hot, hot, hot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

electrolytes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A trip to Wawa

This morning I made an innocent trip to Wawa for milk. I was in the car and following the city bus. As I approached Broadway and Delaware a family got off the bus to walk the 2 blocks to the grade school. Now in Bethlehem, if you live more than 1 mile away, you ride the school bus. These people took the bus maximum 7-8 blocks. Mom was really overweight. The kids were overweight. The walk would have done them good. Besides, who want's to throw that kind of money away everyday to ride the bus. It's $2.50 per person! Even with passes it's got to be $1.50.

Then as the bus pulled away the girl child, maybe 6 years old, took her empty two-quart Gatorade bottle and tried to toss it over the hedge into someones yard. I was aghast. First of all she was drinking Gadorade with no exercise, and it was 8:15 am. Then she was obviously trying to throw her trash into someones yard. And when she missed she left it lying on the sidewalk. The mother didn't discipline her. She ignored it and the family jaywalk across the street.

I was livid. Another stupid parent, doing stupid thing in front of their children. These kids will not grow up to be productive members of society. I can assure you that.

By the time I reached the Wawa I had settled down. Coming in thru the other door were fit and healthy parents wearing workout clothes. They were sweaty and didn't have an ounce of fat between them. The child was a bit overweight wearing his school uniform. I attributed it to stocking up before a growth sput. He was maybe 10. He walks into the store and gets Gatorade and a chocolate doughnut for breakfast. And his parent let him. In a store full of better choices.

Since when did Gatorade become a breakfast drink? These kids aren't playing football, or little league or running a marathon. They don't need the stuff that's in there. They need vitamins and minerals and protein and stuff like that. OMG I beginning to sound like my friend Angel.