Training on Vacation - Part 5 - Disneyland and California Adventure

Wow, can't believe I'm still on vacation!  Taking two weeks off at once is really a luxury! During this latest portion of our vacation, we visited Disneyland Resort and California Adventure in Anaheim, CA.  We are big Disney World fans in our house, so this was an exciting trip to see what the original Disney park is all about.

All in all, we took three days to do Disney "right" here in California.  Day 1 we drove up to Anaheim from San Diego, and spent the day in Disneyland park.  Day 2 was spent in California Adventure park, and Day 3 we went back to Disneyland for a short wrap-up, then drove back to San Diego.

Anyone who has been to a Disney theme park knows that you spend all day on your feet!  I couldn't decide if this would translate into great 3-day training days, or horrendous days.  On the one hand (foot), I would be standing and/or walking almost all day.  On the other, I wouldn't be covering much ground, and I expected a low total mileage due to the stopping and standing that I'd be doing all day.

Once I got back to the internet, I used MapMyWalk.com to see how far I had walked.  I had done this with our day at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and it worked pretty well to get a rough estimate for miles walked during the day.

According to my estimates, it looks to me like we got the following mileage at Disneyland:

Day 1:  Disneyland:  about 6 miles
Day 2:  California Adventure:  about 5.5 miles
Day 3:  Disneyland:  about 4 miles

Again, the first two of these days were spread out over the course of 12 hours or more, and the third day was about 4 hours.  So, this was not blazingly fast speed walking or anything, and certainly doesn't count as a long-mileage training day.

But overall, I am going to say that going on vacation to Disneyland is a good thing from the 3-day training perspective.  I think the miles and the hours spend standing up all count toward a useful training regime for the big 3-day event.

And it was tons of fun, too!  :-)

(hope to add photos later...)

Training on Vacation - Part 4 - San Diego Wild Animal Park

After a week in Oklahoma, our vacation now finds us in San Diego visiting my sister and her family.  Yesterday was a travel day, so today was our first full day here.  The fantastic thing about training for a walking event is that sightseeing fits right in to the training routine!

Today we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which is a fantabulous park that showcases wild animals mainly from Africa, in a habitat that closely approximates their natural habitat.  The park is nestled in the hills of Escondido, CA, which is north and east of San Diego, about 25 miles from the ocean.  The park is built on hills, and includes beautiful landscapes and breathtaking vistas of the southern California terrain.

We spent the day in the park, and covered nearly every inch of the place over the course of 7 hours or so.  There were a few great things about the day:

1.  We got to spend some time with my sister and her two kids, which is a very rare event and was much appreciated
2.  The weather was gorgeous, with 80 degree temps and bright blue skies and cool breezes in the shade
3.  After walking all day long, I truly felt like I was IN SHAPE for once!  All my training walks leading up to today have left me feeling very able to handle a whole day on my feet!


Once we got back to the hotel, I used MapMyWalk.com to approximate our walking route in the park today.  If my estimates are even close to correct, we walked roughly 4.5 miles throughout the day, of course with lots of stopping and starting, lots of standing still or slow walking, and some sitting through shows and meals.  There were quite a few hills which gave me ZERO trouble!  And at the end of the day, I was much less tired than I was after my last few training walks.  All in all, a great physical experience to match up with the family day.

Training on Vacation - Part 2 - Owasso, OK

Still on vacation here in Oklahoma, though now we've moved from my parents' home out in the country into a relative "big city" feel here in Owasso, a suburb of Tulsa, at my husband's parents' home. We woke up this morning bright and early again at 7:00am or so, and were out the door for a walk by 7:40am.

Today Dave and I walked through the neighborhood over to a local park. This park has a man-made pond/lake, lots of playgrounds, picnic tables, enough trees to feel like it's got good shade, and LOTS of geese and ducks! There is a gravel path around the lake that we originally estimated to be about a quarter mile long. We decided to break today's walk into a few sections, taking breaks at homefor restroom and water breaks. My goal was to get in 9 miles this morning.

We began our loops around the lake, stepping carefully to avoid the ever-present goose poop that was all over the path. There was a light breeze, and a few clouds here and there. This was good, because the temps were already high, as was the humidity, making the morning feel quite warm.

We saw a mama duck and her 6 babies, so small and fuzzy. The mama was carefully watching the babies, letting them explore the pond and its feeder stream, but not letting them get into trouble. We saw a large gaggle of geese eating in the grass and gathering on the path.

When we approached, one of the geese felt threatened and starting squawking and hissing, stretching out its wings and flapping them around to try to scare us. He even charged at us at one point. It was a (much less threatening) replay of what had happened with the dogs out in the country last Saturday. :-)

As we walked, we thought that the loop felt more like 1/3 mile rather than 1/4, and so after 9 laps and 1 hour 20 minutes, we called for a break and headed back home. Once at home, we looked on MapMyWalk.com and discovered that our loop was actually about 1/2 mile! So with the walk over to the lake and back, we had already competed 5 miles!

After a quick break at home, we headed back out for four more miles. We passed by the animal control officer who was busy rescuing another set of baby ducks from the storm drain where they had fallen, with their mama duck standing by in distress. The animal control officer was successful, and the babies and their mother were taken back to the lake safely with the rest of the ducks and geese.

We walked another 7 laps - chugging water, listening to our iPods, stepping around goose droppings, and taking pictures on the last lap. We met other walkers, some runners, some moms with their babies and kids in strollers, and lots of geese. That one squawking goose continued to holler at us every time we passed him, and on the last time around, as I stopped to take his picture, he tried to eat my shoe laces. I guess we were on his territory and he had had enough!

All told, we walked 9 miles this morning. It was hot, but it felt good to get it done. This is the longest walk I've done so far in the training program, and I'm really proud of what I've been able to do!

Training on Vacation - Part 1 - Rose, OK

I'm on summer vacation with my husband and kids, taking 2 1/2 weeks away to visit family across the country. Will I still be training for the 3-day while on vacation? Heck yeah!

First stop on the trip is a few days at my parents house out in northeastern Oklahoma. Mom and Dad live off the beaten path - ok, they live off the paved road! It's 2 miles to the nearest black top, and between their house and the road is just Oklahoma red clay and gravel road.

I decided this morning to walk an "out and back". Dave and I got up fairly early (at least early for vacation) and left the house at 7:30am. We walked out to the gravel road and turned right to head west on the rural farm road. After about 10 minutes, the road turned left to head south. Right after we turned the corner, about 100 yards ahead of us, we saw four dogs in the road. They saw us too. Soon, they were running at full speed right toward us! So we turned on our heels and high-tailed it back toward mom and dad's driveway. Those dogs ran behind us until we had gone around the corner and out of sight from them, down and up two hills, until finally they decided we were really, truly leaving. That was more excitement that we counted on!

Not wanting to call it quits quite yet, we walked the opposite direction on the road for another 20 minutes, passing by a chicken farm and a cow farm, and going up and down some fairly impressive hills. I thought Oklahoma was flat?! After an hour (3 miles), we stopped at home for a break.

I wanted to do more but didn't want to be too far away from a bathroom. I also was not keen on encountering any other stray or loose dogs out here in farm country. So Dave and I thought we'd drive into town and use the high school track. We hopped in the car and drove the 13 mile drive to the nearby town.

We walked on the track for 2 miles, then stopped into a near by convenience store (the Git-'n'-Split. I'm not kidding.) to use the facilities and pick up some Gatorade. Then back to the track for more miles.

We were working on our 7th mile when it started to drizzle. Actually that was pretty nice, because it kept us cool as we walked. But at about mile 7.5, it started to just downright rain. I wanted my miles in, but not bad enough to walk in a downpour. So we stopped at the 8 mile mark and headed back to mom and dad's house.

All in all, we logged 8 miles this morning before lunch. Awesome! We did not get attacked by dogs. We didn't melt. And I felt great from the accomplishment.

I'm not quite sure when I'll do the next long distance walk on this vacation. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe Monday. I don't know. We'll have to play it by ear. It is, after all, a vacation!

Training Walk on the B&A Trail

Some of the Harbor City Titty Committee and Friends

Went for a training walk today with some of the HCTC team members. It was a hot, humid morning here in the Baltimore area, and we definitely felt it! Even starting at 8:15am, the temperature was already in the upper 80's with very high humidity. By the time we finished the car thermometer said it was 91 degrees. I believe it!

The Baltimore & Annapolis Trail is a former railway that used to go between - yep, you guessed it - Baltimore and Annapolis. It has been converted to a recreational trail for bikes, joggers and walkers. There are mileage markers every half mile or so, which of course helps you know just how darn much further you have to go until you get to your car!

Nancy, Lori D, Jen, and Lori C

Today also happens to be my hubbie's birthday, and he was really great to not only not mind that I was out training on his birthday, but to come along too!

Dave and me - Happy Birthday!

We dropped a couple cars at our end point, then drove back to Jen's house and started out from there. It's pretty convenient that she lives very close to the trail! We walked from her house back to the cars we had dropped earlier.

Woohoo for a snowball stand at then end of the walk!

Yum - Cherry!

We walked just over 6 miles in just about 2 hours. That's 6 miles further on our training journey and 6 miles closer to a cure!

HCTC Training Walk

It was an early morning wake up call today. The alarm went off at 6:45am -- and on a Saturday, that's a tough thing to hear -- time to get up and get moving. Harbor City Titty Committee (HCTC) was meeting up for a 7 mile training walk!

This is the first official training walk that I've attended which has been sponsored through the Susan G. Komen 3-Day website. I've been kind of hesitant to sign up for them. I don't know why. Maybe it's going by myself to meet up with people I don't know. Luckily for me, five other members of the HCTC were there today, so I didn't feel out of place.

Lori D, Lori C, Nancy, Jen and one of our newest team members, Christy, met up at Down's Park in Pasadena, MD. Once there, we hooked up with Training Walk Leader Jennifer Delandy, plus a handful of other women. I should really say that the others met up, and I came in late because of getting lost after taking a stupid turn that I shouldn't have taken. But anyway...

We got under way walking the perimeter trail of Down's Park. The trial is a 3.5 mile loop through mostly wooded areas right by the Chesapeake Bay. There were trail markers every tenth of a mile, so you could easily track your progress. We walked the trail clockwise first, then turned around and walked the loop again counter-clockwise, totalling 7 miles.

So, what did I think of the event?

I really enjoyed walking with my HCTC friends - having them there made it much, much, MUCH easier to walk so far, compared to if I tried to do that on my own. We did get separated throughout the morning for various reasons, and we paired off and clumped up in different formations, giving everyone a chance to chat. (except Lori D, who had another place to be at 10:00 so she zoomed ahead and walked the whole thing herself, probably in about half our time!)

I found that I did not really mingle much with the other folks who were on this walk. I'm not really good at the whole mingle thing, never really have been, and I'm always awkward and uncomfortable in a new group of people. It's one of my worst traits. So I didn't really benefit from the "get out and meet new people" aspect of this walk. It's my own fault, really, so I'm not complaining, just noting.

Overall, I am very glad I went. We got hot and tired, but we all finished, and most of us probably would not have been so successful on our own. So, the HCTC is going strong!

I once was lost, but now am found

I thought I'd take a walk this morning, venturing a little further afield by trekking through a nearby park and over to the grocery store and bagel shop. I figured I'd make a trip of it, stopping for a tasty bagel at the 3-mile mark, then returning home the same way. I made plans for my kids to meet me over there (3 miles is too much to ask of them on a lazy Sunday morning).

So I started out, headed one street over in my neighborhood, and then went into the woods and into the park via new bridge over the stream that has separated our neighborhood from the park until this spring. After I got into the woods, I was loving the walk - enjoying nature, spotting birds and squirrels and enjoying the trickling stream. I got to the point in the trail where I had planned to pop out into the parking lot and follow the road around to the other side of the park, and I thought "why not continue on the trail a little more? I think it cuts off a corner and will save me some time." I was enjoying the coolness of the greenery around me, and the road would be out in the strong hot sun.

Lesson learned - do not try to find your way through the maze of trails in the woods if you have never looked at the trail map!

I ended up wandering around an extra mile, lost in the trail system. I happened to find a nice man and his four year old son, who were out playing Frisbee Golf in the park. I asked them for direction, then I wandered some more tryign to follow what they had told me. Then I called my son and asked for directions, and he tried to help by looking at Google Earth for me. Then I saw the man and his son again and asked again for directions. The father took pity on me and walked with me out to the main road of the park. Thank you kind sir!

I eventually did make it to the bagel shop - and I did meet my kids there for breakfast. My son had in the meantime looked online and had better instructions for my return trip. My walk home was very uneventful and actually pretty short, all things considered.

The trip out: 1hour 25 minutes, and 3.3 miles according to Map My Walk:

The trip home: 48 minutes, and 2.3 miles according to Map My walk:

At the Track

Last weekend I tried out a new locale for training walks - the track at the local high school. Dave and I went over together on Sunday morning, he was planning to run, and I was looking for an easy, flat walk.

I did notice a few things that are different (in a not-so-good way) than walking in the neighborhood:

• the track is ever-so-slightly banked on the curves. This means that one foot steps slightly lower than the other, putting a strange and uncomfortable stress on one shin, knee and hip. To accomodate this, I walked counter-clock-wise for half the time, and clock-wise the other half of the time.
• there are other folks using the track for their morning runs too. And because you're just walking in circles, you sometimes either pass them or they pass you. If you're not careful, you can end up feeling like you're competing against them, and that can become a stressor or a motivator, depending on your outlook.
• The sun beats down on the track and the bleachers block the wind - making the track feel much hotter than the neighborhood
• There is not much to look at, and the laps can blur from one to the next. Keeping count of your laps can be tricky if you're not paying attention.

On the other hand, there are other kinds of differences (in a kind of good way):

• It's easy to challenge yourself to improve. Every second or third lap you can pick a faster pace, and treat it as a sprint. By repeating this pattern, you can really boost your heart rate, and if you do this often, you can boost your fitness levels.
• It's easy to zone out and really just let your mind empty of all your worries and your stress. You can get into a groove and just walk. Without any curbs, obstacles, or traffic you can focus on just your movements and your breathing. It can be very relaxing and zen-like.
• You certainly don't have to worry about whether you've accurately counted your mileage!

All in all, things worked out great. I will definitely be back to the track. As you go through your training for your 3-day, I really recommend that you find a local track and use it as part of your training regimine. Good luck!

Cool stuff you can find online

So I've been surfing the 'net, just kind of exploring various walk-related stuff. You know, just filling time. Avoiding housework, that kind of thing. ;-)

Here are some cool things that I've found:

East Coast Greenway

The East Coast Greenway (ECG) is a project underway (apparently for more than 10 years!) to link the entire East Coast of the US with safe, paved, off-road trails for non-motorists. So far about 20% of the trail

is complete, and a big chunk more is under development. The idea is to link up hundreds of local trails into an inter-connected trail, providing recreational and commuter options for hundreds of thousands of people.

Here in Maryland, the B&A Trail is part of the ECG, as is the BWI Airport trail. There are other trail sections that are included too. Somehow I've not heard of the ECG before tonight, but I'm excited about exploring the Maryland, DC , PA and DE sections of the trail as possible training walks over the coming months.

MapMyWalk.com

MapMyWalk.com is

a pretty cool site. You can create maps of walking routes anywhere in the US or Canada (maybe even beyond - I haven't tried). You can save the routes, mark them with various landmarks such as restrooms, restaurants, or pay phones. You can have it keep track of elevation changes if you like. Of course it tracks mileage. You can also save notes with the route, indicating directional turn-by-turn instructions for following the route.

So far, most or all of these things are also offered by Google Maps Pedometer, another really cool app upon which MapMyWalk seems to be based. The benefit of using MapMyWalk, though, is that you can also keep track of training sessions, you can share your route info with a friends list. You can connect to Facebook or Twitter. You can get the HTML code to publish your routes on your blog. I'm sure there are other great features too, I just haven't explored them fully.

All in all, pretty cool stuff!

What have you found recently that will help with your walking goals?

Walking in the Neighborhood: A 3-mile Loop

This weekend I broke out of the confines of my immediate neighborhood and ventured to a nearby one for a 3-mile walk. I had never walked this particular route before. I guess I considered it "too far". But if I stay in my own 'hood, then I typically do a 1.5 mile out-and-back. That particular route gets pretty boring pretty soon, so I'm happy I found a new route to change things up a bit and give some new scenery.

The weather on this particular morning was gorgeous. It was a crystal clear blue sky, bright sun, and cool breeze. The trees and spring flowers were in full bloom, making the neighbors' yards beautiful to pass by.

The walk started out with about .6 miles in my neighborhood - ho hum, been there, done that a million times.

Then I took a new turn and headed up into a local private school grounds. I walked around the campus, which included a number of different buildings and some pretty, peaceful statue gardens.

Then, down a long wooded access road - this was my favorite part of the walk.

Next, along a busy rural road. OK, so it doesn't look incredibly busy here...

Then into the next neigborhood over from mine.

I saw the most adorable sight on this bright Saturday morning.

The walk took me out onto another rural road,

which passes by a state park trail head. Beautiful woodland scenes.

Finally, the route turns back into my own neighborhood and home.

All told, the route was 3 miles exactly, according to Google Pedometer.

Walking on Cape Cod: Punkhorn Parklands

Last weekend, we were out of town up in Cape Cod visiting my husband's brother and sister-in-law. It was a wonderful weekend, with unseasonably gorgeous weather and a very relaxing schedule that pretty much called for doing nothing. Nothing except fitting in my training walks, that is, and otherwise just relaxing and enjoying time with family.

In this photo is Ann, Rob, me, and my husband, Dave.

On Saturday, my goal was to spend 45 minutes or more walking 2 or more miles.

We decided to walk in the Punkhorn Parklands in Brewster, MA. This is a nature conservancy that backs right up to our family's back yard.

The parklands were completely deforested during the early colonial days, and in the intervening years had been used for grazing sheep and cattle, and for farming cranberries. In the last 75 years or so, the forest has been coming back, and in the 1980's the town of Brewster MA purchased the land, creating the largest publically owned parcel of land on all of Cape Cod.

The walk itself was part easy hiking on narrow trails, and part brisk walking on dirt roads or wide trails. It was mostly wooded, but near the end, we had a great view of Upper Mill Pond, a large body of fresh water that is great for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, etc.

Total walking time: 1hr 15 min

Total miles: approx. 3.5 miles