Walk Down Your Triglycerides!

I'm having technical difficulties with my digital camera - the batteries went dead! - so no photo of the sunny tramp Tink and I took this afternoon through our neighborhood. It was clear and crisp but much colder than I thought it would be today.

In the Jan/Feb '08 issue of Health magazine there is some fantastic information about walking and your cholesterol. In referring to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology the findings affirmed: "Walk[ing] 12 miles per week at a moderate intensity (around 4mph)...showed double the improvement in...triglyceride levels, compared with the other groups" (66). The two other groups included one which jogged at 6 mph for either 12 or 20 miles per week, and the other did nothing. Additionally, "only the moderate exercisers' levels stayed low for more than two weeks after their last walk" (66).

I walk between sixteen and eighteen minute miles, depending how chatty I am on the cell phone, so it looks like I won't be strolling and talking much anymore. Happy walking!

Philly Windchill of NINE!

Last Friday my walking was from the economy lot at Hartsfield to my gate in the C terminal. I spent the weekend up in Philadelphia, PA with family. On Sunday, as you can see from the photo, there were three walkers - my daughter, my grand-dog, and myself. We knew it was cold and there was quite a wind, but it wasn't until we returned from our almost three mile hike through a section of Wissahickon Park that we learned it had been below 22 degrees and the windchill was nine! Click here to see our route.

Philadelphia was planned by William Penn, who favored green areas throughout the city. Today's walkers, mountain bikers, runners, dogs, and horses have easily accessible well maintained park trails. As a Weight Watcher, I know it is important to get thirty minutes of exercise, five times per week. A great walk invigorates me. Walking daily mileage helps me focus when I am reading or studying, and it definitely helps me get a better night's sleep.

Being out in the sun adds to your stores of Vitamin D. I found this NY Times article interesting reading; we need to get natural Vitamin D as well as taking a daily supplement for our bones and organs. Walking in the winter sunshine - what could be better? No sweating and no bugs!

Finally, here is a waterfall we encountered at the park on Sunday - Enjoy!

Walking Through the Flakes

Welcome! I am so excited by the prospect of sharing my love of walking and talking about health - particularly women's health. I have walked all my life, and remember talking my friends into walking to the mall (we lived in the city, so that took some persuasion), and my first 25 mile walking marathon in the '70s in order to make life easier for the poor of my city of brotherly love, Philadelphia.

As for women's health, in October of 2006 I completed the 60 mile walk in the Susan G. Komen Foundation 3Day Walk for breast cancer. I hope to talk more about my training for that event in 2006 and my early preparations for this year's walk in October of 2008.

Tink, my four year old dachshund, may have some things to report on as we are clicking away the mileage. We did three and a half miles today, and it was glorious being out there with crystalline flakes streaming all about us. We did the last half mile tonight; Tink was not so enamored of the whiteness all about us as you can see.

When you come for a visit my hope is that you will leave having either picked up a new tip on a trail, a new thought on health, or maybe even want more information on how you can be a part of the Atlanta 3Day.