dang it was cold

When my friend Pam and I decided to walk today, it was a balmy 45 degrees out. What a difference a couple of weeks makes.

We planned to go to Cedar Creek (beach) Park off of Hamilton Street.I awoke this morning thinking, "does the city do winter maintenance"? The parks are heavily used, so I hoped they did. the backup plan was Trexler Park. I was fairly sure they plowed that.

As I was driving down Ott I could see the left side was plowed. Yes!

Pam was waiting for me by the pool. We headed east around Lake Muhlenberg. But when we went to cross the bridge quickly realized the other side was not done. We headed toward the sidewalk but that had drifted shut. We returned to the pool the way we came. After crossing Ott we went south towards Cedar Crest College. (All directions are totally random. Hopefully after hearing landmarks you can make your way around.)

After we went past the rear of the college there were city trucks working. They were pruning and removing trees. It was 30 degrees out. Maybe. Why? Seemed like a more appropriate job for spring, summer, autumn ... not winter. Pam had a great theory. Maybe it's true. Many of the trees run along the creek. Perhaps the banks of the creek are so soft and unstable that they do it when it is hard and frozen. And the trucks won't fall in. Sounds plausible. I'm sticking with it.

When we finished the loop at Ott, we decided to go around again.

As we returned to the pool, Pam told me the Allentown JCC was  having a Polar Plunge and was I game. It's supporting their aquatics program. She always goes with me on my adventures, so I said yes. Yes, I know. No spending money. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

On the way home I took a picture of this fellow on Hamilton, across from the park. Clearly he is a Phantoms phan. He's built on top of the snow bank and pretty hard to miss.

A friend posted this race on FB. It's in York. I am so tempted. How many times do you get to race around a giant shoe? I will resist. It's 3 hours away.

Sunday is the Tri-to-help Triathlon. I signed up to do this event, but my friend backed out. Not really interested in doing it alone. It's a two-hour drive. Probably will just skip it.

fitness challenge 8 — stand up paddle boarding

I DID IT! I stood up. Okay, it was only 30 seconds and the instructor was holding one end of the board, but I got up. twice. Then I fell into the lake.

Walking coach Michelle has done it with her family and loves it. So I found a class about 3 weeks ago thru the LL Bean Discovery School while surfing the net. (Now I know full well that these classes are offered to get you into sports and ultimately buy the equipment from them. I'm cool with that. And hey, it worked with the snow shoes.) It was $20. Over my limit for this challenge, but all the equipment was included. Equipment rentals can get steep.

I sent out an email to the rest of the every two feet group. My friend Pam said yes. And she'd bring the family. Kathy was interested in a weekend, so I sent her my availability.

Wednesday was the night. It was held at Lake Nockamixon at 6 pm. I left work at 3 and headed over the bridge to Jersey for gas. It was $3.17 for cash. Credit is about a dime higher, but still cheaper than the it's $3.39+ in Pa. I always take cash to Jersey for gas. And got on I-78 to go home. At Rt. 33 where it merges from 4 lanes to 2, traffic stopped. On a night I had to be home on time.  Thankfully whatever happened was over and the road thinned out about 3 miles down. By the exit there was no backlog at all. Still it took an extra 20 minutes.

To go to Lake Nox I usually go thru Quakertown. But it was still rush hour. It would have taken an hour. So I googled directions and they sent me down 412. What a delight.. I will never use 309 again to go there.

I arrived at exactly six. I had water shoes so I didn't need to use theirs. I also was issued a life jacket and filled out the "if you die don't sue us" waiver. People were still arriving so I hit the comfort station (L-3) and realized I had no hand sanitizer in my bag. Oh well. I'll be in water soon.

Pam arrived with her husband, daughter and friend. The teens were excited about the new adventure. Pam and I were excited but questioning our abilities to do it.

We met the instructors — Phil and Heidi. Then the safety talk, the anatomy of the gear, and a demo on how to get on the board, balance and stand. They asked if we had questions or needed to give them any info. Yes, I can't swim.  "That's what we're here for." They had a tow rope and have towed people bigger than anyone in the group.

 (The boards, water side up, so the fins don't get damaged.)

Now I can't stand gracefully on the ground. How was I going to pull this off in water.  I had practiced a few times but my leg muscles and knees don't cooperate. I have to concentrate. After learning how to pick up the board we were off.

We waded into the lake and went in about knee deep before we got on the board. I was wobbly but managed to stay afloat. I was behind everyone. Lack of confidence really puts you in the back of the pack. Phil hung back with me and I got the rhythm of the paddle down.

It didn't take long to stop wobbling. Phil said it's like riding a bike. Once you find your balance, your body learns where it is. I noticed everyone was getting up. And soon everyone was up. Phil asked if I wanted to try. I was paralyzed with fear but said yes. Ultimately he held the front of my board (training wheels) and I got the first knee up. Balancing all my weight on my wrists and my hands I got the other leg up. But now I am stuck. My back leg wouldn't come front. I willed that sucker to move and it finally did. I WAS STANDING. And Phil left go slowly, and I put my paddle in the war and tried to stroke. And wobbled. And wobbled more, and then leaned back (bad move) and did a back flip into the water. All I could think about was losing my new glasses. And my board. And for a brief moment the flashback of the last water adventure in Willy Wonkas chocolate river. But nothing happened. I didn't even lose my board or paddle. And Phil was right there.

I decided to stay on my knees and we joined the others. They were doing yoga. (The yoga class uses the waist straps like water aerobics). When I met up with Pam, her daughter was doing a back bend.  The fell in. To be 17 again. Everyone fell in at least once.

Then they taught us to sit on the board, move further back so the nose was in the air, and spin. Then it was time to go back. But I had difficulty getting back to the kneeling position. But I did it. I was getting great at paddling and steering. But I headed to the wrong shore and got hung up in shallow water. I got off the board, pushed it out and got back on.

I headed to the correct shore. Phil asked if I needed help and I said yes. I'd like to stand one more time. He said yes. We went a bit further out and I tried again. It was better. Not great and the result was the same. Splash. I was the last one out of the lake.

I had jelly legs when I hit shore. My wrists, knees, ankles and shoulders all hurt. But not in the true ouch sense. I did lust for Aleve, but didn't take it.

Kayak class. That's next. All the Discovery Courses are just $20.

Yesterday I still sore. The I have used muscles that have never been used before kind of sore. By the end of the day it was just my calves and the back of my thighs. Pam and her daughter had black and blue marks where they hit the board falling in. Pam was also sore. She didn't mention if her husband or the friend had difficulties.

I'm ready to go back. Anybody want to come? Once September comes it's only weekends.

Tomorrow is Moseywoods 75th anniversary. Rock climbing? Kayak? Row Boat? What will I chose?

This challenge got off of a slow start, but now I'm cooking. Next year, I'll be spending a lot of time in the Discovery School.

april fools half marathon

A few weeks ago the route for the fall Bethlehem Half Marathon was printed in the Morning Call. We decided to walk it. On April Fools Day. We're crazy "walking fools"!

Potentially I had six people going: Me, Bonnie, Kathy and Lyd who went, and my friends Betsy and Pam. Betsy had another commitment, and Pam's husband had an accident, so they both had to back out.

The half starts at the Sands Casino at the former steel mill. I wasn't sure what the rules for parking there were, so we met at ArtsQuest, right in front of the blast furnace. Lydia only wanted to do a 10K so she left her car at Monocacy Park. Bonnie and I picked her up and brought her to the southside.

We left ArtsQuest and headed up Polk to Packer and past Lehigh. It was then I realized we were supposed to go to the casino first. Oops. We headed down Brodhead, across the Fahy Bridge, around the city center, and up Main. At Geopp we headed over to Monocacy and followed the creek to Paint Mill Road, and up the hill to Schoenersville. It was a hilly walk and we were only about 4 miles into it.

After a potty break at the Wawa, we continued down Illicks Mill Road to Lyds car—the pitstop. There we had items to replenish our supplies. We filled our water bottles, and had a snack. There was even gluten free ones for Bonnie. At the car, Kathy decided to bail, so Bonnie and I proceeded out Dewberry and down Linden to Washington. Then we went past Lyds old house, which is up for rent. Bonnie and I thought we should make an appointment to look at it. Not to rent it. We're just noisy. How did they rehab the house?

We worked our way back down to Broad and out Market to Linden, and back Church, and over the Fahy Bridge again. We finished the walk by going down First Avenue to the car.  Bonnie's feet hurt, so we never went to the casino. Missing that both times shaved about a mile off the route. Oh well.

I felt good and it took about 4 hours. It was a good training walk for the 100K—less than a month away.