Trail Love

Every time I speed walk my trail, I think about writing about the “Trail Love” I feel. So here it is.

We first encountered the trail years ago while living on the opposite side of town. We loved to inline skate the newly paved trail way that hugged the Portage Creek for a total of about 3 miles. In the beginning, there were not many visitors and it seemed like the trail was ours alone. For several years, we would drive across town as often as we could to “skate the trail.”

When the time came that we considered downsizing and moving, we knew we wanted to find a place close to the trail, so we could use it often. We found a place and fixed it up very near the trail. It’s a place where we could put our inline skates on in our living room, head out the door, down the street and onto the trail. We loved it!

In the earlier days, the trail/park has served us with play equipment for the grand kids, a great place to ride our bikes, skate and walk. We have even kayaked down the Portage Creek within the park! The added bonus of beautiful wild life is priceless. We have seen many deer, turkeys, red fox, rabbits, turtles, and heron over the years.

So, when I speed walk the trail, the first thing I notice are the other people. Some are regulars I see often and some not. There seems to be a bit of “trail camaraderie” present with people greeting each other with a “Good Morning” or “Hi” as we each are eager to do our own thing.

It doesn’t take long to smell the aromas of the air. Some musty, wet leaved smells are unlike anything else you’ve ever smelled. Sometimes there are floral smells from the wild flowers and sometimes I can smell the bakery waft from blocks away. It’s the deep breathing that encourages the smells to take note in my brain with love; I experience the love at that time. A bit of motivational reward for doing what I am doing. I also look forward to the change of seasons and conditions. This spring when the cottonwood trees had released their seed, I saw a magnificent “cottonwood seed tornado” as it blew and created the vortex right in front of me. The changing and dropping leaves are another joy. It just never ends.

I feel the same motivational reward looking and scanning the area for deer, their fawns or any other wild life I can see. I have been blessed so many times with close encounters with fawn and doe. I can see them so close in the wild. I think they are a little bit used to us trail users, but they will bolt away in a flash! Because I try to walk on a regular basis, I use this motivational reward as an incentive to get out and get my workout done! Instead of languishing in the mood of “I don’t feel like it,” I think about the incentive of “Trail Love,” and I find it easier to stay in the habit of speed walking the trail.

And in the meantime, I am getting my exercise in, getting my heart rate up, burning off whatever I shouldn’t have eaten the day before and hopefully staying healthy.

I’ve had this revelation happen to me over the years as I have struggled with my perpetual laziness. Even though I know I should get my workout in, there is a lazy Linda sitting on my left shoulder saying, “Let’s just sit on the couch and watch TV.”

So, the next time you are getting in your workout, don’t think about the hard work it will be, think instead about what you will like about your workout. Think about the benefits or love you may experience in your workout. If you don’t find you have any love in your workout, maybe you should re-evaluate what you’re doing and do an exercise that you enjoy or at least can find some enjoyable aspects of.

The Easiest Exercise

Walking has been indicated as one of the most effective methods of improving fitness and aiding weight loss because:

• It's so easy to do
• Not alot of equipment needed
• You've mastered it since you were a toddler
• Low impact (won't hurt your joints)
• Low cost (no gym membership required)

The National Weight Control Registry, a group of more than 5,000 individuals who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept the weight off for at least 1 year, reported almost 95% of the participants stated that: In addition to nutritional changes, they lost the weight and kept it off by increasing their physical activity, most frequently by walking.

• Walking is the most popular activity in U.S. with 89.8 million participants.
• "The Diabetes Prevention Program" found walking 150 minutes per week and losing 7 percent of your body weight (12 to 15 pounds) may reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes by 58%.
• Walking reduces your risk for depression 20% by walking just 20 minutes per week, according to a British study of more than 19,000 adults.
• Walking reduces breast cancer risk by 18% when women walked briskly for 1 3/4 hours to 2 1/2 hours per week, compared to inactive women.
• A landmark study of more than 70,000 nurses ages 40-65 found the more a woman walked, the lower her chances of having a coronary event. Those who walked 3 or more hours a week had a 35% less risk compared to those who walked infrequently. Plus, it's never too late to start: Sedentary women who became active when they reached middle age or later had a lower risk of coronary events than their couch-potato counterparts.

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Walk While You Work!

Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic, walks on a treadmill while using his computer. Levine does this five days a week up to eight hours a day. (AP Photo/Christina Paolucci) Visit for more info/purchase:

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TrekDesk treadmill desks fit virtually any treadmill and allow employees/students the opportunity to walk slowly while they work without sweating or extra time out of their day. The Surgeon General recommends a MINIMUM 10,000 steps per day (5 miles) achievable in 3-4 hours with the TrekDesk Treadmill Desk. Benefits of a healthy lifestyle and walking 5 miles per day with a TrekDesk Treadmill Desk include:

•Lose weight (50-70 lbs/year potentially)

•Restore health; build major muscle groups

•Prevent diseases & boost resistance

•Boost mood, memory and cognitive abilities

•Boost productivity & decrease absenteeism


Take 10 Years Off Your Heart

Brisk walking can actually reverse the aging of your ticker, reveals a yearlong Washington University study of overweight 50- to 60- year olds. Those who walked off 240 to 300 calories a day (about 45 to 60 minutes at a brisk pace*) lost an average of 22 pounds without dieting, and their hearts pumped blood and nutrients as efficiently as people in their 30s and 40s.

*Calorie burns based on a 150 pound person.

Intentional Exercise

You are lying in bed, waking up from a night's sleep. You are thinking about what is going on in your day today, mentally preparing yourself to get up.

Don't forget about your "Intentional Exercise" plan. What do I mean by Intentional Exercise?

You must first Think, Plan & Do to Succeed. What are you going to do today to:

• Get your heart rate up?


• Break a sweat (I'm not talking about "because it is 90 degrees today")?


• Get those 10,000 steps in (you may need to use a pedometer to determine that)?


• Work your muscles to create more muscle that burns more calories?

If you do not consciously think about it, plan it and do it, I bet it will never happen. Life is so busy (and there are so many other things that we would rather be doing) that if we do not plan to "Intentionally Exercise," it will never happen.

Do you know how far 10,000 steps is? If I am walking a trail or neighborhood (briskly), combined with my other daily living steps, with my short legged stride, I walk for 50 - 60 minutes.

Think about it! Plan your Intentional Exercise! And just Do It! (nike). Success is just around the corner!

Walking Helps Fibromyalgia

Doctors now know that starting an exercise program may not be easy but it is essential in battling fibromyalgia and keeping patients healthy. To someone suffering with Fibromyalgia the thought of exercise may be at first a foreign concept.

Lynne Matallana, president and founder of the National Fibromyalgia Association says, "If you have fibromyalgia, you have this amplified pain signal telling you that something is wrong and it's a natural instinct to want to protect your body by going to bed, but that actually makes pain worse."

Walking is a great, moderate exercise that can be done at any speed, from a slow stroll progressing up to speed walking if desirable. While walking, the body is restored to a normal neurochemical balance, creating mood enhancing substances like serotonin which induces a more positive emotional state.

Sufferers of fibromyalgia need exercise for the very same reasons as the general population, however their approach to exercise must be more cautious, controlled and disciplined.