about 6:30 and start hiking at 7. Hopefully it will be a little cooler. I have no idea what the shade is like up there. The mountains were stripped of vegetation with the zinc mines. We'll see. If we need to cut it short again we will.

But the Biggest Loser Half Marathon is only 6 weeks away. I haven't gotten Lyd up to 10 miles yet. We're running out of time.
We'll have a break from it next week with the Biggest Loser Off-Road Challenge on Saturday. Then Lyd and Dawn need to get their Passport rubbings in Martins Creek and Jacobsburg. That's on tap for Sunday, probably.