Bad dressing (it's better than bad behaviour!)

Are your shorts on inside out? - gentle query from respectful husband.

Did you go walking like that??? - appalled comment from teenage son.

Apparently, yes, to both questions. What can I say?

In the words of Sara Jeannette Duncan - "One loses many laughs by not laughing at oneself."


Very true although I do admit to being grateful for two things.

1. That I was just on a training walk by myself and not coaching a class of 20!

2. That my shorts did not have contrasting colours of inner liner versus outer short!


If you feel like sharing any of your own inglorious moments. Post here! It's good to laugh!

Bad behaviour on the roads

I'm pretty confident that grouchy is not an adjective people would choose to describe me. Today was an exception.

When I am grouchy it's usually because I am suffering sleep deprivation. Or, the water turned cold in the middle of my shower.

But today the cranky side of me came out during a walk!

First, the group of runners/walkers who feel entitled to leave marks all over Oakville sidewalks, trails, and roads had defaced my route with NEON ORANGE. I shouted that in caps so that you'd feel the effect.

Come on people. Is this necessary?

Next, a woman jogging ahead of me dropped the wrapper from her snack down a sewer grate. Within one block there were several garbage receptacles. And, even if there weren't, it's not that difficult to take a wrapper home and dispose of it properly.

This may be our gym outside, but we need to respect it as an environment that many people enjoy.

The neon arrows and "15k" neon markers reflect a colossal sense of entitlement.

I wrote about this last year and now my mission is to find out who is doing it and ask them to stop.

So...if there is anything that makes you grouchy while you are out walking, feel free to post here so that while I'm up to bat I can take a swing for you.

Hand weights while walking? NOT.

I have tweeted and blogged about walking while carrying hand weights. I guess my voice isn't loud enough! In the last couple of days I have seen at least three people out walking while carrying hand weights. It just makes no sense. If you are carrying a weight that is heavy enough to make the muscles work in a regular strength exercise, the weight is too heavy for walking. It will compromise your gait and increase your risk for injury dramatically. Even light weights can compromise your gait and they are not useful for strength training moves, if you want to stop to execute those type of moves during your walk.

If you want research to read on this, here is a great link.

http://www.scientificjournals.org/journals2007/articles/1004.htm

My best suggestion for increasing the cardio intensity of your walk is to try speed intervals and hill incline repeats. If you want to add strength training moves, carry a resistance training band (they are easy to hang off a waist pack). Check out the newsletter archives for ideas on strength training moves.