Tag: walking

We Walk

There’s one word that summarizes the difference between our lives in Connecticut and California: outside. We spend a lot more time outside.

The weather this summer has been unreal and (other than a little rain) I can’t imagine winter is much worse!

Late in July we began taking advantage, walking most evenings. We do two miles, give or take, three or four nights a week.

Since anything worth doing is worth doing to obsession, I downloaded Runkeeper to my phone. It logs our trips, offering encouragement to progress.

Tonight we crossed the 50 mile mark, while burning 4,100+ calories along the way. Can either number be trusted? Probably not, but they’re the best we’ve got.

I’d like to say I’m slimmer and feeling stronger, but I’m not. Everything seems the same. There comes a time in life when not feeling worse is the equivalent of feeling better!

Doppler And The Night

I know it’s time to go when she climbs onto my lap. That’s her signal. She is purposeful and resolute. It’s time!

Thanks to Doppler I’ve started to get a great appreciation of night. I know it’s time to go when she climbs onto my lap. That’s her signal. She is purposeful and resolute. It’s time!

She doesn’t particularly like the cold and acts accordingly. She is efficient.

I put on my heavy jacket, picked up the leash (with bag dispenser) and an immense flashlight and headed out. Doppler walked to my right. That’s her preferred side.

She’s small, but the front steps pose no challenge to her.

Cold tonight and crisp. There were thin clouds. The Moon was low in the east–just rising.

We walked on the lightly frozen grass. It gave grudgingly with each step.

There are noises from the woods. Not my favorite thing. We’ve got critters of all types around. They want to avoid me. Right back atcha.

The stars are beautiful. Some nights before the Moon rises or after it sets the sky turns a very deep inky blue. The longer you’re out the more stars there are!

Even when the weather’s been bad it’s obvious Doppler and I have a mutual interest. Good doggie.

She’s already sound asleep on the sofa.

I’ll Take The Stairs

Last week I was huffing and puffing when I got to my desk. Today just puffing.

This work thing has sliced a pretty large chunk from my pajama time! That in turn has reduced my ability to work out. Helaine and I had been very dedicated, but now we’ve (OK – it’s me who’s responsible) sloughed off a little. That’s why I’m using the stairs at work exclusively.

The newsroom/studio complex is on the third floor, but this is not an office building. This is a plant! The presses for the Hartford Courant are underneath my feet. The ceiling in the studio is high enough to hang TV lights. Each floor of stairs looks to be more like a floor and a half… maybe two.

I’ve been up and down twice so far today. That’s two round trips in the blue bricked staircase. Last week I was huffing and puffing when I got to my desk. Today just puffing.

The elevator is very slow anyway!

Return To The Mountain

What started as a 30+ minute trip had minutes shaved off. By the fall Helaine and I were getting to the castle at the summit in around 24 minutes.

“Let’s walk.” Those were my first words to Helaine as I came downstairs this afternoon. In our house the generic “walk” has meaning beyond its dictionary definition. We walk the main trail to the top of Sleeping Giant Mountain. It’s a moderately stressful 1.6 miles with few flat stretches as you climb around 600 feet.

Two years ago we walked Sleeping Giant nearly every day. Last year we slacked off.

The year we walked made a huge physical difference to me. In the beginning I had to stop halfway, By the end of the season I was doing a few brief sprints near the top.

What started as a 30+ minute trip had minutes shaved off. By the fall Helaine and I were getting to the castle at the summit in around 24 minutes.

The good part was the mountain could be used as a variable target. By picking up the pace the mountain became more difficult.

Toward the end of the season Helaine took a bad fall on a rock hidden beneath falling leaves. A DEP policeman brought her down on a motorized utility vehicle. Since then she’s been more cautious which surely makes the walk more difficult.

The weather was beautiful today. The sky was blue. The mountain trail uncrowded.

Close to half the walkers were accompanied by dogs. It’s that kind of place.

When we first walked the mountain we’d always pass two women who were on it every day. On today’s trip it was one of the women by herself. We didn’t ask.

Hopefully we’ll get back into the swing and do this three or four times a week as we did a few years back.

The Mountain Is Open For Business

The weekend was beautiful. I caught spring fever. “Let’s go for a walk on the Giant,” I asked Helaine. It was an easy suggestion to make on a Sunday night after dark. There was no way to go!

The weekend was beautiful. I caught spring fever. “Let’s go for a walk on the Giant,” I asked Helaine. It was an easy suggestion to make on a Sunday night after dark. There was no way to go!

This early afternoon as I stumbled out of bed Helaine asked, “Do you still want to go?” I did. We both love Sleeping Giant Mountain.

It’s early March. It’s Monday. Even at 59&#176 there are small patches of snow in shaded areas. The parking lot was jammed!

Dogs On Sleeping GiantIt looked like the 30 pound rule was in effect as there was no dog that didn’t come up to my thigh–and most people did have dogs.

In a perfect world we’d have made it to the top. We did not.

My back, which pained me late Saturday night before slacking off Sunday made it perfectly clear the full mountain would be foolhardy.

We’ll be back. Two years ago we walked the mountain three or four times a week. I was as aerobically fit as I can remember.

If spring fever has a downside I haven’t seen it yet.