cold and windy walk

Big News! I was able to create a simple one-page website for the Liberty Bell Wanderers. It went live this morning. And it's still there. It hasn't crashed.  So relieved.

After that success I really wanted to walk and celebrate. I text Lydia to see if she was free. She was. So after walking the dog and making pizza for lunch, we did the south Bethlehem volkssport walk. In the process we discovered that Lydia only has one more walk to finish her thirty walk book. So we are doing it again tomorrow!

It was cold and it was windy. But otherwise bright and beautiful. We actually drove to the Comfort Suites start point.

When we arrived at the Greenway it was snow covered. Just the little snow from Monday. The larger snow from Saturday had been plowed. But it had melted and refroze and was really icy, so we left the Greenway and walked thru the adjacent parking lots all the way to Polk street. The we walked out Third to the casino. Then down and around and back First Avenue thru Arts Quest. It was 2.75 miles. Which considering my track record lately is pretty damn good.

Tomorrow begins the winter challenge and the Iditawalk.  So I have to step up my game.

Oh, the Penn State lion now has a hashtag—#ifoundthelion. I'm going to go look to see how many clones he has. Maybe, we'll go on a lion safari in spring.

coins to the bank

I've been seeing these signs all over town in the past week. Today when I was out walking I took the picture. Correct me if I am wrong. A patient obtains these items two ways—buy them outright at the drug store. Or get them at the drug store thru your insurance company. If you buy them with your money why would you sell them. If you get them thru the insurance company and sell them, isn't that insurance fraud? Not to mention really stupid and life threatening? (Unless, of course, you've changed monitoring systems and have a surplus.) Color me very puzzled.


My walk today was a simple square. First stop was to the bank at the 5-points. Both the coin containers on my desk were full, so I thought I'd walk them down and placed them in my canvas lunch bag. It wasn't too bad. I have carried heavier bags of coins. The grand total was just under $90. Not bad.

After leaving the bank, I headed up Wyandotte street to Sassafrass. I learned pretty quickly that is a bad idea during snow season. One sidewalk was shoveled above Sioux Street. And the block between Fiot and Sassafrass was downright horrible. I walked in the street. At 3 pm. Not smart.

So it wasn't a long walk, but I got out.

I managed to walk, even just a little each week.  Four days I even reached 10K steps.  Thank goodness.

The Idtawalk and the Winter Challenge begin Sunday. The winter challenge has two levels—30 miles in 30 days. Or 90 miles in 30 days. You know I'm going for the ninety.

On a different note, the new Liberty Bell Wanders website goes live tomorrow. T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-D. Could someone remind me of why I volunteered to do this?

today

Tail on the Trail announced today the winter challenge. 30 miles in 30 days. Not much of a challenge. But I'll do it anyway.

Today's walk was hilly. I got to thinking as I walked it that I used to think these hills were steep. They aren't. I think I need a new neighborhood.

Today's walk  was down the hill and back up to Seneca. Then down Seneca, and up Clewell to Jeter. Down the steep hill at the hospital (almost lost mama in her wheelchair on that one!) and up St Luke's Place. Then down Fiot, and back up Fiot and home.

Again, it wasn't a long walk, but I got it done.

I took my iPod and took a pix of these red berries. It is my first picture for 2015. I need to remember to take it with me for the camera function. (All the music on it stinks. Never buy workout tapes.) I'll have to borrow the SLR from school for the Niagara Falls Volkssport trip in May.

I've also been busy unsubscribing from race-fitness emails. My in-box used to be filled with  them. So many temptations. But if I stick to "buy only essentials" I can't be tempted. I'm weak.

I nearly failed at this goal about a week ago. I found a Nordic Walking workshop in King of Prussia. I was literally filling out the form to sign up and I stopped myself. The same day I found a Chi Walking workshop in NYC. Both were about $100. Plus travel. Clearly non-essential.

The only other pre-paid events on my calendar are the Idita-Walk, Tri-To-Help in Lancaster in February, and the Yuengling Loger Jogger with my niece and friend in April. I was doing the Tri-To-Help with a fitness friend, but she withdrew to do yet another half marathon. (Her plan is two a month for the whole year. No thank-you.) Other than that it's Volkssport walks/events and just plain old walking.

Now where is my log info for the Idita-walk?

virtual walk for myasthenia gravis

My friend Tiffani has a disease that sucks—myasthenia gravis—a rare chronic autoimmune disease marked by muscular weakness without atrophy, and caused by a defect in the action of acetylcholine at neuromuscular junctions. (Thank goodness for the dictionary. I'm not even certain what any of those words mean.)

MG is having their month. Not that anyone would notice because it doesn't get much press. Tiffani said so this morning in a long post on FB titled "Being Invisible". One line really got my attention "... Their walks, fundraisers, t-shirts are nonexistent ..." and then ..."People get bored of the sufferers of chronic disease, and they are not impressed by their collosal efforts to walk, breathe, eat, because their diseases are years long, and then deadly, and not suddenly dramatic and unexpected..."

 
As my readers know I'm part of a virtual walking group on FB. I do few walks, because they are all about medals and "bling", and I could care less about "stuff". And if I want to donate to a charity, I do it without the middle man. So I posted there if there was an MG walk. Then I decided what the heck, I'll google it. And there was. A real organized walk, in about a dozen cities.  But not here. (And really. Comic Sans for the logo?)


But they had a virtual option. I signed up. Then sent a email to the others on my every two feet list.

"We need to do this virtual walk for Tiffani. Okay, only Angel and I know her, but her disease sucks and it gets no press. (They have organized walks, but none close by.) And we walk all the time, so why not do one for a friend. Right? 

Team: every two feet 
The team page is www.mgwalk.org/e2f  

my personal page is www.mgwalk.org/gayle

Tifffani lives in Zionsville, so if we walk in that area, maybe she can come along, at least for a bit. (reply to email, "I can walk 10 feet unassisted". I'm taking that as a yes.)

It's a fundraiser, of course. So I put my goal as $20 which is a normal price for one of these walks and the team total as $100. But don't worry about that. If you have no $$, I'm actually putting the whole $100 in, maybe $145, which is the money Bonnie and I found on the sidewalk this winter.

They also have a FB page if you like to hit the like button for walks."

The walk will have to be in June. Maybe the 15-16? Depending on fitness levels it doesn't even need to be 5K. I have to google her area.

It's not much, but it's something. It's not going garner massive press and raise awareness, and get corporations to donate, but it's what I can do. I can walk.

When we walk, we'll take a picture and post it on FB. However, the chances of it going viral, I think are slim.

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.

virtual races

One day in fall I received an email from one of the race companies—they come ever week—and it had a virtual run listed. I checked it out, and by the time I decided to do it it was sold out.

After New Years, another one was posted. This time was for this weekend in April. The Cherry Blossom Races and it would benefit women's cancer research. So I gave it a shot and signed up. You get a dandy medal (which I'm sure was paid for in your fee). An email came earlier in the week with a race bib and a link to the facebook page.

Apparently virtual races are a big thing. I signed up for the group and it has more action than a call girl at the five-points. On my facebook book groups list it always has a high number of posts listed after it.

Now this is quite different from the Idita Walk where you track your minutes, and they send you a congrats certificate. I'm guessing the bulk of the $10 fee goes directly to the scouts. If not the whole thing. Probably all the labor is done by the kids.

It's also different from the church walks to biblical places. They are not raising money, just your spirit and faith.

The one that I signed up for said that she was doing them to keep her motivated to train for marathons. That sounds like a plan. Motivation is always hard.

But I just read a post on the virtual run group page that says it's addictive. Because of the bling. I've gone deep in the page and people are modeling their medals. Really?

I have two thoughts. Bling. I really don't need it. Nor do I really crave it. And only you know if you really earned it. You could just sign up, get bling (some of it hiddeous), and a really large charity donation.

Second thought. How do you know this person running the race is legit? You don't know them from Adam.

I decided to do the Cherry Blossom one for a couple reasons. It used a legit racing site, and told us how much money she raised and sent in. However, by the time organizer pays the race fee, buys and mail the medals, only $3-$5 of your fee goes to charity. Is that case for regular races too? Would the money better be sent without the middle (wo)man?

I don't know. I'm thinking a lot about this. Do I want to take strangers on my walk around the world?  What kind of "reward" would they get? Certainly not a medal. Something more eco friendly that I could make. What would I charge them? Things to think about.

Image from the PlantBasedRunner.com via Facebook.

arrived in email

we found David!

Clearly Dave was hiding in Nome. Maybe avoiding me? Rechecking the finisher's roster, he arrived before his wife Barb! Easter sunrise services in "Nome" were lovely and now we're all headed home. The sensible people are flying. I've rented a car to drive home.  Sharon's coming with me. She's aching for a road trip.

After weeks of snowshoes in Alaska, I don't know how I will adjust to spring in Pennsylvania. But all good things must come to an end.

All the "scoobies" have been found and accounted for. Here's how we fared in the standings:

59 – me. I've spent my waiting time snowshoeing. Haven't lost an ounce.
102—Adonis (and Lydia). Clearly Adonis was walking with Carol (aka Bobodancer) from the Liberty Bell Wanderers. Carol came in 105. Does it count that they walked back to Anchorage?
429—Dave. He did a good job of hiding. Nome is not that big!
435—Sharon. She's still sleeping. Exhausted from the walk. "Never again" she says.
461—Barb H. Didn't see her much. Maybe she was hiding with Dave part of the time?
518—Megan. She "flew" right back to Louisville to train for a Half-Marathon and stopped logging miles. Why she didn't want to train in the snow and the cold is beyond me.
634—Bonnie came in 634.  She was not last.

The dog sleds have left. The walkers are leaving. Pretty soon Nome will return to a quiet sleepy town in Alaska. Hopefully the Boy Scouts raised a lot of money for their camp. 

impossible!

Tomorrow the Iditawalk ends. Barb has arrived without Dave! And we haven't heard from Bonnie in awhile. I think we need to send out a search party.

I just checked the finishers rosters to see who is in first place and I'm astonished. How do they do it?

The top finisher has logged 23,658 minutes in two months. That is my goal for the round the world "trip". Divided by 58 days (Feb. 1 to March 30) that is 408 minutes a day—over 6-3/4 hours a day! Every day. For two months.

The next couple has 19,377 or 5-3/4 hours a day.

When do they work? Are they retired or training for the 3-Day? But even training for marathons and the 3-Day you only do one mega walk a week, and take at least two days off to rest your body and prevent injuries.

Oddly the one person that I do know that is walking cross country is in 7th place walking 3-4 hours a day and logging 12,385 minutes.

I hope Dave and Bonnie get here soon. Easter dawn service in "Nome" might be cool. Hope they don't miss it.

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Update!  (2:37 pm Nome time)

Bonnie has "arrived" in Nome. Looks like we'll have company for Easter services. We have a choice between Baptist, Morman, Catholic, Nazarene, Evangelical, Lutheran and Methodist. (I've had a lot of time on my hands. Not much to do in Nome other than snowshoe.) The Methodist church appears to have a large native Alaskan congregation. The sunrise services begins at 8. The sun rises at 8:20. The Lutheran church doesn't begin their services until noon. Clearly we'll be Methodist for the day.

Update!  4/1 
Dave has been hiding in plain site all along.

todays paper

You can tell it's spring. Everywhere you look — television, radio, papers, magazines, companies — are all trying you to get fit and outside.

Last week I discovered the Passport to Health. Today I opened the paper and saw this:

(Yes, I will be the last person on earth reading a paper.) It even has a QR code. But then I have a stupid phone, so it's useless.

I went to the website and this is the featured trail of the week. So far, it's really the only one on the site. There is an index of walks, but none of the pages have been made public yet. My guess is this will roll out very slowly all spring.

Many we've walked. Some we haven't. The D&L is there. But we haven't done all the sections. The Appalachian is there too. But Pa.'s part is ROCKY. So beware. Rodale park is there also. And the state parks. And the Water Gap. Gorgeous in fall. Crowed too. Oh and the Historic Bethlehem Trail.

Where haven't we been? The Daniel Boone Homestead (Birdsboro), Hawk Mtn (Kempton), Jim Thorpe, the Game Preserve,  Peace Valley (Doylestown), Schuykill Trail (Hamburg) and my favorite name— the Gravity Trail in Reading. As you can see these, and some others on the list require a drive. Maybe up towards an hour drive. But that's okay.

I went to the Reading Trails site—who knew— and found the listing for the gravity trail. It is described as "the newest trail in the City of Reading. The trail goes from Mount Penn to the county-owned Antietam Lake. This moderate to strenuous trail explores the Mt. Penn Gravity Railroad historic sites and Antietam Lake. You can start the hike from Neversink Mountain or any of the city-owned parks such as Pendora, Mineral Spring, or Egelman Park." I'm downloading the map now. My favorite word is strenuous. It looks like it is four miles, so that's an 8 mile round trip. But it looks like it is out and back, so we could turn at any point. Oh, and the best part? It's near the Pagoda!

Tomorrow I walk with Betsy, and have my last shift at the homeless shelter.  Winter's over and they are back on their own. It seems time. They appear to be getting on each others nerves. By this time they know what buttons to push. 

Tomorrow the "Walk to Jerusalem" group is also having their symbolic finish the last mile together walk. But because of my commitment at the shelter, I won't be going. It's a 3 in Lehighton. No way to make it back in time.

Saturday I think Bonnie and Lydia and I will walk. I received a email from the Liberty Bell Wanderers that they are doing Doylestown walk tomorrow. Maybe we can do that. It isn't too far.

Sunday we're taking a break. Though I will have Z all day. We might just take a walk and look at the neighborhood. Experience America on foot. She returns to Yemen in May.

bunnies!

Our Friday walks thru Betsy's sub-division often net holiday decorations. Today we found bunnies. And from the extension cords they light up! Their nest of eggs is a little beaten from the wind and the storm but still cute. This is the same house that had the "lucky" reindeer at Easter-time.

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The "Walk" to Jerusalem is over. Wednesday we received word that we "reached" Israel, and Father John sent us an itinerary for while we were there. The religious among us will be very busy Holy Week. On Friday afternoon they are all meeting for real in Lehighton, and walking the last mile to the crucifixion. Since I'm on duty at the homeless shelter at 5:30, I won't be going. It would have been nice to meet Father John. He's quite the humorous writer.

----

My persistent sore muscle in my upper leg butt is getting to be a pain in the butt. Looking at an anatomy chart online, it is not the hamstring or the glutes as my minimal science thought. I'd say it's the biceps femoris or the adductor magnus. Sadly, that and a $1.50 will get me a cup of coffee. That particular body part shows up on none of the walking websites. Clearly it's because I'm stressing it out with my weight. Doctors, x-rays, CT scans, MRIs are all out. They are expensive. No insurance, remember? Friends have suggested massage (about $100) or a chiropractor first. I'm considering it.

another long walk

Since Lydia is still a sick-o-gal, we canned the 3.5 planned walk and made it longer. What were we thinking?

After Lyd called I was still planning on doing the 3.5 thru fountain Hill and south Bethlehem. But remember the stop at the outlet mall yesterday? Bonnie walks in and says "we're going to the Sands!"  And holds up her credit card and coupons.

Now a normal person would have changed the route, but noooo, not me. I just tacked it on the end. Really Gayle. Do you have no common sense? A long walk is followed by a short one. Your body needs time to recoop. Right? Right.

So off we went. Out Itaska, then Cherry and Sioux. If Lyd would have been with use we would have gone down Lechauweki and out Stanley Ave. Probably with a stop at the swings. But no, macho girl needs to walk up the Dodson Street hill to Graham, and down Graham Street. Then it was out Jeter to Clewell, cross Delaware and out Seneca past the old house.

Once we reached Fourth, we headed down the hill, out Graham Place, to New and out Third Street to Sands Boulevard.

Then we shopped. Bonnie spent enough to get a free tote bag, so we had the clerk take it out of the plastic bag, and put her purchases in it. Then we took turns carrying home. Dig out your teal and peach. Those are the hot colors for spring.

We left the outlet mall, walked around the casino, and crossed Daly to the skateboard park. It had lots of boys using it. Bonnie took some pixs, but this one was the best. Getting moving pictures is hard.

We took the Greenway back to Fourth, then Broadway, then wove our way up the hill and home.

Total mileage = seven.

Lydia, I'm sure, is happy she didn't come along. I was whining a bit at the end. Than goodness I didn't have to take Adonis for a walk.

------

Update on Nome virtual walk:
Arrivals—Gayle, Lydia and Adonis, Sharon, and Megan. Bonnie, Dave and Barb are still on the trail. I heard something about a whiteout slowing them down. I know for sure Bonnie is playing with the dogs. Lydia only stayed in Nome one night, and returned to Anchorage. They are almost back.

Update on Jerusalem virtual walk: 
The last update from Father John had us making land in Morocco around Wednesday. It should be no problem getting to Jerusalem in time for Good Friday.

Update on Dave Brown's Cross Country Trip:
He's past Baltimore in Cooksville, Md. Wish I would have ordered a shirt. When the Liberty Bell Wanderers sent out the order there was no pix so I didn't order. Now I've seen them in photos and I'm sorry I didn't get one. Cute logo.

Logo decision:
With a whopping three votes, the winning logo is "Vitrual Walk Around The World."

whatcha think?

Which one or none? For my round the world "trip".

Also thinking about doing this walk around Manhattan. It's the same distance as the One Day.

really walking the walk

I've walked to Bethlehem and Jerusalem in the middle east, Nome, and come July 1, around the world. When I was training for the 3-Day, I almost made past Nashville, and the next year almost made it to Des Moines. But I really haven't walked anywhere. It's was just virtual tracking. Mile for mile or minute for mile...how the crow flies.

Dave Brown (in safety green) is a member of the Liberty Bell Wanderers, the Volkssport group I belong to. He set-off yesterday on a eight-month journey from Atlantic City to San Francisco to raise awareness for Ovarian Cancer Research, in memory of his wife Joan. Real walking. 14-miles a day. It takes a lot of planning, fund-raising, walking and coordination.

I really had wanted to go to AC yesterday with the rest of the group and walk that first 14 mile leg. But I had two jobs yesterday so it wasn't possible.

God speed Dave. Safe journey. Raise that $110K and kick cancer's butt.

If you want to follow Dave's journey, here's the blog or follow him on FB. All the hash tags in the FB posts (#) make me think there is a twitter feed, but I didn't see any. Also there's this interview on Fox. (I borrowed the photo from the blog.)

Me, I haven't even done much walking this week. I'm barely getting 8K steps in a day. I'm in full up-to-my-ears in grading and other commitments time. Today I did a long walk with Betsy and have finally cracked the 10K barrier, but I won't make 15K.

However, it's now the "month that shall not be names" and Bonnie begins training for her mini this weekend, so that mileage should start piling up. Now that it's getting light earlier, and staying light longer, I'll also be able to go back to my first thing in the am walks. So much better. Do it and done. No excuses.

No walks for me Saturday, though. I have an all day GS event, and then I'm driving friends to the airport.

The St. Patrick's Day 5K is on the 17th. Hope I'm ready.

walking and bingo

Walking I love. Bingo, not so much. But it was for a good cause, near and dear to my late nephews heart. So we go. We even have a name—Jarrod's Jems. That boy was a lightening round for winning. Once we had to take all his stuff to the car at the intermission.

Sharon, Lyd and I met at my place, and came in one car.  We were to meet Bonnie at the Fearless Fire Company at 1:15, leave our car, and take the other one back to Bonnie's, and walk. Bingo started sharply at 3. Sounds great in theory, but with me along you know things won't go easy. And they didn't. I pre-bought our tickets and put them in a basket with my daubbers. Then I forgot the daubbers. So we lost a little walking time having to go back home. I stuffed the tickets in my pocket, and left the daubbers. Didn't want to carry them.

So we walked down Tioga into the wind for several blocks. Finally we turned and headed down to Emmaus Avenue, and cut back at the V. After walking a bit around that neighborhood, we headed to the cemetery, said hi to Jarrod, and went to the fearless. It was close to 3 miles. Considering a straight shot from Bonnie's is about a mile, we did pretty good.

Then at 6ish, when we got home, we took a very excited Adonis for a walk. He wouldn't go out for Pat at all, so he needed to go! Sadly it wasn't a fun walk. We met up with 4-5 other dogs. (Big A doesn't play well with others.)

Another week or so we start training for Bonnie's Derby Half Marathon. I think I'll plan loops so that marathoners are not subjected to 13 miles.

Bonnie only has about 300 minutes for the Iditawalk. Training for the half might get her to Nome before the snow melts.

big fat lazy day

Today started like every other day. With great intentions about walking. I've had a pretty slim week, all week, under 10K steps, but usually around 8K.

The plan for today was to start early and set up my new online class. Hit the streets for a walk and get a sympathy card, then come back and grade and attend a webinar. I knew it wasn't going to be a supper active day, but I thought it would be a little active.

Wrong.

It is 1 pm and I have done a grand total of 484 steps. Even with taking the scenic route to the parking lot to class and back.

Things when out of whack when I discovered that one of my classes, that I haven't taught in a year, was rewritten. Instead of taking a 1/2 hour, it took took two hours. And I still have to read everything. By the time I was done, it was time for the webinar.

Some days you can't win. On a happier note let's talk about the Color Me Rad—it's like the Color Run (7/14 in Philly), but in Bethlehem. All the fun, less travel. It starts, of course at ArtsQuest. The most artsy place in south Bethlehem.

Angel and Bug and I are already signed up for Color Me Rad/Bethlehem. If you want to join our team go register. When it asks if you want to be on a team, enter every two feet and hendricks. And you're in. We picked the 9:15 wave.

Does this mean I'm not doing Philly? Heaven's no. It just means I haven't decided yet. It's the day after the 5K off road challenge in Palmerton. Will I be able to move?

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Updates: Lydia and Adonis joined me yesterday in "Nome". They are not staying in the cold, rather they are going back to Anchorage. I'm staying put in the hotel, right on the finish line drinking so much hot cocoa that I'm going to be sick.

I have cloned myself and am also walking to Jerusalem. The whole group should be there by Good Friday. Right now we are a little way into the Atlantic and are walking on water. Not a new idea.

I'm not good at cartooning so I think I might spring $5 for a 5 minute logo for the "Round the World" virtual walk. I might start another blog just for that, or have a colleague put together a simple site, or maybe ask my brother Dave to help me with WordPress. Just in case someone else wants to join me. Then I could put together fun things like a logo or a map, or a tshirt pdf for people to download. I don't want it to turn into a new career!

Finally,  this summer I'm thinking about taking a class to become a certified walk leader. I think it's more own a business oriented (like a Zumba instructor). That's not me. I have enough trouble balancing my own budget.

splat!

This morning I drove one of ML's friends to the airport. At 4:45 am. By 7:30 I was back at their house. I parked up the street, so I could move my car out of the spot, move their car in, and then drive home.

I'm walking back to the house and I see a man with two huskies. They were beautiful. We exchanged good mornings and beautiful dogs, and before I knew it I was laying on the macadam. How I have no idea. I saw no ice. I hit one hand, one knee, and somehow landed on my chest. Thank goodness no face plant this time.  But I totally knocked all the air out of my lungs. I could have cried. But I didn't. I got up. Finished the car switch and drove home.

While eating breakfast Lyd arrived. We hopped in the car and headed to Bonnie's.  There we walked around her neighborhood about three miles, for about an hour.  Including one large hill that was "no outlet". Shit. We also saw some lovely ice art, and a deer mounted on a pole.

When we returned to my place, Adonis was itching to go for his walk. And we did.

When returned again, I logged my Idita walk minutes. I was at 1021. Less than a half hour to go. Sharon is at my place and I told her we were walking to CVS for a sympathy card, and Aharts for something for dinner. Ca-ching. Another hour on the asphalt.

My Facebook post reads "Nome Sweet Nome".

Finally, I just synced my FitBit. It was a 15K plus day. Not bad for a day that started off with a splat.

odds and ends

My Idita-Walk pin arrived today. It's nice. I also ordered t-shirts for everyone.

I joined the virtual walk to Jerusalem with the churches in Jim Thorpe. How I'll get from Nome to Jim Thorpe by Easter is beyond me.

I also signed up for a virtual walk on April 12-14. It benefits the American Cancer Society. Will be interesting.

I've pasted 10K steps a day several times this week. But have not reached 15K. With an all day training tomorrow, I'll be lucky getting 5K.

Walked today with Betsy in her 'hood. It was great. The temperature was in the 40s. Tonight it is supposed to snow.

The wacky weather continues.

around the world in 365 days?

As you know my family, aka "the Scoobies" are participating in the Idita-walk. Symbolically walking the route that the sled race takes. One mile =one minute of exercise. If you walk 30 minutes a day you can make it in a month.

Just before I left for class, I received an email from my brother Dave. A few members of his church is participating in a Virtual Walk To Jerusalem activity for Lent. It begins tomorrow. It's being organized by churches in Jim Thorpe. Dave asked whether or not we could walk two directions at once.  I said sure. Half kidding. Half not kidding. That got me thinking on my way to school. Is it possible to make both trips?

Nome to Jerusalem is 5726 miles as the crow flies over Russia, China and the middle east. If everyone arrives in Nome by the end of February, I'd have to walk 192 minutes everyday.  It's almost the same as Bethlehem (Pa.) to Jerusalem—5773. That will be really tough especially with three jobs. That's three hours of walking a day. That's training for the 3-Day times. I sent for the info anyway.

But it got me thinking about something. How about a virtual walk around the world? July 1 to June 30-365 days. Can it be done? The circumference is 24,900+ miles (some say 24,901 some say 24,906...let's round! I like rounding. And the world is round, right?) Divided by 365 that comes out to a rounded 68 minutes a day. (One mile=1 minute.) That is so doable.

If someone doesn't want to walk the whole world we could do continents using a web app like MapCrow.com. Plug in two cities and it will tell you the distance as the crow flies. For example—North America. You could plug in the northern-ist most city in Greenland and the Southernmost city in Central America and get the distance. For South America it is 4,750 miles from Panto Gallinas, Colombia to Cape Horn, Chile. Want a bigger challenge, then calculate Asia. A smaller one Australia. Fun right? And you get to learn geography as a bonus.

July 1st I leave for my round the world adventure. Anyone want to come along?